Churches and other organizations can learn a lot from the science of bridge building. At any point in time, when designing a bridge engineers must account for four different negative forces that seek to destroy the bridge. It is no different in the church. As we steward a structure that helps us Bring tribe and Truth together, we have to account for these same issues. Compression (push) is what will cause a bridge to buckle. Therefore, the engineer must ensure there is a way to dissipate compression. Tension (pull) is what causes a bridge to snap because it is stretched too far. Therefore, the engineer must ensure there is a way to ground the tension. Torsion (twist) is what will get a bridge bent out of shape. Therefore, the engineer must ensure there is a way to gird the bridge. And finally, shear (oppose) is when the bridge is pulling against itself, which is why the engineer must build in a way to reinforce the structure to keep cracks from forming.
All of these things are also true in the church. Therefore, we have four guiding principles that are drawn directly from the bridge building imagery.
Guiding Principle 1 (our response to compression): Making time for one another is better than taking time for yourself.
It’s common in life to struggle under the weight of compiling burdens that feel overwhelming, and we often buckle under pressure. The best way to dissipate that kind of pressure is to share our burdens with fellow believers. We can’t share secret burdens… so be sure to share your burden so that it’s not a secret! It’s not that taking time for yourself and self-care is bad, it’s not! But given the choice between self-care and caring for one another, we choose the latter.
Guiding Principle 2 (our response to tension): The Word is the primary source of our pursuit of God.
It’s also common in life to feel stretched beyond what we can bear. The best way to handle that kind of tension is to ground it. In our case, we stay grounded in God’s Word (both Christ, but also the Bible). We choose to remember that when we don’t know how to handle tension, we go straight to scripture for our answer. Yes, we are ultimately pursuing God; but His word tells us how we pursue Him.
Guiding Principle 3 (our response to torsion): Fighting against complexity requires fighting for simplicity.
If you have ever felt all twisted up in life because you are being pulled in multiple directions all at once, then you understand the force of torsion. The solution is to strengthen our own boundaries, to ensure that we won’t be spread so thin that we easily give way. In our church we will fight to maintain simplicity in our approach to ministry so that we don’t drift toward complexity. In this way we will maintain margin so that we can be flexible not to the whims of the world, but to the sway of the Spirit.
Guiding Principle 4 (our response to shear): Transparently presenting facts is key to preventing cracks.
A crack never stays small, and when other negative forces are thrust upon a cracked structure, it is unable to bear the weight it was meant to carry. In the church, there are constant opportunities for cracks to form, but most of them come from poor communication. Our commitment is to radical transparency in decision making, money, staffing, etc. We don’t guarantee that every answer will make everyone happy (and that’s not our mission), but we will promise clarity in regard to why our church leaders have made specific decisions. The only information that will be off-limits is the pastoral insight into the personal lives of our congregation.