Change does not happen from the center. It happens, almost every time, from the edge. The center may hope for and call for change, but here’s the problem with that: it usually is an external cry that has no internal ability to transform. Those in power in all systems naturally seek to remain in power or to increase their power. It is done intuitively and without forethought.
In order for a Jesus Insurgency to occur, the leaders within and the leaders without (those currently on the edge of the system) must be able to make decisions from a new perspective. Church consultant Gil Rendle (citing Ronald Heifetz and Donald Laurie in his book Journey in the Wilderness) calls this the “Balcony Perspective.” This perspective takes a step away from the center in order to see the broader view. Rendle also comments that we need to protect the voices of creative deviants. So the view must change, and the voices heard must change, and the decision making must follow a new path. In his book Tribes, entrepreneur Seth Godin states that new leaders cannot be about sheepwalking, which is “the outcome of hiring people who have been raised to be obedient and giving them brain-dead jobs and enough fear to keep them in line.” Instead, Godin calls the future guides “heretics,” saying,
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