I just listened to Clayton Christensen give a great speech on why we can’t create jobs in America. It dealt with some deep rooted paradigms in our business culture. He also gave three concerns he has with the current direction of the church to which I belong. I’d like to give a summary of those three concerns before I forget them. Maybe you’ll enjoy his perspectives as much as I did.
1. The church gives too much emphasis on the number of baptisms. Clayton suggested that instead of baptisms, the church should focus on church attendance. I couldn’t agree more. I had a very good friend who fell in love with a girl and she wouldn’t marry him because he wasn’t a returned missionary. My friend is the best Mormon that I know and is currently serving in his bishopric. Girls who are dating guys should look at if that guy is doing his home teaching rather than if he served a mission several years ago. What have you done for me lately? I think that is what the Lord is going to ask us and it is something we should ask of our members too.
2. Clayton put it this way, “Parents outsource too much”. A generation or two ago, children worked in the house, helping to make bread and can food and put oil in the furnace. Not only did they have to work hard, but they had to work hard for their parents. Today, much of the manual labor in running a home has been simplified and automated through modern conveniences. With our extra time, parents are now running their children around to different activities thinking that they are creating well rounded adults to serve. In reality, they are just working for their kids and their education isn’t as valuable as good hard work.
3. The Church’s capital is its members. And the Church’s capital is migratory. The members of the church make the mistake of looking for the “best” ward when they move to a new neighborhood. This is a mistake, because moving to the “best” ward often means moving to a ward with an abundance of capable people and the amount of service that any given individual has to perform is diminished. In contrast, they should look for a ward that needs good people so that they can give the amount of sacrifice and service that they need to give to grow and improve and help others.
Anyway, I thought they were great insights into the current affairs of the church and the challenges it is facing in today’s world. I hope they are as insightful to you as they were to me.
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2 comments:
Dean I appreciate this very much. His second point is why we make up jobs for our kids to do and slave drive them to do it. Its so important to us to have our kids buy in to the reality that they belong to something bigger than dance or rugby or swim team, but that they belong to a family that needs them and relies on them and in turn supports and encourages them. It is different to 'make up' chores that I could do instead, but it is so valuable for kids to contribute old fashioned hard labor to the family that cares for them :)
Link to the talk, please.
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