Liquid Mountaineering?!

Learning to be mature 2

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were - that is, what your level of maturity is?

An old farmer frequently described his Christian experience by saying, “Well, I'm not making much progress, but I'm well established!” One spring when he was hauling some logs, his wagon wheels sank down to the axles in mud. Try as he would, he couldn't get the wagon out. Defeated, he sat atop the logs, viewing the dismal situation. Soon a neighbour who had always felt uncomfortable with the farmer's worn-out testimony came along and greeted him, “Well, brother Jones, I see you're not making much progress, but you must be content because you're certainly well-established!

Hopefully you are not only “well-established” in the faith but making progress as well!

Paul describes the goal of his ministry to the Colossians: “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me” (Col. 1:28-29).

But what would such maturity look like? Paul elaborates in the next few verses (2:2-5):

“My goal is that their hearts may be encouraged…”

• The sense here is to means “to call to one’s side,” signifying such ideas as support, comfort and exhortation. The central thought here is being strengthened against the attack of erroneous teaching.

“having been knit together in love, …”

• The image here is like the strands of material that together form a garment; a mutually beneficial coexistence. The mature Church functions in its interdependency. This is a part of spiritual unity in the church. An immature church is often wrought with selfishness and division.

“and attaining to all the riches that comes from the full assurance of understanding, …”

• Paul mentioned the riches of Christ earlier (Col. 1:27) and tends to use “riches” as the fullness of goods, supplies, or resources. Understanding this leads to greater assurance.

“resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

• The mature church has both assurance of understanding and humility to appreciate the mystery of knowing Christ. Moreover, they possess a curiosity to keep seeking treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

“I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments.”

• The image here is the arena of the philosophers and debaters. A setting bent on challenging and debunking others with persuasive speech.

“For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.”

• Although at a distance, Paul delights in their excellent lifestyle marked by discipline and stability.
   

Learning to be mature 1

This post comes courtesy of material from http://www.midnightangel308.com/what_is_maturity.htm and http://www.dumblittleman.com/2008/01/do-you-recognize-7-ingredients-of.html

To get a better understanding of maturity is let’s take a look at some of the qualities of maturity and see how they relate to our lives and our actions. 

• Maturity is the ability to control anger and settle differences without violence or destruction. How often do we let anger and destructive habits taint our responses to a situation? As stressful as any situation may be, we need to learn how to resolve them without turning towards anger and potentially destructive behaviour.

• Maturity is patience. It is true what they say: the best things in life often take time to come to fruition. We have to be willing to pass up immediate pleasure or rewards and realize that sometimes the best solution to a problem is to go for the resolution that gives us long-term gain. We may not get what we want today, but in the long run we will grow our lives in a multitude of ways.

• Maturity is the capacity to face unpleasantness and frustration, discomfort and defeat, without complaint or collapse. Life will present us with any unpleasant situations. Sometimes we will not only face frustration, but also defeat. We must learn that no matter how difficult or unpleasant the situation may be we should face it without complaint or giving up on it altogether. Life is about learning and we can learn a lot from the situations we face that may put us in situations where we would rather not be.

• Maturity is humility. The hardest words in the English language to say are “I’m sorry” and “I was wrong”. Yet, these words are growth words – they grow you as a person. There are times when you will be right in life, despite what others have said. Instead of rushing to say “I told you so,” realize that everyone has a different view of reality. You don’t need to gain satisfaction by gloating about an outcome. People will respect you when they see that you are willing to admit your mistakes, and when you are big enough to just let things go.

• Maturity is the ability to make a decision and follow through. Doing be a talker, be a doer! So many people have good intentions but they never follow through on them. Don’t spend your entire life thinking of all the ways you can do things and then end up doing nothing.

• Maturity means dependability and coming through in a crisis. When you say you are going to do something, do everything in your power to make it happen. If you find out you cannot do something you said you were going to do, be sure to let the other party know why and explain alternative options. Get organized in life so that people learn that they can depend on you and know that when you say you will do something they can guarantee that what you say is golden.

• Maturity is the art of living in peace. Know that there are some things in life we simply cannot change and be accepting of that. Also know that there are opportunities to change things in this world. With this knowledge you can have the courage to go forth and help bring about change for the better. Have the wisdom to know when you can make a difference and when you must be accepting of what is presented to you despite how you feel to the contrary.

The saturating element

This post comes from Dr. Ralph E. Enlow, Jr. in the latest eNews mailout (subscribe here) from ABHE:

A recent Orlando Sentinel under-30 “new voices” guest editorial feature by a 19-year old college student arrested my attention. The young lady is a student in a nearby nominally Christian, historically church-related college. The essay’s headline reads: Divining the presence of God: group think? Reflecting on sociologists Michael Donahue and Bradley Hertel’s assertion that the “collective conscience” effect (postulated by Emil Durkheim) of parental style correlates strongly with children’s image of God, the student posits that the “spiritual energy” associated with the manifest presence of the “Holy Spirit” may be simply an emanation of collective thought. Upon what authority does she base her conclusion? “Ultimately, one’s own personal experiences and beliefs become the judge of Durkheim’s idea.”

Seldom do we witness a more naked acknowledgement of the postmodern worldview’s self-validating subjectivity. What can be known is an unimpeachably personal matter and what can, thus, be asserted as truth is at the same time both speculative and unverifiable. Truth is validated by self-interpreted personal experience, nothing more. Such is the product of higher education from which biblical engagement is absent and in which divine revelation is regarded as intellectually inadmissible.

Whatever else biblical higher education means, it must involve an epistemological commitment to the Bible as a relevant, authoritative source for knowing and to study of the Bible as central to the pursuit of life and truth. We do not make the Bible central to our curricula merely because we are preparing people for church occupations but because deep and lifelong engagement with the Scriptures is the key to every field of human inquiry and flourishing. Study of the Bible must not be merely a curricular supplement; it must be a saturating element. Now more than ever we must neither diminish nor shrink from our commitment to ensure that our education is substantially and functionally biblical higher education. Otherwise, we may become places of religious symbolism and pious sentimentality engaging our students in group think.

Universal church board functions

According to well-known church consultant Aubrey Malphurs, in his book Leading Leaders (Baker Books, 2005), the key to effective leadership in the vast majority of today's churches lies as much with their governing boards as it does with their pastor. But Malphurs is concerned that many churches are led by those who volunteer because there is a need, yet they have little leadership training to help them succeed. He asks, “How can well-meaning but sometimes ill-prepared lay people guide the path of a church body?”

While church boards are necessary, I doubt serving in this role has ever generated the kind of enthusiasm that other forms of church ministry do. Perhaps if boards reacquainted themselves with some crucial theological and practical aspects of church leadership, those involved in this vital ministry might feel reinvigorated. Therefore, let me illustrate some universal “best practices” of boardmanship in local churches, drawing upon insights from Malphurs book and the Bible:

• Praying (Malphurs, pp. 66-67). Boards can lead by praying for the congregation, for the pastor and staff, and for themselves. Taking their cue from Epaphras, board members can lead through wrestling in prayer for everyone’s strength of faith, maturity and full perception of God’s complete will for them (cf. Col. 4:12). Paul urges the churches at Colossae and Laodicea to “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ…” (Col. 4:2-3 NIV).
• Monitoring or Overseeing (Malphurs, pp. 67-70). In the spirit of the way Paul instructed Timothy to “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16 NIV), there are four crucial areas that require board oversight:
  • The church’s spiritual condition: Boards can monitor the church’s spiritual vital signs, such as passion in worship, attentiveness to the Holy Spirit’s voice, relational health, regular and meaningful fellowship and active participation in Christian mission.
  • The church’s essential biblical doctrine: All this assumes that board members have a working knowledge of the Bible and theology. Church leaders must remember there are essentials and non-essential doctrines. I recommend taking direction from Mohler’s guidelines for “theological triage.”[1] Boards can offer a different pulse on the congregation’s teaching needs that will help pastors be more relevant.
  • The church’s ministry direction and philosophy: Certainly this includes both mission and vision but also the church’s ministry style. A church’s direction and philosophy of ministry is often an area of conflict and intense competition. Someone must clarify what kind of church this is lest strong personalities attempt to highjack it around their own interests.
  • The Senior Pastor’s leadership: Depending on the functioning of the church’s governance model, monitoring, encouraging, protecting and evaluating a senior pastor is the board’s responsibility. Good policy along with trust and wisdom in these matters will help ensure the long-term health of a local church’s leadership.
• Deciding (Malphurs, pp. 70-71): A crucial meeting that determined a theological and cultural tenet occurs in Acts 15. Here, the apostles and elders met to consider the question of Gentile observance of Jewish customs in relation to salvation. After much listening and discussion, Scripture records a wonderful phrase: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” (Acts 15:28), that illustrates the persons involved in and method of vital decision-making in church leadership. Ultimately, it is boards and pastors who should be meeting to make the church’s key decisions in concert with the direction of the Holy Spirit.
• Advising (Malphurs, p. 71): Having been in diverse leadership roles, I have found there is indeed much to gain from several advisers. Proverbs 15:22 states “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed (NASB). Boards must not shrink back from advising pastoral staff on ministry issues because they believe the pastor knows better. Having been a pastor and now a board member, I can testify that neither party holds the lion’s share of wisdom or expertise on church ministry.

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[1] Learn more about this at http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2004-05-20 (accessed Feb.12, 2008).

The Craft of Christian Teaching

Released in 1998 by Judson Press, Israel Galindo has written mostly from the perspective of teaching in a local church, Galindo writes that at the heart of this book “is the question of what are authentic skills and approaches to Christian instruction in the local church and related settings” (p. 4). The book intends to help teachers by providing a basic orientation to an authentic approach to the craft of Christian teaching. For Galindo, Christian teaching lays a solid base for the uniqueness of Christian education’s sanctifying role in helping people “become” and that learning equals change. It is clear that Galindo is a passionate teacher who clearly articulates the importance of skilled teachers being present at key teaching moments in someone’s life.

Strangely, Galindo seems to suggest that a teacher’s ability to teach is not as important a value in the learning experience compared to the learner’s participation (p. 156) and people who don’t feel they can teach are “just the people we’re looking for.” While I agree with his concern that over-emphasizing teacher performance could produce passive dependent learners I think this is an odd remark that undermines the importance of the spiritual gift of teaching and the individuals who serve with this gift. I think he is getting at the common assumption that education is centered on the teacher who is loaded with content. While I agree that the fruit of Christian teaching is someone who learns, the tree on which that fruit hangs in not any old tree!

Especially meaningful and applicable to me was chapter 2, “What Makes Christian Education Christian?” From this, I constructed the following diagram with only a slight modification from Galindo’s order:

If Galindo  is correct in stating that the goal of the intentional educator is to help persons “become”  and the tremendous power and potential of education is to “help shape and make different persons, hopefully, better persons,” (p, 15) then the most fundamental implication on the Christian teacher is to nurture “becoming.”

And Jesus said...

Graffiti found on a wall of St. John's University:

Jesus said unto them: "Who do you say that I am?"

And they replied: "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the omnipotent ecclesiastical authority, the absolute, divine, sacerdotal monarch, the kerygma in which we find the ultimate meaning of our interpersonal relationships."

And Jesus said: "What?"