Gang,
I'd try to write this in a way that masks the identity of the person who is the subject of this post, but I don't think I could succeed. Beyond that, I think it's important that I not even try.
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Two of my Characteristics of the CGGC Brand that go very far in defining our, to this point, irreversible decline and decay are:
11. To Talk is to Walk-ism.
and,
10. Cynicism.
I can see no way that the CGGC will reverse its fall and become what it once was until we repent and turn from these...I'll be honest,...sins.
The two characteristics are linked. They feed upon each other and have been doing so for the last decade, at least.
I'm beginning to be hopeful that we may, possibly, be able to repent, turn, and be forgiven of them, and, again, do the Lord's will and walk in His blessing.
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Within the past year, the ERC hired Nick DiFrancesco to be its new Executive Director.
In recent years, I have become a voice crying in the wilderness in the ERC and in the CGGC. Yet, quite a few people in the body maintain contact with me. So, while, officially, I'm persona non grata, I still am involved in and aware of things CGGC.
When Nick was being hired, was hired, and since he assumed the position, I've picked up a lot of chatter about him...and, I still do.
And, and I think this is crucial, the Cynicism and Talk-ism components of the CGGC's identity were...ARE...in the center of the conversation.
At the beginning, people were thinking that Nick was saying all of the right things but they were skeptical, if not cynical. They didn't quite trust him. They were going to have to see him actually live his words before they'd believe him.
Later on, they were expressing mild surprise that Nick actually seemed to be doing what he had said he'd do.
Very recently, from several of my CGGC connections, I've heard people ultimately, happily and joyfully, concluding that Nick is for real.
This reserve about Nick illustrates how Cynicism and Talk-ism work.
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In the CGGC, we have become accustomed to our, uh, leaders hornswoggling us.
So, no one, among the people in contact with me, was completely confident, in the beginning, that Nick would really be the person he claimed to be and do the things he promised to do.
Later on, when Nick was already proving to be trustworthy, people were still reserved, or cynical, and, with good reason, because of the past behavior of others in institutional authority across the CGGC.
From up here at 40,000 feet, I will say that it speaks well of Nick, and the people in contact with me, that Nick is already being trusted.
I see some small patch of light through the clouds of CGGC despair that repentance and a turn from our paralyzing sins may be in our future.
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Still, two notes of caution:
1. The people in contact with me are, for the most part, well-placed in the ERC and CGGC hierarchy and, therefore, are in close contact with Nick and able to see, up close, who he is and what he's doing. He's in a good position to win these people over. Others, who didn't start out so pro-Conference and who are less well connected, will be a much harder sell.
2. Nick is different. Besides him, Talk-ism still reigns among the people of the CGGC who hold institutional authority. And, because of that, there is still ample reason for people who have chosen the sin of cynicism to continue to be cynical.
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As a member of the ERC, my connection is with my Region and with the people in Findlay. Talk-ism still reigns in Findlay. By that, I mean that, as I see it, the Findlay crowd is still willing to be known, first and foremost, by what they say, not by what they do. They are known to talk well, but, in the end, not to do much at all.
There's nothing seriously evil in what they do. Yet, from what I know and from what the people I know tell me, they do, essentially, nothing meaningful. They, certainly, are not hypocrites. They, simply, are content to be good talkers.
And, because cynicism is so much a part of the CGGC identity, their benign type of Talk-ism is a serious problem.
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What I see in Nick encourages me. I know him almost exclusively by what he does.
Sadly, I still know others with institutional authority in the body only by their talk.
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Some points of reference:
We know Jesus first of all by what He did. The content of the Christian gospel is about what Jesus did: Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day...He appeared. (1 Corinthians 15)
For all of the important doctrinal material in his Epistles, we know Paul, first and foremost, by what he did.
In the movement days of the Church of God, John Winebrenner was known, most of all, by what he did. Could anyone have ever been concerned that John Winebrenner was nothing more than a puff of hot air?...only a big talker?
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Thank God that there is, again, someone with authority in our body who:
1. Has a walk that matches his talk...
And,
2. Is becoming known for what he does more than what he says.
Here's hoping that rubs off.
Is it possible that we might repent?!!!?!!!?!
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In the blue print that introduced this post, I suggested that Nick is its subject. When I wrote that, I thought that he would be.
But, as I worked it out, I realized that he isn't.
As I think in New Testament terms, I'm becoming more convinced every day that leadership is not a Jesus concept but that followership is.
Jesus never said, "Come, let me lead you." What He did say is, "Come, follow me."
The thing about Nick that distinguishes him from others who possess institutional authority in the CGGC is that he is achieving followership.
In the end, this post became about people I know who are willing to practice followership in regard to Nick...those highly placed but unnamed sources for what I've written.
Nick may or may not be saying, "Follow me," but people I know, love and respect are following.
It's those people who became the subject of this post.
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