Some of my favorite photos from Hydra

Status Quo

Why do we like status quo so much?  It just makes me crazy to talk to people who expect life to be nothing but status quo. Our obsession with material things is more of the same. Things cushion us from change because we can control how much stuff we possess and we just add more stuff to outweigh the spector of impending change in our lives. I will address material things in another post.

The greatest crisis of status quo is in leadership or so called leadership. That is, people who are in leadership positions who do not lead through vision. Vision is not just an objective it is a way to lead and ultimately a way to live one’s life. It is an ongoing quest to refine, create and improve using the gifts that God has given us. When exercised these gifts often have positive and negative consequences for those who are involved in some way in the organization or group that the leader leads. I am saying that people in Chrisitan or church-related organizations often believe that there need be no negative fallout from a leader pursuing vision; that the leader is obliged to take care of everyone and maintain the status quo of their lives.

When “leaders” behave like this then they are not leaders. They are just ineffective in their position within the organization. In a Christian context, they lack the faith and the vision to see beyond the present day and into the future. Hummm, does this mean that true leaders are in some way prophetic? Possibly so. Why is this a lack of faith? It is so because they do not fully believe that God is indeed in charge of our lives and that for every individual, He opens doors and closes doors in order to teach us what are often called “life lessons” that will grow His image more clearly in us.

Change is a necessary part of vision. When leaders just move people around and put out fires to keep conflict and change from happening they in fact are the biggest threat to the ongoing health and vitality of the organization they represent. In the short term their actions maintain status quo and eventually this status quo becomes ballast too heavy to be carried and the entire organization sinks with its weight.