Carpe Culture

Just thought I'd share some random observations. In his book, The Post-Capitalist Society, Peter Drucker says: "Every few hundred years in Western history there occurs a sharp transformation. Within a few short decades, society rearranges itself. Fifty years later, there is a new world. And the people born then cannot even imagine the world in which their grandparents lived and into which their parents were born. We are currently living through just such a transition."The tectonic plates of culture are shifting.In a sense, everything has changed. The way we gather information has changed--the Google effect. The way we listen to music has changed--the iTunes effect. They way we get a date has changed--the eharmony effect. The way we shop has changed--the amazon effect. The way we make friends has changed--the myspace effect. The way we entertain ourselves has changed--the YouTube effect.And that's the tip of the cultural iceberg!Here are some off the cuff thoughts on cultural shifts. These aren't prescriptive. They are descriptive. Some are good. Some not so good.1) Incarnation is more important than Explanation2) Authenticity is more important than Perfection3) Context is more important than Text4) Paradoxy is more important than Orthodoxy5) Experience is more important than ExpertiseI think those five cultural realities shape the way we lead. Leaders need to be: incarnational, authentic, contextual, paradoxical, and experiential.Here are a few more macro-observations:The church is subject to what I'd call Creative Inflation. We're surrounded by a rising tide of creativity in the retail world. And it's upping the creative ante! I really believe that the future belongs to right-brain leaders who do ministry out of imagination. There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. The church needs to celebrate innovators who lead the way.I think our society-at-large suffers from Attention Defictit Disorder. It is harder to grab attention. And it is harder to keep attention. Studies have shown that emerging generations have shorter attention spans. There minds are like a remote control--if something doesn't demand attention they simply change channels.The good news is this: our generation has an unprecedented opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission. But we've got to redeem technology and use it for God's purposes! Maybe iTunes, MySpace, and YouTube need to be seen as evangelistic distribution channels?Carpe culture!