Welcome to Day 9 of ChurchCrunch’s Group Blog Project. I am the lucky recipient to cover pages 40-45 of Seth Godin’s wonderful gem called Tribes. Picking up from where Dawn Nicole Baldwin’s very excellent post yesterday left off, we get to examine what Seth calls “the F word…. fear.”
Let’s start first with one of the sweetest quotes (found on p.42) about heretics:
In a battle between two ideas, the best one doesn’t necessarily win. No, the idea that wins is the one with the most fearless heretic behind it.
I love the idea of the fearless heretic winning.
From the Pharisees perspective in his day, Jesus was such a heretic. Reaching out and defiling himself by touching lepers. Talking to unseemly sorts like Samaritans. Hanging with the Deschutes swilling, hookah-puffing crowd. Though devout theologically, Jesus just didn’t conform to what a “good upstanding religious Jewish man” looked like. He was a fearless heretic in his world, rocking the entrenched religiousity he saw around him by boldly obeying God and loving the unlovely. It makes me ask myself, “am I?”
Godin then goes on to make some great points about fear. On page 43 he states,
What’s interesting about the folks I meet who are engaged and are clearly heretics is that they’ve actively talked themselves out of fear. I mean, the fear is still there, but it’s drowned out by a different story.
It’s the story of success, of drive, of doing something that matters. It’s an intellectual story about what the world (or your industry or your project) needs and how your insights can help make a difference.
Our fear is drowned out by a different story.
My intellectual story is that God loves this world and sent Jesus so that people could get squared away with Him. This is good news and I believe that people need to hear it. I may be afraid to open my mouth sometimes because of fear but where people spend eternity matters. Seth Godin says it is not a sign of weakness to actively talk oneself out of fear. In fact, reminding myself of the bigger story gets me through a lot. The emotion of fear can be tamed with a renewed mind.
Besides touching on heretics and the fear we all face, the few pages I had (pages 40-45) ended with a beautiful warning. Godin comments about those stuck without traction:
I think these people are becoming ever better at following, but are never learning to lead. They’re following instructions, following directions, following the pack, and honing their skills — but hiding. Hiding from the fear of leading.
I lived for years “doing church” becoming ever better at following instructions and blending in with the pack. Does this describe me? Does this describe you? Ever learning but never stepping out?
My humble takeaway from this short section…
Only fearless heretics, convinced they play a necessary part in a bigger story will ever be the leaders this world needs.
Handy Feedback Questions:
What are your thoughts? Any examples of how you’ve been or seen heretics effecting change in the factory mentality around you?
Doing something that matters can drown out the ever-present fear. What are you a part of that makes a difference?
And finally, is there an area where you are hiding from leading? You’re honing your skills, getting really good at executing, but there’s a nagging sense that God’s got more for your life. What is He possibly calling you to lead?
Chronicles of Dawnia 