Network Dynamics Series, 2—Understanding Movement Dynamics

November 18, 2020

This is the second in the Network Dynamics Series from Great Commission Collective, led by GCC President Dave Harvey: Understanding Movement Dynamics. See below the video for notes.

Notes:
Death of a “work of God”: Man > Men > Movement > Monument

A transition point is needed: Machine (Man > Men > Movement > Machine > Monument). Machine is where the wet cement of institutionalization begins to harden.

7 Distinct Shifts in the Machine phase:

• Custom consumes vision
• Security overshadows sacrifice
• Tenure displaces talent
• Rules replace relationships
• Centralization sidelines collaboration
• Tribalism eclipses Kingdom
• Maintenance usurps mission

Leaders don’t live aware of the tensions and neglect to protect movement dynamics.

Organization can lead to multiplication when done well and at the right time.

The pursuit of organization and institutionalizing does not automatically trigger the Machine phase or the Monuments phase. We shift from movement to machine by pulling one or more of these levers.

• Lever One: Tension-Blindness
  • Wise leaders are always seeking to be prayerfully self-conscious about the reality of tensions; where we may be institutionalizing; and ensuring that the way we organize does not suck the life out of our values or movement dynamics.
• Lever Two: Immortality
  • We don’t need to broker the glory of our name.
• Lever Three: The Mission of Church Planting
  • Church planting forces a church to risk, to sacrifice, to collaborate, and to be future oriented.
  • A great index of whether our vision and leadership remain dynamic is whether our vision is compelling enough to attraict potential leaders and our leadership effectively disciples them into ministry.