"Gordon McKenzie, who did much to foster the art of creative disruption at Hallmark, tells stories of going into classrooms full of kids at different levels. He would ask, "How many artists are there in the room? Would you please raise your hands?” He reports that the response was always the same: all first—grade kids considered themselves artists, in second grade about half of the kids put their hands up, in third grade about 30 percent of the kids identified themselves as artists, and so on. By the time he reached sixth—grade classes, no more than one or two put their hands up — and even then rather guardedly, fearing rejection by the other kids for identifying themselves as artists. The point he makes with this is that schools participate in the suppression of creative genius, and that something akin to this is at work in all organizations that suppress creativity in the cause of protecting the status quo.1 The loss of creative imagination is a quo. The loss of creative imagination is a direct result of trying to preserve the status quo in any organization, including the church.
The result of this suppression of the artful imagination is that churches and Christian organizations find themselves "stuck in a moment" (as Bono sings in the U2 song), and they struggle to break free from the limitations inherent in their current way of thinking."
(Alan Hirsch & David Ferguson. "On The Verge")
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