• Archive for November, 2009

    Toward A Missional Vision of Theological Education: The Root of the Problem

    November 13, 2009 // 13 Comments »

    Previous Posts in this Series:

    Preliminary Thoughts | The Root of the Problem

    There is one sure fire way to undermine the character of Christian witness and mission – bind them to systems of coercive power. To the great detriment of the Body of Christ, this is precisely what has happened in the cultural phenomenon of Christendom.

    christendom

    To understand what this has to do with theological education, we must first see what it has to do with the Church out of which our current system of theological education was born.

    The dominant expression of Christianity in the West takes Christendom for granted.  We expect the average person to have familiarity, if not empathy, with Judeo-Christian morals and values.  We vie for our government to embrace and enforce Christian sentiments and practices.  We expect “going to church” to be received by others as a vitally, if not at least potentially, important thing to do.  We operate out of the assumption that our biggest problem is getting people to believe the right thing in the intellectual sense.  All of these expectations stem from Christendom as a social power structure within modernity and they have served to (mis)shape the Church as we know it.

    It is from this sort of Church history that our institutions of theological education have grown.  They are Christendom-shaped feeder systems for Christendom-shaped churches.  Assuming the centrality of Christianity in the broader culture, students are educated more as managers than missionaries.  Managers and missionaries are two different sorts of leaders.  Whereas managerial leadership is predicated on positional power marked by knowing more than others, missional leadership is predicated on Christlike character, marked by holistic discipleship.  Thus, the ultimate problem with our current system of theological education is that it is not designed to make holistic disciples.

    Discipleship is a life-long battle of allegiances.  For the missional church and for a missional vision of theological education, the battle is largely between Christendom, attempting to use systems of coercive power for good, and participation in the Missio Dei, a way marked by humble obedience, uncomfortable faithfulness, and hope in the midst of death.

    Like the ring from Lord of the Rings, many well intentioned Christians have sought to use Christendom for good, but it doesn’t work like that.  Without doing irrevocable damage to what it means to be a disciple, we can’t use systems of coercive power for good.  They are firmly and always in opposition and this is why trying to cultivate missional leaders inside of Christendom-shaped systems is a lot like trying to drink ocean water to quench your thirst.  The thing you need is there, but there is something which permeates it that ends up having the opposite effect.

    Like the wizard Gandalf refusing to take and use the “ring of power,” or Jesus refusing Satan’s offers to achieve his purpose in more convenient ways, missional churches do well to resist the temptation of leveraging the powers of Christendom ideals and systems to achieve their goals.  Though they would have the best of intentions, they know and submit themselves to the truth that there is no shortcut.

    That being the case, missional churches require different sorts of leaders – those shaped more by a missional vision of theological education than a Christendom one.

    In my next post, as a way of moving us toward this missional vision, I want to make some observations on what the fruit of this sort of Christendom-rooted system has been.  But for now, what do you have to add to this?  Where would you push back?

    Posted in christendom, church, leadership, missional, modernity, spiritual formation, theological education, theology

    Toward A Missional Vision of Theological Education: Preliminary Thoughts

    November 11, 2009 // 25 Comments »

    After having given several posts to the consideration of bi-vocational ministry, its relationship to missional ecclesiology, defending it as a spiritually formative leadership model, and then commenting on its relationship to theological education, I have been thinking more and more about how we are equipping leaders to lead truly missional communities.  Though it’s in no way a brand new topic of interest to me (see here & here), I want to unpack, in a more focused manner, some of the shortcomings of our current system of theological education and begin sketching what I find to be a more faithful way forward.

    In anticipation of some things I want to say in future posts, I want to offer just a few preliminary thoughts that I think are important to have in mind as I write and as discussion (so badly hoping that some good discussion ensues!) takes place.

    1) Seminary is not evil.  Unless it changes and adapts it will be increasingly ineffective and irrelevant, but that’s not to say it has no positive effects.  I am a product of a Seminary education and I’m thankful for it.  In fact, I could hardly have a good grasp on the shortcomings of it had I not gone through it.

    2) There is no one, right, “biblical” way to come at this.  I hope to make a case for a missional vision of theological education that is more biblically faithful given our context than what is currently offered, but it’s not because I find it to be the only/universal approach.

    3) This is a huge topic.  I have no intention of addressing all the many dimensions of this topic that deserve to be touched on.  I am more interested in fleshing out some general thoughts for the sake of stoking the fires of imagination and creativity.

    4) I’m not writing from an ivory tower.  Not only would such a thing fly in the face of all I want to propose, but these reflections are born out of raw pastoral desire to see the church grow and flourish by being led well.  I am writing as one involved in a local church community that’s doing the hard work of making this uphill journey.

    That being said, I am looking forward to some hopefully spirited dialogue in the coming weeks as I try too deal with what’s wrong with out current system, what we ought to be aspiring to, how it relates to a missional ecclesiology, and what it might take to move us forward.  Genuinely interested for others to weigh in and fill in gaps.

    Links to the rest of the posts in this series:

    The Root of the Problem

    The Fruit of the Problem

    New Soil

    Community Rootedness

    Character Formation

    Conviction Shaping

    Contextual Training

    Cultural Pioneering

    Or, you can download a PDF of the entire series here.

    Posted in church, Fuller Seminary, leadership, missional, spiritual formation, theological education, theology

    New England & Boston Trip

    November 9, 2009 // 2 Comments »

    Last week Amy and I went on a trip through New England.  I was in Richmond, VA attending a training event with Ecclesia and Amy was in Chicago.  On Friday morning, we both flew into Boston and met up there.  Here was my cool view as we were landing.

    Here’s me getting anxious about seeing Amy again (this was the first time we’d been apart since getting married 4 months ago).

    We rented a car and drove up the coast to Portland, ME.  Here are some pictures from along the way.

    We had a good time exploring Portland.  We ate at this awesome place called Silly’s, somewhere you should absolutely visit – and don’t bother eating for a day and a half before you go, you’ll want the room for the “Gravy Danger.”

    The next day we drove west through the White Mountain National Forest that spans New Hampshire and Vermont.

    A day of driving took us through the really hip downtown of Brattleboro, VT

    where we caught a glimpse of the ever-growing reality of Post-Christian America,

    and had an incredibly delicious maple latte at Mocha Joe’s.

    Then, it was off to Providence, RI where we had a great Thai dinner, saw “A Serious Man,”at The Avon

    and walked around the campus of Brown University.

    The next morning we drove into Boston.

    We stayed at a cool little place in the Back Bay part of Boston, “The Chandler Inn.”  Over the 2 days we walked The Freedom Trail – some of those pictures here…

    But some of my favorite parts were visiting the actual location of Cheers

    Getting placed in an impromptu Diet Coke commercial

    worshipping with the incredibly diverse congregation of the historic Park Street Church amidst their 200 year celebration

    and indulging in my favorite dessert, Boston Cream Pie, at “The Omni Parker House” where they invented it!

    Not to worry, Amy made sure to add her name to the Declaration of Independence!

    Our trip finished up with 2 days in NYC where we got to see our friend Jorge

    who took us to an incredible place for NY pizza.

    We got to spend time with my bother Alex and his girlfriend Michelle.

    We went for a walk through Central Park and Alex showed off his mad bouldering skills.

    We visited Serendipity of John Cusack movie fame and enjoyed a famous frozen hot chocolate.

    Especially meaningful for Amy who has done theater her whole life, we got to attend our first Broadway show, Mary Poppins.

    When we left the show, we walked through time square where a billion people were watching the Yankees game on a huge screen – very cool.

    And to cap off the evening, we hit up Ray’s Pizza (from Elf!) for some more excellent NY pizza.

    It was an unforgettable trip and I’m already anxious to make it back.  Feel free to check out our full collection of pictures and videos.

    Posted in travles

    Bi-Vocational Ministry & Theological Education

    November 6, 2009 // 4 Comments »

    I think this will be my last post in a series on bi-vocational ministry.  If you’re looking to catch up, feel free to check out the earlier ones:

    1) Bi-Vocational Ministry

    2) Bi-Vocational Ministry & the Missional Church

    3) Bi-Vocational Ministry & Spiritual Formation

    4) Bi-Vocational Ministry & Support Raising

    Thinking on this topic has stirred up a number of thoughts, ideas, and connections that I think will take shape in a next series of posts, so I won’t say too much here.

    What I will say is this…

    In 2004 when I began my education at Fuller Theological Seminary, I was on the fence about doing an MDiv.  I wasn’t sure that my future was going to be in professional, paid, church staff ministry.  I also wasn’t so sure that the structure of the degree was all that well equipped to prepare people for that sort of ministry given the trajectory of the Western church anyway.  To my utter shock, I soon discovered that these sentiments were widely shared and many of the people who would have been the best candidates for MDiv’s were opting for less traditional and more flexible routes. (FYI – Fuller has since done some major and commendable course correcting regarding all their programs, including the MDiv!)

    My hesitations confirmed by the sentiments and decisions of my peers, I chose to do an MA in theology which gave me the ability to take 1/2 my classes out of Fullers’ School of Intercultural Studies enabling me to craft a degree that explored a missiology of Western culture.

    In contrast to the average School of Theology student, many of the students doing degrees in the School of Intercultural Studies had widely marketable skills and trades.  Whereas the average SOT student was there to get an academic credential in order to get a job, the average SIS student was in school to learn how to be better a better missionary or to do more study regarding a particular area of interest.  Unlike their SOT counterparts, they weren’t looking for a degree to get a job.

    Now, Fuller as a school didn’t create this reality per se, they were merely filling two different needs, augmenting on the one hand, and preparing on the other.

    If, as I have tried to say, churches being led by a team of bi-vocational leaders is more sustainable, healthier for leaders and congregations alike, and all-around positively spiritually formative, then theological schools would do well to intentionally structure themselves for the sort of education that Fuller’s SIS was offering de facto.

    There is a lesson to be learned here from Christian Liberal Arts schools (yeah Malone!) which prepare men and women of God for service in all areas of life… AS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS.  That people would “graduate” from this sort of education to one of specialized, professional theological training is a regrettable reality.  I say this as one with the highest of value for theological rigor and advanced training.  But, I also say it as one who thinks these things should never come at the expense of extending to Christian leaders the opportunity to lose touch with “the world.”

    A missional ecclesiology calls for a missional approach to theological education that would be best described in terms of formational training.  This is what I hope to explore further in my next series of posts.

    Posted in bi-vocational, church, Fuller Seminary, leadership, malone, spiritual formation, sustainability, theology, western culture

    Today Sucks

    November 5, 2009 // 10 Comments »

    And here’s 10 reasons why…

    1) I had to get up at 4AM to make a flight.

    2) Dumb TSA lady said my carryon, which I had carried on before, was too big so I had to check it for $20 bucks.

    3) American Airlines then proceeded to break that bag.

    4) Hertz, since they had my credit card number, decided to OVERNIGHT the sungalsses I left in our rental car to me.

    5) FedEx squashed them.

    6) Driving my in-law’s van home from the airport, I got a speeding ticket that within 100 yards would not have been a ticket.

    7) I was late for a meeting when I figured out that my car battery was dead.

    8 ) I found an angry note on my car, probably from a drunk teenager, who didn’t like my parking job, which had been forced by the bad parking job of someone else 10 days ago.

    9) Someone stole and cashed a $700 check intended for us and recovering the funds will probably be a big pain.

    10) Oh yeah, and my wife (also having a bad day) is working a conference a thousand miles away and I won’t see her until late Saturday night.

    Time for a long hard run.

    Posted in random

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