Quote of the Day

872. There is nothing resembling a uniquely American worldview. America is too vast, and ultimately too unknowable, to give birth to one way of seeing things.
(John Gray. Al Qaeda and What It Means To Be Modern)

Values

Bill Hybels wrote a book called Holy Discontent. It was one of those books I shouldn't have bothered to buy. Having heard an explanation of the title I totally got it and reading more didn't help.

His point was that personal vision always arises out of being dissatisfied. You've got to find the effort involved in change less demanding than the effort involved in tolerating the thing that needs changing. On a small scale it is why I can cope with undecorated rooms for longer than my wife. On a large it is why most churches never really go from big to very big. Big church's buildings are usually pretty comfortable places. Who'd want to cram more people in so some have to stand?

I was dreaming last night and a guy was sitting with me at a table and he asked me what my personal values were. I gave him my first two:

1. I'm liberal.
2. I'm open and straight with people.

To clarify (which I didn't do in the dream), I believe in giving people as much freedom as I believe God gives me and prefer life with fewer rules.

I believe confidentiality should be assumed not to exist unless requested. I try to give honest and unambiguous answers to questions. Exaggeration, secrets, silence, diplomacy, tact and spin are the understudies of lies.

Thing is, I was woken from this not unpleasant dream by the woman next to me asking if I thought her finger was infected (yes, I did) and I couldn't get back to sleep. Can anyone do that? What would I have said third?

So I reckoned a useful thing to do today would be to write down some more personal values. It's been a tough think. Because of the next one, I don't have many.

3. I believe in the value of intuition.

Often I simply know what to do without knowing how I know. In the past I have struggled to follow this up by 'showing my working.' I like arguments because they help me get there.

4. Let go and let God.

In the context of a conversation about everything with everybody all the time I find it best not to be rushing in to fix everything that isn't perfect. Or to get back to the beginning, wait for the holy discontent to get there.

Excellence

Over the last twenty years or so there has been a proliferation in the need to have statements of visions and values - companies, organisations, corporations all desire to cling to these comfort blankets of memory jogging. No criticism. My church no less, exists to bring:

Glory to Christ
Growth to his Church
Good News to the Community

Snappy eh?

That is not to say that we never do anything else. Sometimes we go walking, bowling or drinking. We used to do these things because they were fun but now we can justify them as part of growing the church, developing relationships and making new ones. I always felt my drinking was good news to the local community, especially the landlords of the Somerville Arms and the Cask and Bottle. Back to the point.

I have a fair degee of cynicism about vision statements and value-lists, personally. I feel that any organsiation without a self-evident purpose ought to give itelf a good talking to.

My partner's shop is not a shop but a lifestyle destination. Sorry but next Saturday afternoon I'll still be watching the Cup Final despite the great temptation to go lifestyle destinationing.

Which brings me, laboriously I admit, to the point. Yesterday I witnessed an organisation listing its core values. To the five original values of its founders it had added three new ones. One of them was 'Excellence'. Why?

Would you not try your best in all circumstances to do good work? Would you not make the occasional calculation that doing three pieces of work in a good enough way (so that the clients are satisfied) is preferable to doing two, or even only one, excellently? Even God thought his creation was only 'good' at the end of each day and 'very good' when he had finished it.

I do not strive for excellence. I strive to keep my customers happy. As a freelance I charge £21.50 an hour (reviewed every September). If someone asks me to write a set of notes for an all-age service, or for teenage Bible reading at a set fee of, say £75 then I need to do that work in three and a half hours. If it takes longer then I am reducing my income.

Now I could write quite stunning material (OK fairly stunning) for £75 if I took a week over it, constantly reworking and self-editing. But I couldn't pay my bills on £75 a week. So I strive for adequate, try to have high standards and, based on repeat business, keep my customers satisfied. (They know my system). Excellence is over-rated. Value isn't.

Go and do something so self-evidently good that your clients will know what you exist for and how well you do it. Now. I'm off to the gym.