Difference between revisions of "Organism, not organization"

Revision as of 12:29, 4 February 2015

Organism, not organization is a term coined by Georges Houssney to describe the intended structure of a Christian church as taught by the apostle Paul in the Bible who described the church as a "body".

This concept can be identified in biodynamic farming where Rudolph Steiner described the farm as an "organism" that can be seen as living.

An organism is organized

An organism is highly organized into parts with different roles. Each part, however, shares the same DNA. It is unified by it's membership in the common goal of sustaining and reproducing itself.

An organism's parts are not expendable or replaceable

The function of an Organization vs an Organism

An organization's ultimate purpose is to grow itself, increasing it's resources and power year after year with no end. Although no organization truly lasts forever, and some, particularly non-profit organizations may have other goals, the general pattern of an organization is of unending growth.

In nature, unending growth is called a tumor

An organism, in contrast, grows until a point of maturity, at which time it's energy shifts from self-growth, to reproduction, the development and nurturing of children.

An "organism farm" or an "organism church" does not seek infinite growth for itself like a corporate agroindustry farm or a mega-church does, but instead it seeks to replicate it's successful model by investing in others.