The team here has been working hard, they have achieved some pretty special things in the communities, but it was a very simple act that turned them and the program upside down. One day in a community discussion, instead of sitting on chairs provided they pushed them aside and sat on the floor - where every one else was sitting.
For the Program team: It was this, something they had just not thought about intentionally before, that led to the community ownership that exists today and has transformed their thinking about being among the people - being incarnational.
For the community: It is this that leaders tell me changed their attitude to these development people. "They sat on the floor - with us"!
Moving from the chair to the floor was not just a physical change, it changed the perspective (of both groups), it showed that "we are in this thing together", we are true partners. We are all on the same level. We are willing to get dirty together. We do not think of ourselves higher or more privileged.
I suspect that this is a principle that needs to spread beyond the development world. One of the worst things that religion did is introduce the platform (in all its guises). It has become a form that some people protect to make themselves feel more important, more powerful, more privileged, more in control. Sadly, (in my opinion obviously) some religious leaders have become masters at dominating and protecting their platforms, and so have many development professionals.
Development professionals (and religious professionals) are supposed to be partners, they are supposed to be at the service of the communities they serve, they are supposed to be servant leaders. So, if that truly is what the goal is, and as far as I know the goal is still to be like Jesus, then we need to get the professionals, the leaders off the chairs and onto the floor. It is possible to lead from there, Jesus and others (Gandhi and Mother Teresa) have proved it.
Of course this is all predicated on the hope that we are willing to give up the idea that we are the all powerful, we are willing to give up the limelight, we are willing to give up total control and 'settle' for what may be chaotic, dynamic, unpredictable, unfamiliar - but truly a partnership of organic transformation.
