September 6, 2024

Maximize Disruption and Release New Innovation in Missions

Disruption releases innovation. We discover untried ways of serving God, of accomplishing His purposes. Do you maximize or resist the opportunities disruption or crisis brings?

Often, instead of embracing new things, we get stuck. We experience a nostalgic longing for the way things used to be.

It’s Not Easy, But It’s Necessary

Change is hard. Adapting to new situations requires a tremendous amount of energy. We grow weary, tired of the intense demand of constant change. This is particularly true as we age. Younger people tend to have a greater ability to adapt. They are more likely to see change as an adventure, as something interesting, rather than a burden.

Technology is a prime example. Youth seem to easily pick up and intuitively understand new applications and the ways technology works. The older we are the more difficult. How many grandparents hand their grandkids their phones and ask them to help? Change is not so easy and intuitive for those of us who are older.

Yet, we want our movements and ministries to grow. This will not happen unless we choose to lean-in to new pioneering and innovation. Problems in the world like the COVID-19 pandemic, political upheavals, and even natural disasters, are opportunities. Without the pressure of a crisis, we may never have considered doing things in new ways.

Easily Annoyed By Changes

It could be a simple change, like needing to find my groceries in an unfamiliar store. Or it might be having to learn a new social media app. I confess I am often easily annoyed by change. “Why do they keep moving things around?” I grumble in frustration.

Recent years have brought many uninvited changes in our lives.

– Social distancing (was this even a word before the pandemic?)

– Restrictions on travel

– Many online meetings and even social events in Zoom or Teams

– Working from home much more

– New wars and conflicts causing disruption

– Technology updates that leave you feeling lost

The list goes on. Your changes may not be in the list above, but you’ve surely faced some. As we go through these challenges, it is easy to experience “adjustment fatigue.”

When you struggle with having to yet again adjust, how can you respond?

Decide to Welcome and Embrace These as an Opportunity to Grow

Make an intentional decision to welcome change. Ask God for grace to stop looking back at the past. Ask for His help to look to the future. As we do this, our Father releases creativity. We gain perspective. With God’s help, we can not only welcome new ideas, new people, and new ways of working, but we can actively celebrate and encourage them.

Innovation and Learning at Seventy

My parents have always been a tremendous example to me. They are now eighty-eight and eighty-seven. Healthy and mentally strong, they continue to live on their own, loving, and serving the community around them.

When my father was seventy, he decided to learn how to create websites. It was new technology, and far more difficult for him than for us who were younger. That didn’t stop him. He committed to embracing the new.

I saw my parents do this with their church as well. While others complained about the loud music of a younger generation, they tried hard to learn the new songs. They made a choice to embrace, welcome, and learn new things. I hope I can be like that when I’m in my eighties!

The challenges of missions today demand creative solutions.
Cynthia Anderson

Millions of unreached people remain without gospel access
Numerous borders are closed and travel restrictions have grown
Global economic challenges make fundraising difficult
Security issues are more complicated than before
A new generation is growing up with a quite different worldview than the previous
The advances in AI technology and things like Chat GPT are impacting many jobs

The level of difficulty can feel overwhelming. Maybe we should “wait it out” and hope that things will get back to normal. No!!!

Could it be that God wants instead to force us out of our ministry “ruts”? That He would train us to think and work in completely new ways?

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”
Mark 2:22 NIV.

Innovation and pioneering are not optional in our rapidly changing world.

What Is Innovation and Pioneering?

An innovation is a “new method, idea, or product” (Oxford Languages.) It is similar to the word inventor or invention. We experiment with something new.

The printing press was a new innovation that led to the printing of the Bible. This new way of giving people access to the Word of God brought great transformation and shaped church history.

When Loren Cunningham started taking youth on short-term mission trips, it was a new innovation in missions. Previously, all missionaries went long-term.

What new innovation might God give you to further His Kingdom in our time?

Pioneering has to do with starting new work in a new location. We think of pioneers as those who are willing to step out into the unknown, to take risks to establish something. Without actively pioneering into new locations, people groups, and spheres of society, we will not finish the task Jesus gave us.

It’s time for a new generation of courageous pioneers and mission innovators to rise! Without new innovation, we will stagnate. God has new solutions that will require us to be willing to change.

How do you encourage and inspire pioneering efforts or new innovation in your ministry?