Monday, January 18, 2010

Scared Of Risk

I'm reading another book by the Imagineers at Disney. I just feel drawn to them, people who see the world without limits and literally do anything because they know they can. In an hour at the Magic Kingdom you can see ghosts, fly, ride a pirate ship and go on safari. And that's all within walking distance of each other!

So how do they do it? It seems one of the big ideas is to have no fear. This is from Marty Sklar (he's been there forever!):

In my experience outside Imagineering, in community activities and volunteer organizations, a culture of risk taking is a rare thing. Conformity is too often prized as a virtue. Risk my standing on the board of my community organization, church or synagogue, homeowners association and the like? What will my friends and neighbors say? How will they treat my kids?

I love it, but something hit me hard. Why did he add church? The obvious answer, because he's right. The church has been turned into a place where we do the safest thing, don't rock the boat. Isn't it funny that the entity, the group of people that changed the world by being fearless and doing the impossible led, carried and backed by the power of God is now the group trying to get by without causing waves? Hey, we won't even sing too loud during worship, what would people say?

We have to get back that spirit of being world-changers for God and be willing to sacrifice our pride to get there. After all, I don't read many stories of Jesus sitting by politely and quietly trying to not be noticed, just get through the worship service and get home until next week...

T

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