Renting an Idea

I believe I made a passing reference to "renting" an idea in a post where I mentioned Shane having spoken at church on a Wednesday evening around New Year Day.  He suggested that we consider this in connection with New Year Resolutions.*

When we rent an idea rather than owning it, we are acknowledging that committing to the idea may need to be reconsidered at some point.  This may be needed because of new evidence, changing circumstances, or different priorities, etc.  In other words, we go into a situation already knowing that we may need to move at some point to a new place in our thinking.

If we own an idea, parting with it becomes difficult.  We've made a big investment in it, for one thing.  We might feel a sense of failure at not having been able to maintain the responsibilities of ownership.  We might feel that we've betrayed a cause by forsaking it.  We might have to admit that we made a poor choice in "buying" the idea to start with.  At this point--when parting with an idea seems necessary, humility,  confession, and apology are in order, but doubling down in ownership of the idea is the most instinctive response.   

I suspect that being German (and Amish Mennonite?) nudges us toward trying to own every idea that occurs to us--at least if we think it's been properly vetted and if it seems logical.  We lean toward wanting more than enough, in plenty of time. This allows us to feel good about such virtuous-sounding things as being prepared and exercising good stewardship.  Nevertheless, this tendency can probably sometimes be a detriment to us. We would do well to balance this German "owning" tendency with other wise approaches--like the Japanese "renting" one (just enough, just in time). 

To be sure, some ideas really do call for ownership from the beginning.  I see almost all of the commitments involved in a life of faith as being in this category.  For the sake of working well with others, most other commitments should probably be rented rather than owned--initially at least. 

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If you've reflected enough on the above ideas to ponder what they mean for you, you're probably already making some kind of owning/renting decision--regarding how you will engage ideas, going forward.  Just so you know, it's OK with me if you choose to rent for now.  As long as you understand the terms of the rental agreement and have signed on the dotted line, you're good to go.  If you decide to buy later, you can do so, using money that you're collecting now in your "experience bank."

*I can never figure out how to write this properly.  What we usually say is New Years Resolutions, but neither plural nor possessive seems right.  Any help?