How the Mighty Fall in Business

What a difference a decade makes .... In 2001, business author Jim Collins wrote his seminal book, Good to Great, as a sequel to his other groundbreaking work, Built to Last. Both books were aimed at profiling companies that had "made the leap" to greatness and were "built to last" well into the future. For example, in 2000, Circuit City was outperforming General Electric -- the old-school standard in electronics -- by 6-to-1 in the market. Fannie Mae, the mortgage lender, was beating companies like Coca-Cola in stock value around the same time. Philip Morris was on Collins' list, too, and was still pulling in massive revenues.

Other companies also were basking in the glow of success in 2001. They did not make Collins' list, but they were no less a standard fixture in the conscience and checkbooks of American consumers. You could always rent a movie at your local Blockbuster store or stop in at Borders to browse for books, to name a couple of examples. These companies were firing on all cylinders, and there seemed to be no limit to how far they would go.

Turns out, however, that by 2011, just 10 years later, some of these high-profile companies had made a bigger leap -- all the way off the cliff, where they cratered like Wile E. Coyote. Circuit City, Blockbuster and Borders have all closed. The government had to bail out Fannie Mae. Philip Morris has become a public pariah. Others are following them toward the edge of the abyss.

Now, you could make the case that 9/11, the Internet and the recession all had something to do with these companies and their falls from grace, but that would not be the whole story. Other companies have managed to adapt and survive. In 2009, a contrite Jim Collins wrote a follow-up to Good to Great, aptly titled How the Mighty Fall. Looking back at his research and trying to make sense of what had taken place, Collins proposed five stages that mark the decline of a once-great company. As some have noted, one could draw parallels to the demise of some churches in America.

Stage 1: Hubris born from success. A successful company begins to believe its own press and becomes enamored with itself. The company becomes dogmatic about its products and practices and fails to question their relevance when conditions change.

Stage 2: The undisciplined pursuit of more. The company strays from the disciplined creativity that made it great in the first place, making leaps into places outside the original realm of success and growing so fast that they sacrifice excellence for expediency.

Stage 3: Denial of risk and peril. Leaders begin to deny that anything is wrong, and refuse to hear bad news, putting a positive spin on everything. They blame external factors instead of taking responsibility.

Stage 4: Grasping for salvation. The company begins to look for a quick fix to its problems, and begins grasping at straws to stop the decline. Common "saviors" for a company in this position are the hiring of a charismatic leader, radical restructuring, focusing on a revolutionary new product, or other reactive behaviors and strategies.

Stage 5: Capitulation to irrelevance or death. In this stage, the company's spirit and financial strength have eroded to the point of despair. Leaders and team members give up hope and the institution slides into insignificance and eventual death.

These factors eventually put businesses out of business. Leaders can stop the slide by taking drastic action to call the company back to its core principles, values and practices. The best companies and best leaders are able to make a comeback because they invest in a vision for creating something great. They return to the basics, and they never give up hope.

 

            I leave it to you to ponder what this might mean for the church of today. For those of us who are United Methodist, I leave it to you to consider prayerfully what it might mean for this denomination today.

Islamism

The West is under external attack from a portion of Islam, let us call it Islamism, that does not want what the West offers in terms of a culture. It wants the imposition of Sharia Law in the nations now organized upon Enlightenment principles. Islamism has been war with the West at least since the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. It will be with great difficulty, probably over several generations, to “break the spell” that such a religious ideology and vision has on so many people.[1] Many persons in the West will want to examine what it has done to cause them to start such a war. Many others think that such attacks are the acts of criminals and the West needs to respond as such. However, Islamism is an enemy similar to that of Nazism and Communism. It will take an ability on the part of political and cultural leaders to identify the enemy. It will take courage to combat the enemy at every level and in multiple ways. It does not mean all-out war. The collapse of the Soviet Union came through a concerted effort over decades. It will take the same type of focused attention to defeat Islamism. The danger is that if the West does not have the political will to act in its own defense in a timely fashion, the result will be the death of millions of people who will not have had to die. The fact that European leaders before the advent of World War II did not act quickly meant that around 100 million people died. Islamism has made it clear that it wants to revive its own early history of militancy. It has burned a Muslim soldier alive, it has beheaded Coptic Christians, it has attacked the Press for printing anti-Mohammed political cartoons, and it has started attacking soft targets (coffee houses, etc.) ISIS(L) has said it will go to Rome. The West needs to take such actions seriously. Islamism wants to revive the attack upon Europe in which it engaged during the Middle Ages and to which the Crusades was a response. What drives it is an ideology and a vision of the future that by its nature makes it enemy of modernity. It has its sympathizers within modernity.

Forgetfulness within a civilization occurs when most of its members can no longer remember a time when chaos and brutality ruled.[2] In times of barbarity, one might grow crops and always wonder if an enemy will steal its produce. A fierce enemy may steal one’s children and sell them into slavery. In fact, forgetfulness occurs when you think that enemy is a friend for whom we have not yet done enough. The category of the enemy is an important one for a civilization to remember.

September 11, 2001 ought to have reminded the West that it has enemies. I realize it is hard. A culture rooted in freedoms that we cherish, founded on tolerance of differing views and ways of life, does not seem like it should have enemies. Yet, experience has shown that it does. People ruthlessly beheaded and the act placed on the Internet is hardly the act of a tolerant people. The focus on “soft targets” has the design of the West self-limiting its freedom. Killing people who ridicule “the Prophet” is hardly the way of the West. However, and we must not think differently, it is the way of Islamism. The success of civilization can set it up for downfall. Sustained peace and prosperity leads to complacency, and the members of a successful civilization are apt to forget that the natural state of people in the world is neither peaceful nor prosperous. However, ignoring the enemy, or even pretending they are not enemies, will not make them go away. Some conflicts are not of a nature that “we can work it out.” We forget that our society is better--that is more just and more moral--than any that has ever existed in human history. The enemy is someone who is willing to die in order to kill you. They have a fantasy ideology in which religious zealotry enforces cruel tribal conformity. Such a fantasy ideology has no connection to the political and economic realities so favored by analysis in the West. To put it succinctly, 9/11 happened to show all Muslims that Allah wants the downfall of the Great Satan.

Islamism does not look at human life, culture, and government in the same way as the West. In fact, it views itself as an alternative to the West. It seems to be at war with the world. The reason is not what the West has done, what the Hindu has done or what Russia has done. The reason is internal. Their fantasy ideology involves a world in submission to Allah, and therefore in submission to Sharia Law. The ideology is a fantasy because one cannot prove it false since it relies upon a future anticipated condition of the world. It requires a form of “eschatological verification.” Because of that, a true believer in Islamism can continue to believer, regardless of their experience. Middle class youths in the West can find such a fantasy attractive, especially if intellectual alienation from the West has cultivated the mind of the youth.

Modern civilization has forgotten how it became civilized in the first place; it is not knowledgeable of the long period of cultural evolution involved; and it does not remember the tremendous amount of labor, cultural and intellectual, that went into the development of civil society. Moreover, modern civilization has forgotten about a category called "the enemy" due to the West discarding it in favor of moral and political discourse. This fact has left modern civilization vulnerable to attack by those who are the enemy of civilized society.

Modern intellectuals are particularly susceptible to their own version of a fantasy ideology and utopianism, which eventually leads them into the irrational abyss of moral and cultural relativism, epistemological subjectivism, metaphysical idealism, abnormal focus on politics, and idolization of science. In the process, they have become, through the ideology of the Political Left, an example of self-loathing within the West. Yet, they have also become useful intellectual tools for expanding intellectual alienation of the members of Western Civilization, softening the resolve of its members to defend Western Civilization. Such softening is important in the goal of Islamism toward world domination. I will not directly with this again until I deal specifically with Islam.

What I have said will encourage, in the minds of some, “Islamaphobia.” In contrast, my concern is the dominance of the Political Left in Europe and along with it the spread of Islamism is leading to the rise of both lack of regard from the traditions of liberty in the West and the rise of anti-Semitism that has marked much of that history. Islamism has close historical ties to Nazism and hatred of Judaism. For example, hate crimes against Jews in Europe are far higher than hate crimes against Islam. The small numbers of Jews in the West are far more likely targets of hate than are adherents of Islam.

My assumption is that something like the secularity, individuality, humanism, and modernity of the West is important for the improvement of the human race. It leads to recognition of the worth and dignity of individuals and therefore to the worth and dignity of differing cultures. It encourages the expansion of liberty. It encourages respect for the improvement of a human life through science. It encourages respect for difference, tolerance, and diversity. In the midst of its encouragement of discourse, it is also able to embrace a dialectic with those who have profound questions regarding freedom, rationality, and science.

---

[1] (Dennett 2006), 13.

[2] Lee Harris, Civilization and its Enemies: The Next Stage of History (New York: Free Press, 2004).

Lent: Reflection on Shame, Guilt, and Sin

Seventeenth-century Puritan theologian Thomas Watson argued that repentance was a spiritual medicine made up of six special ingredients. "If any one is left out, it loses its virtue." 1) Sight of sin, 2) Sorrow for sin, 3) Confession of sin, 4) Shame for sin, 5) Hatred for sin, 6) Turning from sin.[1]

            My heart has committed sins that my hands haven't gotten around to yet.[2]

            Pascal said that if everyone knew the innermost thoughts of everyone else, there would not be five friends left on Earth. 

On the First Sunday of Lent, church, which usually helps you to feel good, to celebrate, and to sing, beckons you to penitential acts of honesty that reiterate that we are, despite our achievements and our intentions, sinful.  We are not, as we are, right.  Let us be honest: We sin. 

            Shame, guilt, and sin. 

            Charles Darwin did a study of emotion in human beings and animals.  The one emotion he did not find among animals was that of shame.  You see, shame reveals a conscience sensitive to moral issues.  Blushing reveals shame.

            Guilt is different.  We may have committed a specific act that we know to be wrong.  Sin is not good, but the fact that we experience guilt is a good thing.  It reveals that we have a sense of what is right.

            The themes of shame and guilt are ones that many in our culture would have the church forget. In fact, many in the psychological world would counsel the church to go another direction. For example, Sigmund Freud said shame was a mechanism that cripples and inhibits the growth of the person.  Fritz Pearles, the founder of the Gestalt Therapy movement, said, "Shame, embarrassment, self-consciousness, and fear restrict the individual's expression." 

            At the same time, other psychiatrists will tell you that the truth about us is hard to come by.  We lie, particularly about ourselves.  So do not expect too much raw honesty from us about our sin.  We defend ourselves quite well. In fact, psychologist Dr. Vaillant believes that we become more adept in utilizing our defense mechanisms as we grow older, as we gain education and experience.  There is a cost to a life spent polishing the mask we present to others.

            In other words, we want to cover up shame and guilt.  However, it will always be there.  The conscience will not let us forget. 

            I want to ask you a question. Do you ever feel trapped by this fast-paced, frenzied, and complex world in which we live to be someone you do not wish to be and live a life that you do not desire? The author of Three Simple Rules (p. 7-8), Rueben Job, thinks many of us do. Deep within us, he thinks, we suspect that the path on which we travel is not healthy or right. We know something is wrong. We want a way out.

            The Talmud has a beautiful comment: "A sense of shame is a lovely sign.  Whoever has a sense of shame will not sin so quickly; but whoever shows no sense of shame in their visage, their father surely never stood on Mount Sinai." 

            Yet, after one honestly faces shame and guilt, what are we to do? When will the daylight come? The Christian faith has an odd response. You can repent.  If we can be honest for ten minutes here on Sunday, maybe we can be honest for the forty days of Lent, maybe then for the rest of our lives.  Lord have mercy.  Christ have mercy.  Because God does have mercy, we can be honest.  We need not loudly assert our innocence, for after we hung him on a cross through our sin, no one here has clean hands.  We are not right.  We have not done right.

---

[1] --The Doctrine of Repentance (1668), 18.

[2] --Michael Horton, president of Christians United for Reformation, National & International Religion Report 10 (29 April 1996), 8.

December 14-20 2014

For the week of December 14-20, 2014, I am asking myself where I have seen love at work.

            I have continued with my P90X2 exercises, Total Gym, and my once a week trip to Anytime Fitness for cardio. I was able to talk to a friend there.

            I had the pleasure of seeing my new granddaughter this week, Edith Annalynn. I see love here.

 

            The reflections in Men of Integrity Magazine had a theme of encouragement. The reflections are from Rob Bentz, The Unfinished Church. An insight he shares is that far too often, believers become critics rather than encouragers. William Barclay said that the world is full of discouragers. We have a Cristian duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the one who speaks such a word.

            I preached on Restore Us with Joy, from Psalm 126. Poinsettias were up that day and were beautiful. Had a very nice conversation after worship with a family that I do not have the opportunity to talk with much. I taught SS class for the youth. Suzanne and I went to one of the homes for a small group Christmas party, with friendly discussion and good food all around.

            Worked on sermons, both for next Sunday and for January.

            Some good discussion regarding staffing. Staff meeting. I recorded Faithbreak for Sunday and recording a message for advertisement during the next few days until Christmas Eve.

            The book study group met this week, this time on Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane. The concern of the book is whether a secular culture is missing something by desacralizing space, time, history, and human life. We had some excellent discussion.

            Throughout the week, I worked in some study that is summarizing some of the themes covered in my book study. My reflections are along the line of the challenge that secular culture is presenting to the churches. I was able to get back to another study for a bit on an examination of Church Dogmatics by Karl Barth.

            I have been amazed how so many Americans seem willing to turn on the people who defend them. I am thinking of the number of people who try to turn incidents of crime into examples of police racism. However, to attempt to use an incident in Ferguson and NYC to create tension between police and community is self-destructive. The police are the very ones who are keeping the communities of both communities safe. Further, to create an atmosphere of such antagonism between the police and the community is to create an environment that pushes over the edge some people, and police will die as the result. One could urge the same thing regarding the CIA. Here are people who have kept us free of a major attack all this time. Yet, we seem to think it OK to turn on them. The real “torture” was what people like Kahlid Sheik Mohammed did in planning the 9/11 attacks. In those early days post-9/11, it truly does not bother me what they did to those involved. The concern was high that a dirty bomb or other such violence was in the works.

            Here is an article I found helpful, both regarding violence from Muslims.

http://www.clarionproject.org/news/massacre-pakistan-least-126-killed-attack-school# 

Here is an article on Sharia Law in Germany.

http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/thousands-protest-parallel-sharia-societies-germany 

Here is an interesting article on a Gay Marriage matter at a Catholic university.

http://townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2014/12/18/catholic-university-marquette-suspends-professor-over-antigay-marriage-controversy-n1933853/page/full 

Here are some Scripture I have been reflecting upon.

Psalm 89: 1

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever;

with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. 

Luke 1:

⁴⁶ And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷      and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸ for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 

Luke 1:

{35} The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 

Luke 1:

{37} For nothing will be impossible with God." 

Luke 1:

{38} Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

December 7-13 2014

Today, I want to reflect upon my experience of joy this week of December 7-13.

             I remain joyful concerning my physical exercise, the total gym, Anytime Fitness, and P90X. My shoulder continues to heal.

            On a personal note, I finished watching a program called The Tomorrow People. We finished watching 24: Live Another Day.

            Some good study this week on sermons in January. I finished a book, The Meaning and End of Religion, a classic in its field. Good insights throughout.

            I preached from Psalm 85 on restoring us with peace. We are having a wonderful Advent observance. The Family Ministry Team had lunch after worship. What a wonderful and joyful experience that was! The youth small group met and had a wonderful lesson on forgiveness.

            I had some good conversation concerning finances of the church on Monday. I also had a very nice birthday lunch with the staff and Suzanne at Applebees.       

            Triple S had its final program of the year as we studied John 10:21-42. Kayc had some wonderful music for us. The food was wonderful, of course. Yes, it was a joyful time.

            We had a wonderful Trustees meeting and Finance meeting this week.

            I have been spending some time with a family who lost a family member this week. It has its own joy, as she is home with the Lord. The services are on Saturday.

            Good meeting with the Cass County Minister’s Association with some communication with the United Way.

            Good meeting concerning our 11 PM service on Christmas Eve.

            One of our adult small groups met at a home for their Christmas meal. Suzanne and I had a joyful time.

 

I came across an article that involved some of the financial stress of the millennial generation.

http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbarone/2014/12/10/millennials-n1928991/page/full

 

Here are some scriptures that relate to the theme of joy.

Psalm 126

⁵ May those who sow in tears

reap with shouts of joy.

⁶ Those who go out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

carrying their sheaves.

 

Isaiah 61:

 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and release to the prisoners;

² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

Isaiah 61

¹⁰ I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

my whole being shall exult in my God;

 

I Thessalonians 5:

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit.

November 30-December 6 2014

            For a week in which I am to preach on peace, it has not been a peaceful week.

            I have continued my P90X2 exercise routine, Total gym, and Anytime Fitness. My shoulder continues to improve, but it also continues to hurt. I am not sure what a rotator cuff injury involves, but as long as I continue improving, I will keep at this.

            A couple of birthday dinners this week, one for me (63) and one for Tim (43). Some very nice time with Michael a the Half Moon. David was not present because he was bringing home his new daughter. On December 2, Edith Annalyn Plasterer to my youngest son, David, and his wife Kari. She was 6lbs, 9.5 ounces. With Tim, we ate at Outback, of course, she could get his chicken.

            Sunday, I preached from Psalm 80, around the theme of restoration of hope. I had a difficult conversation after worship. I helped set up computers. Triple S studied John 10:1-21. I had some good conversation afterward with two members of the church. These were some serious conversations.

            Cross~Wind hosted District Conference this year. It went quite different with nomination of persons from the District.

            I went to a “Let’s Talk” event at University of Indianapolis, with Mark Achtemeier speaking around the theme of same-sex marriage. This will be a matter of much discussion over the next couple years.

            Good visit with a couple from the church in their home.

            A good day with Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways. Good visit with some colleagues. Having read the book and watched a video, much was redundant. I supposed I might have benefited from some practical ways to follow through on what he said. Of course, it was good to see him in person.

            Some good reading this week regarding the theme of a book study group that is reading Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane.

 Here are a few scriptures on which I have been reflecting this week:

Psalm 85:

¹⁰ Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;

righteousness and peace will kiss each other.

Isaiah 40:1

Comfort, O comfort my people,

says your God. 

II Peter 3:

{13} But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. {14} Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; {15} and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.

November 23-29 2014

            What am I thankful for the week of November 23-29, 2014?

            I am thankful and humbled for the response to the sermon Sunday. It was the conclusion of a series on Getting from Sunday to Monday. This one focused on Opening Yourself to Guidance from God and Am I on the Right Path. We did not leave enough room for notes. However, I hope that having the text available will be helpful. We have also placed the notes in the Newsletter.

            I am thankful for the time spent after worship with Al Kundenreich, a former pastor of one of the predecessor congregations, Market Street. He came to the first worship service. A group met at Westside Diner. He was with Sarah Roos.

            I am thankful for the Thanksgiving dinner that came with the Acts Bible Study this week. Suzanne and I enjoy this group very much. Some good fun.

            Our family had a relaxing dinner at Golden Corral. Yes, they had turkey and all the fixings.

            With a few relaxing days, I spent some time reading what Wolfhart Pannenberg said about Karl Barth in Church Dogmatics. This has been very enlightening. I should say that both authors have been my companion in my theological journey. In particular, Pannenberg has been part of my life since I first encountered him in 1975. Sadly, he died recently. I have also looked up what Paul Ricoeur said about Barth. My, he can be so insightful. He is such a good reader of others. In addition, I wrote an article on Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane. I also read a little book by Bernard Bosanquet, What Religion Is.

            I have concern for the matter in Ferguson, MO. The successful attempt on the part of some to turn this into a racial matter is disturbing to me. Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted, which says to me that if he did wrong, which I am not convinced he did, it would have been a waste of time and money to pursue further. The fact that there were nine white and three black jurors apparently matters not. The judgment was unanimous. The stealing by Michael Brown, the fact that he tried to get the gun from the officer, the fact that he charged the officer, say to me that he was aggressive and bent on doing harm that night. It does make him a bad person, but he was up to no good that night. Of course, it is always sad when a human being loses his life. What disturbs me more is that so many people are willing to go down this path of racial division. I came across a factual article on why Officer Wilson was not indicted. http://www.policeone.com/ferguson/articles/7782643-Why-Officer-Darren-Wilson-wasnt-indicted/

            A saying I came across, posted by a friend on Facebook, Do not judge me by past. I do not live there anymore.

Here is an article on what Rick Warren at a family conference sponsored by the Pope. http://juicyecumenism.com/2014/11/23/rick-warren-challenges-christians-resist-sexual-revolution/

Here is an article that I found intriguing on the rise of the Dones in church life. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thegodarticle/2014/11/the-rise-of-the-dones-as-the-church-kills-spiritual-community/

Here is an article on the United Arab Emerits maintaining that CAIR is a terrorist organization. http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/uae-doubles-down-designation-cair-terrorists

Here is a humorous account of Obama and his use of executive order recently by SNL. http://www.ijreview.com/2014/11/206710-president-obama-gets-schoolhouse-rocked-snl-illegal-immigration-orders/