Responding to the Spirit

Economic downturn, midlife crisis, or work of the Holy Spirit? Whatever the reason, seminaries are welcoming a new type of student to campus. This student comes with life experience, a background in a profession (such as business, education, law, or medicine), and a desire to make a difference in the world.

Many of the students that I relate to at the Murfreesboro center of Central Baptist Theological Seminary fall into this category. They have families, jobs, and church responsibilities, but they are seeking something new for themselves and for the Kingdom of God. They have a vision that may not fit into the usual parameters of church-related ministry. Some want to be part of a ministry that does not exist already. This is a work of God's Spirit.

This is happening at other seminaries as well.

In a Religious News Service article, David Worley, director of admissions at Iliff School Theology in Denver says, “Our big push is recruiting folks who want to be social entrepreneurs and advocate for social change.”

In the same article, Arthur Holder, dean of the Graduate Theological Union in the San Francisco Bay Area observes, “More people see this [seminary study] as an entrepreneurial venture. They’re saying, `I want to start something. I want to start a new kind of church, a virtual religious community that meets online, or an urban retreat center...’ They’re not expecting the denomination or church organization to do this for them. They want to get the training, the skills and the knowledge (so that) they can create it as they go along.”

Many seminaries are responding to this opportunity with alternative delivery systems for the Master of Divinity program or new degrees. The Shawnee campus of Central Baptist Theological Seminary has inaugurated a new Master of Divinity program called CREATE designed especially for ministry entrepreneurs. The seminary also offers a Master of Arts in Missional Church Studies with an emphasis in urban ministry.

I think we will see more such innovations as seminaries and theological schools provide for this new type of student. The wind of the Spirit is blowing and calling us to respond in creative, responsible ways.

Making Many Books

We read in Ecclesiastes 12:12, “Be warned, my son,. . . of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” I am not sure exactly what the writer was getting at here, but my initial response is to say “Amen” to the first part and “So?” to the second.

Anyone who knows me realizes that I like to read. I have certain categories that particularly appeal to me, but I occasionally venture outside of those areas to consider other genres. The greatest gift that someone can give me is to recommend a book that has been especially meaningful to that person.

I like to share books that I find interesting, helpful, formative, or instructive. At the top of my blog page, you will see a banner with “Ircel’s Recommendations.” If you follow that link to Amazon.com, you will find several categories.

First is a list of books that I am reading right now. Some of these are in progress or may just be sitting on my shelf (or on my Kindle) waiting their turn. These have usually been recommended by a friend, written by an author I respect, or I have stumbled across the title in an article or online and the topic sounds interesting.

I have suggested books in six other categories. “Missional Church” addresses the work of the church as the missio Dei or “mission of God.” These include classics in the field and some new additions. “Leadership” lists books that address this topic in the church, in secular organizations, or both. In the “Emerging Church” list, I have tried to highlight seminal thinkers who are not only observers but practitioners as well. “Postmodernism” means different things to different people, but the books listed here are accessible even to those who have little or no background in the subject. “Vocational and Spiritual Formation” books address the idea of what it means to be a Christian and how one can grow in discipleship. This has been an interest of mine for a long time, but my approach to it has evolved over the years. The books here reflect where I am now on the topic. Finally, I have always had an interest in how people work (or fail to work) together, so the “Organizations” category addresses this from a number of perspectives.

I hope you will take a look at these lists and give me some feedback. And, if you want to recommend a book, I would welcome it!

Vision is Just the Beginning

President George H. W. Bush (”41”) was widely criticized when he commented that he did not get the “vision” thing. For the last several decades, if you have read anything about personal or organizational development, you will realize that having a vision for yourself, your organization, or your church is mandatory. I don’t disagree with this idea, but vision is just the beginning. You can have a magnificent and compelling vision and fail in the pursuit of that vision!

There are other things to consider—values, strategies, etc.—in building an effective organization or church but I affirm that the biggest challenge that a leader faces in the 21st century is obtaining resources. When I used the term, I am using it in a very broad sense. Resources include (but are not limited to) people, finances, spiritual insight, time, and technology. In fact, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between these four; they tend to blend into one another.

For a church or church-related organization, there must be a focused attempt to marshal spiritual resources. This is done through prayer, discernment, study of scripture, and dialogue in the community of faith. For believers, this is the beginning point. If we cannot find the spiritual resources to do what we attempt, then we better stop at once.

People are a vital resource. Personal commitment to any organization, including the church, is much more transient than in the past. We can cite any number of reasons. Some people leave the organization because “their needs are not being met.” Others question the commitment of the organization to them, so they “jump ship” first. Organizations can be part of the problem as well by failing to adapt to the gifts and skills of those who are part of the organization. Without people, we will do little to move toward our vision.

Time is also at a premium. This and the people resource clearly overlap. People will not invest their time in something that is not effective, helpful, or rewarding. On the other hand, individuals will give a great deal of personal time to something in which they believe. From another perspective, people may be impatient and unwilling to give the organization the time it needs to accomplish its mission

The organization that fails to adopt and use technological resources will not survive the 21st century. Sure it takes time to set up digital systems, but once they are established they enable us to use our people and time resources more effectively. Communication, administration, and education benefit from proper use of technological resources.

When we use the term “resources,” finances are usually thought of first, but money is only one ingredient needed to achieve a vision. I would argue that spiritual direction, people, and technology may be higher on the list of priorities, although money can help maximize the effectiveness of the latter two.

Resources allow vision to become reality. The problem is not that resources are limited. This goes without saying. No matter what resource we discuss, there is always a finite supply (including time). Allocation is the issue. The challenge for the leader of the 21st century organization is to persuade and challenge those with resources to invest them to accomplish the vision. This is an art that comes from passion and practice.

Are You Saved?

One of the classes I teach from time to time is titled “The Basics of Contemporary Christian Witness.” The scope of the course as taught at Central Seminary includes a study of the nature of salvation (especially as expressed in the Gospels), the missiology of the church through the ages, and an understanding of the missional church.

One of the papers required of the students is a personal statement of their soteriology or doctrine of salvation. Students sometimes argue that there is certainly only one approach to salvation, but the history of the Christian faith shows otherwise. How and why we are saved by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has been interpreted in many ways in the history of the church. The doctrine has even led some Christian to persecute other Christians!

Each of us brings his or her own perspective to this doctrine today. Because of our background, the teachings to which we have been exposed, our study of the Bible, and our life experiences, we each develop our own understanding of salvation even if we have never fully articulated it.

My personal perspective on salvation has changed. In my experience, the idea of salvation has usually centered on either being saved from something or to something. For example, one is saved from the fires of Hell and/or saved to eternal life with God. Too often such approach comes down to an eternal “fire insurance policy” for the believer with little implication for life now.

It may be an oversimplification, but I am coming to see that I am saved for something. For me that something is the Kingdom of God (some prefer to call it the “Reign of God”). When Jesus was on the earth, he talked a lot about the kingdom: “it is already among you.” “It is coming,” “this is a sign of the kingdom.” With Jesus’ advent, the Kingdom of God broke into the world. That same kingdom is still breaking into the world today. It is an “already, but not yet” reality.

Believers are called to be citizens of that Kingdom. We are called out of life as we know it into life in a new culture or way of being. Our lives are reoriented with a new set of values, priorities, and opportunities. To me, this is a pretty good definition of salvation.

Consider the Context

We just returned from a Thanksgiving visit to our son and his family in the San Francisco area. Every time we visit I am struck by the multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural nature of the population there. I realize, of course, that the same thing is happening on an accelerating scale across the country. When I go to a program at my grandchildren’s elementary school in Tennessee, the principal struggles to pronounce names that are Asian, Hispanic, and Indian.

Churches in my little part of the world are only beginning to address this cultural diversity. Most of the time, the strategy is to create churches that are targeted to a specific racial, ethnic, or language group and translate the North American understanding of the gospel for that group. This ignores the fact that some things do not translate well! Often this strategy does not take into account the vast differences within a particular language group. The strategy also does not consider that we could learn something from dialogue with these groups that might help us to communicate the gospel more effectively to them.

For example, if we consider the experience of certain Hispanics, we might discover that some biblical themes would resonant with their experience. Those who have grown up in virtual slavery would appreciate the liberation themes of Exodus. The oppressed often identify with the struggles that the young church in New Testament times experienced with the Roman Empire.

In working with Asians, we would do well to understand both the cultural impact of their professed faith and the rich tradition of meditation and contemplation we find there. How does the Wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible address some of the issues with which Buddhism and other oriental religions are concerned? Are there commonalities?

A friend has developed a model that uses teachings in the Koran about Jesus as a beginning point for evangelistic dialogue with Muslims. In so doing, he is using a valuable tool that is readily available to his audience.

We have much work to do if we are to learn how to exegete the biblical message in order to present it in a way that can be understood and embraced by those whose experiences are so different from ours. Of course, we can ignore this opportunity, but such a choice leads to irrelevance and the church cannot afford to be irrelevant in the 21st century.

Take Time to be Thankful

I often get invitations on Facebook to join advocacy groups such as “Keep Christ in Christmas.” This year I have seriously considered setting up on that advocates “Let’s Not Start the Christmas Season until the Day after Thanksgiving.”

There are some, including folks in my own family, who start putting up decorations the second week in November. Some have even already bought all of their presents! (Yes, it is hard to live with people like that.)

I am sure that their efforts are driven by a love for the season (as well as personal industriousness), but I cannot say the same for the stores that start pushing Christmas decorations and gifts on Labor Day. I cannot believe that their enthusiasm is driven by good feelings about the “reason for the season.”

There are two primary reasons that I will hold off on my decorations, Christmas music, and holiday observance until after Thanksgiving. First, I love Thanksgiving. I know that some consider this holiday a capitulation to “civil religion,” but I enjoy the opportunity to stop and be thankful for the blessings of the past year. Our worship service this past Sunday was a good reminder of how God has blessed us and of God’s continuing presence with us every day—certainly something for which to be thankful.

Second, this coming Sunday, the first after Thanksgiving, is the first Sunday of Advent. I have come to appreciate the rhythms of this part of the liturgical year. We are reminded of the meaning of hope, love, joy, and peace for Christians around the world. We are prepared for the coming of Messiah. By reading the Common Lectionary texts for the season, we join millions around the world in meditating on these blessings.

I’m not going to start that Facebook group, but I am planning to enjoy Thanksgiving before turning my attention to the coming of the One who give me reason to be thankful.

The Church is Like a . . .

You’ve heard the story of the blind men who encountered an elephant. Each touched only one part and then generalized about the nature of the beast based on this partial knowledge. They variously described it as a wall, snake, spear, tree, fan or rope, depending upon where they touched. Each developed his own metaphor based on the partial knowledge they had of the subject.

Metaphors are powerful tools. In fact, researcher Andrew Ortony once commented, “Metaphors are necessary, not just nice.” Rightly used, metaphors are powerful tools for learning and change. Just as a picture is worth a thousand words, a metaphor can shift the way that a person perceives reality.

We can see the power (and limitation) of metaphor when we select words to describe the church. Many churches describe themselves as “family.” This works most of the time, but some people have had very negative family experiences—broken relationships, abuse, isolation—that color how they see family. The idea of the church as an “army” has been very popular in years past, but as a veteran who served in an unpopular war, the word carries very negative connotations.

Findley Edge used terms like “hospital” or “seminary” to describe the church. These can be taken either in a positive or negative light. The Apostle Paul, of course, described the church as a “body.” Others think of it as a “garden” where believers can be nourished and bear fruit.

My concern is that we not rush too quickly to embrace just one metaphor to describe the church because, like the blind men, our perspective is often limited to our own experiences. The church is much richer and more nuanced than the experiences of one person or even a handful of people.

We would do well to listen to the stories that others tell about the church and build our list of metaphors. Each reflects some aspect of reality without providing the whole picture.