Fletcher Reede is the character played by Jim Carrey in the 1997 movie. His son's birthday wish leads to his inability to lie. Fletcher Reede is an attorney and he finds this 24 hour sentence to the truth and nothing but the truth a most inconvenient one. A sample of dialog between the truthful lawyer and the judge in a case he is trying:
Fletcher: Your honor, I object!
Judge: Why?
Fletcher: Because it's devastating to my case!
Judge: Overruled.
Fletcher: Good call!
In order to create a more perfect ministry team, board, committee, or task force: let's pretend an invitation from the church has gone out to a church member to participate in a leadership role.
You get a call from the perspective team member, but due to some cosmic mixup, the call is transferred to Fletcher Reed instead of you:
Prospective Leader in Discipleship (PLID): I wanted to know when and where the ministry team meets?
Fletcher: When and where can you be?
PLID: What does the team do?
Fletcher: Rubber stamp decisions made by the staff, stay "informed" on what is already happening, try to determine how much of each meeting could be replaced by an email.
PLID: Do I have to attend the meetings and participate regularly?
Fletcher: Why should you be different from anybody else?
PLID: What should I do if I start to feel as if I am "not doing anything" as a team member?
Fletcher: Schedule a meeting with the ministry team chair. Talk about what your expectations were when you agreed to take the position as Leader In Discipleship. Explain how you feel like what you are actually doing or not doing is in contrast to these expectations. Work with the ministry team chair and staff leader for your team to develop an informal plan for how you will help the ministry team move in the direction that you feel will best serve the overall organization and your discipleship growth.
PLID:...really?
Fletcher: Naw. Just quit coming to meetings and responding to emails.
PLID: I want to talk to the senior minister and make sure I understand how this group fits in with the overall vision of our faith community.
Fletcher: OK, well, once she fills you in on that, will you call me back and let me know?
PLID: What do you think is the most important thing I'll learn from this experience?
Fletcher: The reason it took Moses 40 years to move people 40 miles.
OK, OK, so Fletcher would be exaggerating the situation...right?
Does this tip more toward cynicism or transparency?
We know that the church with its ministry teams, committees, beauracray, and yes cynicism and lack of transparency is after all about all we have in our desire to know and grow in our love and grace of God.
The reason, after all, it took 40 years for Moses to go so few miles is because he had to take all those people with him.
And as a LID, we are expected to do the same.
Without spoiling the movie: because of all the hijinks and awkwardness of total transparency, Fletcher Reede discovers meaning.
And so the most important question that any PLID could ask Fletcher Reede:
PLID: If I do this, will it help me discover meaning by the time it's over?
Fletcher:
2 comments:
Okay, so now you have to write a pot that captures Moses' conversations with God's people.
People: "So where, exactly, are we going, Moses?"
Moses: "The the promised land, of course!"
People: "Where is that exactly?"
Moses: "We'll know it when we see it."
The 40-year rule applies to organizations, as you so well capture. That's why impatient individuals split off and go start new churches to shortcut this reality, only to learn that the 40-year rule is like gravity. It's a natural law. It's everywhere and will never go away.
Right: so when the fellow stranded alone on a deserted island explained the three structure he built to his rescuers: one is my house, one is my church, and the other one is my old church.
The thing(s) I remind myself about is an understanding of what the promised land is.
Or just that it does indeed exists.
And deep down inside: Moses never entered in.
But, here we all are.
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