Why Are There No Dinosaurs? (This is a serious question.)

Bullet Points About Systemic / Cultural / Deep Change

Except for birds, why are there no dinosaurs? 

They didn't go extinct because they didn't try really hard. Had no vision. Didn't try new things. Had the wrong beliefs.

They went extinct because the world changed, and their way of being in the world no longer worked.

What is the church's way of being in the world?

Congregating.

Same place. Same time. Same routine. In person. Every week. Till you die.

So to thrive, the church's way of being in the world needs a lot of people who:
- have spare time;
- have spare cash;
- can go offline and show up in person;
- can make a commitment to be somewhere at a specific time time next week, or the week after that, or the week after that, or ... till they die.

Here's the catch. The church exists to be for people with no spare cash or time. But. The church - in its present form - can't exist without people who have spare cash and time.

As the global climate crisis and the global impoverishment crisis is eliminating people with spare cash and time, what new form must the church assume in order to flourish?

What does it look like for impoverished people living in chaos to be the church?

And do it without any external support from the benevolence of those who do have spare time and cash.

Bullet Points about Systemic / Cultural / Deep Change

 

• Data Doesn’t Drive Change. Narrative Does


• Loyal Customers are the Enemy of Change


• Tradition / Organization-Culture Kills Vision. Every. Time.


• The Known Familiar Kills the Desired Future. Every. Time.
  (Well, 100 years ago is a counter example. What happened then?)


• Why Are There No Dinosaurs?
  (This is a serious question)
  Except for birds, why are there no dinosaurs? They didn't go extinct because they didn't try really hard. Had no vision. Didn't try new things. Had the wrong beliefs.
  They went extinct because the world changed, and their way of being in the world no longer worked.
  What is the church's way of being in the world?
  Congregating.
  Same place. Same time. Same routine. In person. Every week. Till you die.
  So to thrive, the church's way of being in the world needs a lot of people who:
  - have spare time;
  - have spare cash;
  - can make a commitment to be somewhere at a specific time time next week, or the week after that, or the week after that, or ... till they die.
  Here's the catch. The church exists to be for people with no spare cash or time. But. The church - in its present form - can't exist without people who have spare cash and time.
  As the global climate crisis and the global empoverishment crisis is eliminating people with spare cash and time, what new form must the church assume in order to flourish?


• The World Does Not Exist to Give the Church a Reason for Being


• The Church Is Not for Christians


• Kenosis / Self-Emptying Is Hierarchic / Colonizing Language


• “Welcome” is Hierarchic / Colonizing Language


• Salvation and Atonement Are Hierarchical / Colonizing Language


• Exactly What “Message” Are We Selling?


• What a Friend We Have in Jesus


• The Good News of Jesus Christ Is Not the Church


• Data About the Church is Not Data about The Gospel


• Evolution Promotes Diversity. Not Equity or Inclusion or Justice


• All Change Is Loss


• Show Me the Money (Demographics Don’t Reveal Real-World Power)


• Does Anyone Here Know How To Go Viral?


• Can We Have A Church Without Colleges And Libraries? Pension Plans?

David Ewart (aka Dr. Doom)
June 2025