Why the WAYK

by john wallis

Whether we like it or not we are in the WAYK of a revolution. It is a revolution of ideas that have overcome our world and left us wondering where do we go from here. It has been a revolution of deconstruction and at times that deconstruction has been hard and bitter. Like all revolutions there have been costs, friendships, marriages, relationships have all been destroyed. It has been a revolution that shook institutions to their core leaving some reeling in ways they will never recover from, unable to embrace in any way the ideas and thoughts of this new way of thinking. Some have called this revolution postmodern, some called it emerging, some called it evil, and we just call it wonderful.

There was a time in the past that another revolution challenged assumptions and called to task a church that had embraced a theology of things and stuff over one of love and compassion. During and beyond that revolution people were jailed, killed and exiled for thinking out of the box. A box that the revolution itself wanted to destroy. In many ways that revolution exchanged one box for another. For some the freedom that was gained created a fear that they would lose the control they so desperately wanted. From that revolution of ideas a church of splintered and differing ideas has created a landscape at once both devoid of unity and inspired by creativity.

That is our world at present a chaotic assemblage of ideas and structures each built to show some else what is good and pure about their way. When the most recent revolution began we knew deep in our souls that things needed to change. We had become impotent in a world that groans to be loved. Once again the revolution has created a landscape of disunity and extreme creativity. We have spent much of our energy over the past decade tearing down and apart the things we had spent centuries building. During that destruction lives where destroyed and inspired. We once again have caught the vision of the living God. A spirit that is wild and extreme. The Spirit is calling us to change and be reborn. And as Bono says there is "always pain before a child is born." We have entered into a new world that demands us to be children; children willing to build together.

We can't be about remodeling the structures that already exist we need to be building from new foundations together. Building a new dwelling for God's people. A dwelling where all people can speak and celebrate. To build this new place we need to change who we are and how we share ourselves with each other. We need to embrace the idea of critique. We need to become critics of our world and our church. Webster's defines critic as, "to consider the merits and demerits of and judge accordingly" Being a critic doesn't mean you celebrate the errors of those you are critiquing. On the contrary we need to become able to share our hearts and minds with each other in forums that allow us to exchange ideas and question those ideas. While I was in college being trained to be an architect the entire curriculum was based on critique. Each term we would be given a problem to solve, usually a building to design. During the days and weeks that followed we created solutions that we would ultimately share with our peers and professors in a jury format.

My second year of five was marked by a college wide competition, 125 students all creating solutions to the same problem. The top five projects claimed cash prizes and would have their work published, a goal of any aspiring architect. Well I created what was to become the worst project out of 125; it just plain sucked. I got stuck in a rut at the beginning and was unwilling to get out of it. During juries I got slammed hard, some in attendance actually laughed at my solution. I left the room dejected and sure I was a failure. About a week later I met with my professor and told him I was going to quit. He laughed and asked me a question that amazed me; "Are you terrified about going on or just scared?" I told him I wasn't terrified of anything. He smiled and said, "Then you can't quit because being scared is a good thing and will make you better." Then he spent the next hour telling all the good I had accomplished with my project. I understood that day that the critique I had endured was not about destroying me its purpose was to make me better. It was through the sharing of my soul expressed in a project that I learned to be an architect. That is the attitude we must embrace as we strive to create a new world together.

We must allow ourselves to trust each other enough to challenge each other. Through that challenge we will become better. When we humble ourselves and listen with an open heart and mind to what others have to say God's Spirit will be with us. That is what we want WAYK to be, a place where anyone can share an idea or challenge someone else's. This is not intended to be a place for anyone to tear down another with no intention of building him or her up. Yes you can speak out about things you see need to change but it must be done with love. We must never again let the need to control another person or group overpower our need to grow together toward God. WAYK will be a place of peace and hope. A place where you can speak out with ideas that builds the kingdom of God. WAYK will be a place to ride the waves caused by this present revolution. You can choose where they take you, to shore or out to sea it doesn't matter. What matters to us is that you leave any need to destroy at home and enter into this conversation with open arms and hearts. God will honor our honest and transparent exchange of ideas and only