Thy Kingdom Connected

This post was contributed by LifeTogether intern Justin Harvey.

About a month ago, we had a spontaneous dinner party at our house, which started with one person getting coffee with us and ended up with seven of us in our home, eating soup, drinking beer and having great conversations. There was August, the guy who works at the grocery store in our village square and whom we befriended; there was Stephen, the realtor who got us our apartment when we moved to Boston and whom we’ve become good friends with; then there were Luke and Martha, a few coworkers of Skye’s at the bakery she works at, and one of their friends… During it all, I thought to myself, “Ohh so this is how networks work.” Every person there had come into our lives in a different way, but all of them were connected; the apartment we live in, the neighborhood we live in, the jobs we have, the local businesses we frequent.. they’re all connected! And this network, the random-yet-connected gathering of folks gave birth to life – good conversation, laughter, sharing of stories – all of which are life giving practices. Experiences like that make you stop and think: what if this is how life – how church - is supposed to be?

The reason that networks are on my mind – and the reason a question like that is particularly on my mind – is because I’m reading through the new book by one of my professors from grad school, “Thy Kingdom Connected” by Dwight Friesen. Dwight highlights that life is really all about networks, and challenges us to view the earth, our cities, our neighborhoods, and yes, the church, through a new network-lens.  He does this by looking at and weaving together elements of network theory, the physical sciences, and theology, which might sound overwhelming, but I found it very accessible. One of the ways Dwight helps us see leaders as connective is in what he calls "the parable of Google." When you or I go to Google, we rarely go there for Google's sake: we go there to find links, to discover other places on the web. If you think about it, it's quite remarkable. Their success lies in their ability to connect you and I with the information we are looking for, but Google doesn't generate content, they link us with those who do. Google possess  no authority over us other than that which we give it; instead, Dwight says, " its authority is earned through consistently serving its users by giving away the very connections it has." We have come to trust Google. But the moment Google no longer connects us in the ways we need, we'll find another site that will do that for us. The church, then, has much to learn about this kind of connective leadership, as it's leaders "humbly serve those connected to them, linking them to others even at great personal cost."


I highly recommend you pick up a copy of his book. It’s already reshaping how I see life, including incidents like the one above.