A brilliant book... Some reflections on key concepts:
- the principle of Obliquity (pp. 11-18 & 215) - In most cases in the business world the ultimate objective is getting your money/maximizing profit, but no company states this upfront. Rather, the objective is achieved by selling a product or service which offers the promise of a life transformed. The Church on the other hand often states its objective upfront. For example: join our church, be baptised, become a disciple of Jesus Christ (cf. Matthew 28.20 or any number of alternatives). When it should be creating structures which led to an opportunity to be truly transformed by Christ. Morisy argues that authentic community ministry offers a transforming space in which people can encounter God, and so find themselves part of the Church. So, in this postmodern world sceptical about sales-pitches, power games, and authoritarian institutions, should not the Church be using a different marketing strategy? This is a fascinating insight garnered from business studies, further reflection might be useful on whether it holds water theologically. To what extent do we see salvation history or the great commission work on the principle of obliquity for instance?
- Grace Cascades (pp. 32 & 213) - Morisy writes, 'We have been slow to recognize that when people, motivated by venturesome love [cf. Karl Rahner], embrace a struggle for the well-being of others, it can prompt a very graceful, and often unanticipated dynamic, a cascade of grace, and this dynamic should be the very thing that churches are seeking to generate.' Here we have a critique of every outreach initiative (or even ecclesiology) that aims to offer gospel proclamation and professionalism from a position of power to a world that doesn't know any better. There is no mission or discipleship without struggle and vulnerability. When we have all the answers and all the resources, there is no room for God's grace and transforming presence (2 Corinthians 12.9). Furthermore, grace seems to abound from the most unlikely sources and the most unlikely people are drawn together when disciples embark upon challenging projects. (An example from Muxton and Lilleshall is the Activity Days, a summer holiday-club for primary school-aged children, which is always difficult to plan and execute. The event is now drawing interest and sponsorship from all sorts of community contacts and partners. Over the past few years, our experiences is that, with collaboration and prayer, God is able to supply all the strength, energy and resources need to achieve his purposes.)
- The Suburban Challenge (pp. 95-106), the Story-rich life (pp. 67-90), and the Experience Economy (pp. 106-114) - Two subsequent chapters take up issues that I have deep concerns about: the nature of human society in large swathes of the affluent postmodern West - i.e. those living in suburbia. Here, I believe, Morisy offers a substantial antidote to the malaise Alain de Botton describes in his book Status Anxiety. In reverse, Morisy argues that the most valuable economic good (in the contemporary West) is that of experience. It is hunger for experience that drives consumerism and lifestyle choices. The houses we buy, cars we drive, the holidays, the way we socialize, who we socialize with, the choices we make for our children and the values we live by are shaped by a narrative of experience. Businesses have caught onto this dynamic. Hence, the most successful products and services are sold on the basis of the experience they offer. However, as Morisy has gone on to espouse elsewhere, chasing a narrative of experience based on material consumption will always leave us wanting. In the comfort and monotony of suburban dwelling, people are left empty with lives actually devoid of narrative - the stories which bring true wealth, meaning and purpose. These are the stories that the Church can offer. Morisy suggests some quite radical action is necessary to turn this around. One example involves travelling to another country to serve the poor, returning with rich experiences and stories to share. Another, could be taking on the local council about the decision to build new houses in the community!
- Without Power (pp.117-135) - Eva McIntyre recently argued in the Church Times that a more mature and sensitive theology is needed in the Church to engage the spectrum of human experience in the world (Church Times 18 July 2014). In this short controversial chapter on power and the church, Morisy calls for the same thing but draws special attention to the nature of power and the traditional claim of the church as guardian of the truth. What emerges in these pages has huge implications for the kerygmatic ministry of the church.
Three points worthy of further consideration:
- Morisy's concept of Apt Liturgy (p.156)
- Religious experience and the growth of moral sensitivity (p. 168)
- Transformation (pp. 218-221)- 'Transformations are a distinctive economic offering, they form the final, i.e. the highest aspect of progression of economic value. A transformation is what the out-of-shape person, the emotionally troubled person, the young managers, the hospital patient and the struggling company all really desire.' (Pine and Gilmore). Interestingly, Morisy argues that the church needs to contest the types of transformative experiences offered in the world. Those for example which Till defends in his analysis of Pop Cults (cf. p. 220).
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