Crisis and Innovation
Thinking the otherwise unthinkable
We all have heard the phrase, “never let a good crisis go to waste.” Evidently, it is a Winston Churchill quote. This past week I listened to a podcast about the role that “crisis” played in the creation of the COVID vaccine. Trump’s “Warp Speed” project, regardless of what you think about either Trump or vaccines, is an example of how crisis sets the table for rapid innovation.
Libertarians love the fact that during the creation of the vaccine, established regulations about drug testing were swept away; they may ask, “Why not sweep them all away?” Liberals like it because it is an example of what government can do when it must act. Conservatives like it because it shows that government bureaucracy is the problem and getting rid of it creates solutions. Regardless of your perspective, Warp Speed highlights the role that crisis can play in innovation.
When faced with a crisis we are willing to consider the unthinkable. This idea, that there are “unthinkable” things, should get our attention. Unthinkable things exist when we get absorbed into the status quo. Our minds follow The Calf Path and we end up limiting ourselves right out of the gate. Unfortunately, the creedal nature of historic Christianity has lent itself to leaders who flinch at thinking the unthinkable.
In the wake of publishing my book, The Innovation Crisis, I did several podcast interviews. Usually, in the setup of the interview, I would get asked something like this: “Is innovation really a biblical idea or is it just a business idea we are bolting onto ministry?”
After conceding that the word innovation is not biblical language, I usually went on to describe the incredible innovation of Jesus, how God is a creator, and the once rich history of innovation by the church. That was usually sufficient to point out the stupidity of the question since nobody wants to say that the author and perfector of our faith was not innovative.
The question betrays the assumption: our creedal views (the idea that there are immutable truths) has infiltrated our views of creativity and innovation. Because we fear theological innovation, we fear innovation in how we approach faith in general.
Now, as we stand on the brink of possible church collapse in the West due to encroaching secularism, we face a crisis. How we communicate and show the love of Christ in this current cultural moment is ripe for innovation. What I see from many of our church leaders when faced with this crisis is, unfortunately, a recommitment to Reformation era models of ministry. More magisterial preaching will not win the hearts of people today. I know, I know, the Bible says to preach. But preaching in the New Testament is mostly missionary preaching. It is much more than three-point, weekly sermons in air-conditioned church buildings to the already converted. “Good News for 16th Century Man,” is not the kind of innovation we need.
Will this crisis kickstart a revolution in ministry innovation?