Missionary Impossible

The Rainbow Delusion

2011-10-25T08:47:00.004-05:00

Once upon a time there lived an odd people in a land where every baby was born blind. The blind people were intelligent and learned not only to cope but also to discover the word around them through the limited senses they had. They built societies and generated traditions quite suitable for a blind civilization.

Then one day an extraordinary thing happened. A loving stranger appeared from far away, a man who could not only see, but who had medicine to cure others of their blindness. This amazing man healed many people. They followed the stranger and learned from him as he taught them. The “cured ones” rejoiced as they discovered exquisite the beauty of flowers, sunsets, birds and rainbows. They spread the wonderful news to their friends.

For a while great crowds followed the stranger, seeking a cure for blindness. But as unusual as it may sound, many of the blind people hated the stranger and his followers. Some shouted, “Who do you think you are, telling us that we are incomplete people. We were quite satisfied with ourselves before you came. We have our long-established ways of coping with reality. Now you are telling us our traditions are inadequate and you want us to accept your new way of life?” Resentment grew until the blind ones decided to kill the stranger who brought the medicine and teaching about a new way of life. They killed him. But the healer used an even stronger medicine, one that cured death. So I’m sure you won’t be surprised when I tell you that he came back to life after three days in the grave.

The risen healer showed himself to his sighted followers. Then the stranger returned to his own country. He promised to return some day and take them to live in a land that is even more beautiful than anyone can imagine. Just before he left, he gave the his sighted followers unlimited supplies of the healing medicine and told them to go throughout the whole land and heal anyone who wanted to see.

Today millions of people have new eyes to see a wondrous world of flowers, sunsets, birds and rainbows. They too love the risen healer and long for his return. But in the meantime they obey his last words and take the good news of healing to the ends of the earth.

Even today the blind opposition still mocks the sighted ones. Blind scientists write books claiming that rainbows are a delusion, mere superstitions that can’t be proved by rationalistic scientific method. One blind scientist, Dr. Snikwad wrote a scathing book accusing sighted people of being pre-modern delusionals, blaming them for the problems of the world. Dr. Snikwad closed his ears to the thousands of sighted scientists who follow the wounded healer, scientists who acknowledge they too believe in reason and the scientific method. They plead with the good Dr. to open his eyes, not to a different reality, but to a broader, wider, richer and deeper reality that includes science and reason. Not only does the wounded healer open up a richer world to the sighted ones, but for the first time they see meaning in life as well as color; shining a light on true beauty.

“Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened. . . .

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

And sorrow and signing will flee away.”

(Isaiah 35:5,10)

Is Social Justice The Same As Evangelism?

2010-11-04T08:57:00.000-05:00

It seems like a “no-brainer.” If we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves we will obviously care about peoples’ wholistic development; their coming to Christ, being transformed into his image while addressing physical and social needs. But is it really a “no-brainer?”

Last semester a student came into my office to report on how he and his fellow classmates were promoting social justice among the poor in a nearby community. I enthusiastically complemented him for his ministry. Then I asked if his team talked to anybody about Jesus. The student sat there for a second, almost stunned, and then mumbled, “we forgot.” Another student reported that her goals were to do wholistic ministry in Africa. I asked if she intended to do evangelism. She answered, “No, we will do wholistic ministry.”

Robert Wuthnow observes in his recent book Boundless Faith that for the church in America “humanitarianism does not so much replace evangelism as evangelism becomes defined as showing Christian love through humanitarian work” (p. 135) and “service is redefined as evangelism” (p. 242). Is this an emerging secular gospel?

I wonder if Bible-believing Christians are unreflectively drifting into a neo-social gospel or a gospel without Jesus? Could it be that evangelical Christians are subtly slipping into an incipient universalism?

Seldom has the missionary problem been evangelism without concern for human need. On the other hand, there are many examples demonstrating compassion for human need with no concern for the spiritual dimension. With few exceptions evangelical missionaries have always been truly wholistic, caring for the temporal as well as the eternal needs of people. In the middle ages, missionary religious orders started hospitals and introduced improved agriculture. William Carey established businesses and Hudson Taylor studied medicine. It is almost impossible to find a corner of the world where evangelistic missionaries didn’t also establish medical clinics, hospitals, schools and agricultural programs.

It is admirable that Christians are catching a renewed passion to fight the ills of human trafficking, injustice, hunger, disease, pollution and abandoned children. May these ministries ever increase. But it is a false gospel that seeks to build the kingdom of God while ignoring the King. Jesus challenged Nicodemus, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again” (John 3:3).

Concern for human need without concern for the proclaimed gospel is “halfistic.” May we be faithful to truly wholistic ministry that combined compassionate evangelism with care for human need.

Life Lessons from My Mother

2010-08-13T20:07:00.002-05:00

How do you get to be 96 years old, have an alert mind, and be full of spunk?

As told to my sister Beth

Mary Margaret's deep and awesome love for the Lord Jesus Christ, teaches us to value the privilege of prayer, memorize Scripture & read through the Bible many times, but still be thrilled by the message! Learn to love to obey God’s commands.

1. Mary Margaret teaches us to fill your mind with what is honorable and good and right. Strive to keep learning and growing in the Lord. Age gracefully. Never think “old”; never think of dying…think of Jesus coming again. Don’t complain about the weather, your health or circumstances. Be aware of what is going on in the world by reading and listening. Memorize Scripture to keep your mind agile.

2. Praise the Lord for His many wonderful attributes. Praise the Lord for His many wonderful attributes. Confess sin and thank the Lords that you’re forgiven all because of Jesus. Pray for your family, friends and persecuted Christians. Pray for yourself. In your weaknesses, He is strong.

3. Mary Margaret is a voracious reader, especially enjoying historical romance. Quote by John Greenleaf Whittier, "Tradition wears a head of snow. Romance is always young." Having read over 1,000 books just in the last four years, her daughter has to keep a list of completed books so that new ones can be chosen at the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library.

4. Mary Margaret teaches us to love a good laugh! Don't complain, celebrate anything, be generous with your time and money.

5. Be patient with others and yourself, take time to be with people, be dependable, and reach out to others in sincere acceptance. Listen well to what others say. Be interested in their interest. Remember their name. Hug often.

6. Mary Margaret teaches us to let joy go beyond circumstances, anchored in the joy of the Lord. Let the peace of God permeate your life and your home. A thoughtful, polite and gracious attitude comes from a tender heart.

7. Be thankful, having an attitude of gratitude, nap easily and don’t wake up grumpy.

Soccer is a Crazy Game

2010-07-12T16:17:00.006-05:00

What if the score of a championship basketball game was 0-0, half way through the second overtime. Imagine watching game highlights with nothing but fouls, fancy dribbles and blocked shots. Picture players skidding across the floor while tearing off their jerseys after each basket. Listen to roar of the crowd every time a player makes a good pass or a daring take-away. Observe a lonely referee calling fouls while 200 feet away. Now can you imagine this game could ever be the most popular sport in the world? Welcome to the insane world of soccer.

Don’t get me wrong. I love soccer. Our family lived a dozen years in Africa. Both our children played park-district and high school soccer. I love cheering for my star soccer-playing granddaughter.

Realizing that 5.9 billion people will be furious, here are modest suggestions on how to improve the crazy game of soccer.

1. 1. Get rid of the off-side rule. This would open up the field and allow for exciting scoring.

2. 2. When the ball goes out of bounds, kick the ball in, rather than throw it in.

3. 3. Have two referees on the field.

4. 4. Allow for instant reply, with an official in the replay booth with the authority to overrule the field refs.

5. 5. Widen the goal posts by at least three feet.

6. 6. Allow for unlimited substitutions, and when a player falls down claiming to be hurt require a substitution.

7. 7. If the score is still tied at the end of the second overtime, the team with the most shots on goal is declared the winner.

With these modest proposals soccer might one day be a front page story rather than the back of the sports section.

Beyond Independence to Maturity

2010-07-06T11:29:00.001-05:00

Human development can be divided into stages of growth. A newborn baby is dependent on its parents for every need. A mature adult can world with parents as an equal, and there can be genuine interdependence. During the in-between years a child needs to learn independence, to think for himself, and to solve his own problems. For the child to have a responsible, mature and equal relationship with his parents, he must go beyond independence.

Church development may have similar stages. A newborn church is often dependent on outside mission for much of its existence. A biblically mature church forms responsible partnership with the church world-wide. But often an in-between stage is needed before the church learns independence. The proper objective of the mission is not merely a self-reliant, independent church, but a church that is actively engaged in evangelism and nurture. Thus, while a self-reliant, independent church is not the ultimate goal of a mission, it may be a necessary and important in-between step. Responsible partnership may not be possible without the church first going through a stage of independence.

National churches are progressively becoming more independent and self-reliant. Many have assumed authority and responsibility for the work of local churches. Many national churches have been given authority for the work of the mission as well. But before responsible partnership can be achieved it's quite possible that the church must become fully independent. However, the ultimate goal goes beyond mere independence to the unfinished task of evangelism and building the Body of Christ.

(While the parenting metaphor has limitations) An illustration may help in understanding the stages. Before a father and son can take a bicycle trip together as equals, the father must teach the son how to ride a bicycle. Typically, this is done with the father running alongside the son while holding onto the bicycle. The son will not be able to ride as a responsible partner until the father lets go of the bicycle and the son first learns independence. Independence is a necessary but not sufficient stage in developing responsible partnership.

Today, many churches started by mission groups are ready to ride alone. Now is the time for the mission to more fully let go in preparation for responsible partnership. But if the mission is to actively encourage independence, there will need to be a change of thinking regarding typical mission strategy. If the mission is to both strategize and actively encourage independence, then it faces a dilemma.

In the past mission agencies have looked at needs, set objectives, planned a program, and gone to work. In the last few years the mission has tried to involve the church as a partner in the strategy process, but often with limited success. Church leaders often feel they wish to pursue different needs and priorities. They are not afraid to complain about mission strategy, even when they are asked to participate with the mission. This new assertiveness may be a healthy sign of development in the church.

But one wonders about the resulting role of the mission. Yes, we need to let go, but is there nothing the mission should be doing to help the church with the maturation process? One fears that if the mission ignores its own concerns and merely does what the church tells it to do, the mission may actually hinder development in the same way such treatment would spoil a child. Thus, the dilemma-we must let go, but to have no strategy is irresponsible. Mission boards should not force the church to do things our way; yet we may hinder mature growth if we unthinkingly do only what the church asks us to do.

A responsible father teaching a son to ride a bicycle will follow two principles: (1) He will let go. If the child learns to ride alone then all rejoice, but if the child falls, it is considered a learning experience. Where there is no freedom to make a mistake, there is no freedom to grow. (2) He will look for "hands-off" ways to help the child, looking for the day when he and his son can ride together as true partners. Developing a biblically responsible partnership should be the primary immediate concern. There are two principles for accomplishing this task: the mission should more fully let go, and the mission must look for supportive, nondirective ways to stimulate maturity in the church.

1. The mission should more fully let go. We should more completely turn over authority and responsibility to the church. A domineering father will stifle the development of his children. But a maturing church is one that is free to determine, under the direction of the Holy Spirit and under the authority of Scripture, its own affairs. It must be free to make mistakes.

James Dobson, in the book The Strong Willed Child, writes that parents often hinder children from maturing. They even encourage their children to become irresponsible parasites. He writes, "The main fault of parents is that they prevent children from understanding the problems of survival by always solving their problems for them." Children mature through facing the consequences of actions that they have the authority to make.

Mission agencies must step aside and give the church the freedom to be accountable for her actions, and free to face the consequences of her actions. Even if the consequences may be painful, the mission should not interfere or "bail the church out" of the consequences. We don't need to assume, though, that when the church is given the freedom to face consequences the results will necessarily be painful. When a child learns to ride a bicycle, both the parents and the child become ecstatic.

The mission must put a greater emphasis on achieving process goals. The goal must be to foster the process of maturation and growth of people. Our top priority should be to foster the developmental process in church leadership. Our goals have often focused on programs and institutions. We have wanted to get a certain number of programs or churches going in certain places by a certain time and see certain results. Typically our goals have been product goals. Process goals often require more patience. We don't plan for the growth of a child through the use of a PERT chart. We don't measure human development on logarithmic graph paper. Process goals take a different kind of planning. We can foster, stimulate, and encourage growth, but we can't force it, no matter how efficient we are or how much money we spend, or how systematically we plan. Mothers of small children often know much more about process goals than even the most successful businessman.

Too great an emphasis on product goals usually hinders process goals. Often the most efficient, high-powered executives are successful in getting much work done, but they are least effective in developing innovative and creative subordinates.

Our objective must be to develop leaders who will take initiative and solve problems. It is not enough merely to develop programs and institutions, no matter how worthy they may seem, and no matter how often they are requested by the church. This doesn't mean missions should ignore product goals. But product goals are important if they foster process goals. For example, if our goal is to build a seminary, we could make faster progress if we take initiative. But if our goal is to develop leaders who will take initiative, learn how to solve problems, and learn how to build seminaries, then it is better for us to be patient and to use the situation as a tool for the process of leadership development. Often mission leaders are so concerned with the product, such as a new school, that we hinder the process of development of leadership in the church.

In order to foster process goals, missionaries must be withdrawn from leadership positions in church administration, even if national church leaders ask missionaries to remain. The church is not developing leadership when it only has authority to make decisions but does not need to take responsibility for carrying them out. The church can make irresponsible decisions and not have to face the consequences. Or the church can let missionaries continue to make decisions and avoid learning how to make their own responsible decisions.

Withdrawing missionaries from national church leadership positions in no way suggests a moratorium. The mission could increase the number of missionaries; place them in positions where they could have a great spiritual ministry, and still not hinder the development of leadership in the national church. But we should have a phasing out of missionaries in leadership positions in the national church.

In order to foster process goals, mission agencies must phase out of funding church institutional running expenses. Gifts toward running expenses create a parasite mentality, an inferiority complex, hinders local initiative, and stifles long-range planning. We hinder a responsible budgeting process. When a Bible school experiences financial trouble, it knows the mission will regularly supply emergency funds. There is thus little motivation to spend money carefully or budget wisely.

Yet time and again when the mission has not provided funds for programs that the church felt were important, the funds have come in locally. The only projects that die are those in which the church has little concern. We are in no way asking for a moratorium on funds from overseas. There is opportunity to increase mission giving for certain projects that do not hinder the development of a responsible church, without fostering an ongoing dependency. But we must phase out as rapidly as possible overseas funds for institutional ongoing running expenses. The first principle for developing a biblically responsible partnership was that the mission should more fully let go.

We will now discuss the second principle:

2. The mission must look for supportive, non-directive means of stimulating maturity in the church. There are at least two ways a parent can hinder the development of a child: first by dominating the child for too long; second, by spoiling the child through giving everything asked for. If we let go and more fully turn over responsibility to the church we will avoid the first pitfall. But if we merely respond to every request of the church, we are in danger of the second pitfall. We must respond in a responsible and consistent manner.

In order for the mission to respond in a responsible and consistent manner, leaders must previously have sorted out priorities. The mission will not use these priorities in a coercive manner, but as guidelines for responding to the requests of the national church. An urgent need is for the mission to decide its own priorities for the work in a specific country. Naturally, the priorities are open to further-discussion with the church and there should be opportunity for "in-flight" changes of priorities. But without priorities, there is no basis for responding to requests from the national church. If a parent would merely respond to every demand of the child, the result would be a spoiled, irresponsible child. If a mission responds blindly to every request of the national church, the church will not learn to take responsible initiative.

Some may object to the mission unilaterally sorting out its own priorities. But for two people to have a responsible friendship, both must first have thought through issues as individuals. "People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron" (Prov. 27:17). True friends must be free to have their own ideas. Differing ideas help friends to sharpen each other, and ongoing dialogue allows intervals for individual reflection. The mission must not use these priorities in a coercive way to manipulate the church in a direction she is not interested in heading. In fact, not to individually reflect on priorities would be a sign of irresponsible friendship. Thus, a mission organization that has no priorities is irresponsible.

Once we have thought through priorities, there are at least three models for guiding the implementation of these priorities in a way that will neither dominate or manipulate the church in a direction she does not wish to go. We will call these models: (1) The Foundation Aid Model: (Z) The Cloud Seeding Model, and (3) The Catalyst Organization Model. Each model can be used by itself or with other models. The models are an exercise in matching priorities between the church and mission.

1. The Foundation Aid Model. Many foundations exist to give aid to worthy causes. But a responsible foundation does not respond equally to all requests, neither does a responsible foundation try to coerce other organizations into accomplishing the objectives of the foundation. A responsible foundation has its own objectives and priorities, but has learned that if local people aren't genuinely behind a project or idea, the aid will be given in vain. A responsible foundation will not violate local initiative, but neither will it be without objectives of its own.

The mission leadership needs to think out prayerfully where, in its limited, humble, correctable wisdom, it senses the national church should be moving. It needs to sort out these matters privately and independently of its ongoing dialogue with the church. Otherwise, it will neither be a responsible friend of the church or a responsible servant of the Lord.

Yet the mission will not "push" these objectives and priorities on the church. It will use them as tools for evaluating requests by the church. The mission would then be ready to respond to requests for missionaries and funds. The mission should not respond equally to all requests, nor would the mission act unless requested.

2. The Cloud Seeding Model. Cloud seeding does not create moisture that is not already present. Cloud seeding is a stimulus to help the rain to fall in a more predictable place.

Within the national church there often are large pockets of spiritual vitality. There are often churches, church groups, and individuals with deep spiritual concern for biblical maturity. One could give examples of certain women's fellowship groups, youth fellowship groups, urban churches, educated laymen, theological students and many others, who are eager, ready, and able to assume initiative in moving the church toward maturity.

When the mission leadership has sorted out priorities it will be better able to identify these groups in accomplishing their objectives. We must discern potential "prophets" in the church and discover how they can be activated, encouraged, and directed. Some national churches have already requested help in areas of theological education and church education. New ideas and new vision can be seeded into clouds of ready individuals. While the Foundation Aid Model can work at top administrative levels, there is much need for creative initiative on the part of each local missionary to discover where and how they can seed ready clouds.

3. The Catalyst Organization Model. A catalyst aids or speeds up a chemical process. Usually the process would take place without the catalyst, but not as quickly. There are parachurch organizations outside national church structure that act as catalysts to stimulate the process of maturity. For example, the church in Africa has often been involved in evangelism, but New Life for All acted as a catalyst to speed up the rate of evangelism. Other African organizations have acted as outside agents to aid the spiritual maturation process, such as Boy's Brigade, Girl's Brigade, New Life For All, Campus Crusade, Scripture Union, The Bible Societies, Fellowship of Christian Students, and others. The church is already participating in many of these bodies. An indirect way of influencing and encouraging the church toward biblical maturity would be for the mission to stimulate and encourage parachurch catalysts. We can encourage church leaders to participate in these catalyst organizations more fully. We can encourage our local missionaries to become involved locally in parachurch organizations. We can loan staff to these organizations and support them financially.

The development of a biblically responsible and mature church must be the primary immediate concern for missions, or we could lose all missionaries have worked and sacrificed for.

The mission agencies must more fully turn over authority positions in the national church so that she can more fully learn from the consequences of her decisions.

We must more vigorously stimulate church maturity in an indirect, supportive, low-profile manner.

We do this in order to develop a responsible, mature relationship with the church, so that together we may continue the task of evangelism and of building up the Body of Christ around the world. We must change our present attitudes toward strategy. More than ever before there is the urgent need for Holy Spirit-directed, creative, and biblical innovation in missions. Because Jesus lives and answers prayer, we look forward to the task with excitement.

Published in EMQ 1983 - Permission is needed from EMIS to reprint this article.

The Missional Club

2010-04-14T10:15:00.001-05:00

Once upon a time there was a wonderful club. It was called The Missional Club. The purpose for its existence was to reach out in order to gain more members. Here is a sample of the Constitution.

Aims:

1. Get more members, so as to get more members, so as to get more members, etc.

2. Establish new members in branch clubs which will be self-governing, self supporting and self-propagating.

Activities:

1. Study books on Missional Growth like, The Prayer of Jabez for the Purpose Driven Missional Club for Those Who Are Left Behind in the Shack.

2. Mobilize every member for a continuous “Total Mobilization Membership Movement” (TMMM).

Club Motto: “Joined to Reproduce.”

Once in a while a crisis would arise. There would be a problem member in the club. One such member had the nerve to raise his hand in a meeting and ask:

“Why should I be a member of this club?” "What is the mission?"

The answer quickly came from the members in unison:

“You are “Joined to Reproduce’.”

“Reproduce what?” the rebel stammered.

“So that new members can be self-propagating,” sounded the chorus in an angry tone.

“Yes, but...why should we...?”

“Sit down.”

“Heresy.”

“Liberal,” shouted the angry mob.

Are we merely planting membership clubs? After all, nothing is born merely to reproduce - except maybe weeds, and missional church clubs.

Adapted from an article published in Evangelical Missions Quarterly, vol. 9. p. 38

Do We Teach the Bible, or Do We Teach Students?

2010-04-05T11:14:00.001-05:00

First presented as a paper entitled: “Is Teaching Theology an Art or a Science?", (1988) at the Evangelical Theological Society, Taylor University. Published in Christian Education Journal. 10 1. (1989). Reprinted in Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology. Vol 13.1 (1994). Reprinted in the Taiwan Mission Quarterly, Vol 10 #2 & 3, (Winter 2001).

Both the clear teaching of Scripture and its application to the student, the church and society are necessary. But neither content nor application is sufficient by itself, and one without the other is dangerous. Yet much Bible teaching in the local church and in the seminary is either subject-matter centered or student-centered. We must re-examine the necessary interdependence between knowledge and practice.

A False Dichotomy

The tasks of biblical scholarship and biblical teaching are related, yet different. The novice Bible professor may be a competent scholar who has mastered ancient languages, developed skills of research and become an expert in a specific technical area of knowledge. But in the classroom the teacher is appalled to discover that students don't know if the book of Hebrews is in the Old or New Testament. Many have never heard of Calvinism or eschatology. The teacher is dismayed by the biblical and theological illiteracy of students and blames local churches for a lack of solid biblical teaching.
Content-centered educators suspect that biblical illiteracy is the result of "watered-down" student-centered education in the local church and argue for rigorous teaching of solid biblical content. They wage passionate battles against student-centered education which emphasizes feelings and felt-needs over the teaching of pure Bible content.
Personal-relevance educators, on the other hand, feel that the mere transmission of Bible content is not enough. They say that students soon forget Bible facts if they don't see their relevance, thus becoming biblically illiterate. From their viewpoint, the blame for biblical illiteracy is the personal irrelevance of content transmission models of teaching.

A Synthesis

Teaching the Bible is not like running a factory with empty-headed students as containers in which to deposit theological pearls of wisdom. But neither is Bible teaching simply a therapeutic exercise. Theology is not merely a tool to help students get in touch with their feelings so that they can become more self-actualized. Bible teaching that is divorced from life leads to dead orthodoxy, while merely teaching solutions to the problems of life without an understanding of Scripture leads to heresy and dead churches.

Subject-matter educators assume that learning biblical concepts will mysteriously develop spiritual maturity in learners. They assume that if students can refute the JEDP theory, outline the book of Romans, and trace the missionary journeys of Paul, the teaching task of the Bible professor is accomplished. From there it's the job of the Holy Spirit or the job of another academic department to help students put theological facts into practice and promote spiritual growth.

But personal-relevance philosophies of education may be even more dangerous than subject-matter philosophies. They rightly react against dead orthodoxy and the teaching of inert biblical facts, but their teaching may become a gimmick for simply helping one feel good about oneself. The original meaning of Scripture is ignored while "what it means to me" is overemphasized.

This, then, is the dilemma between content-centered and student-centered philosophies. Do we teach the Bible or do we teach people? Is the aim of education best accomplished through transmission of absolute truth or through facilitating personal growth in students?

The Secular Debate

The debate is not unique to teaching the Bible. Traditional secular educators argue that schools should go "back to the basics" of teaching the academic disciplines and the great ideas of the classics, while progressive educators are committed to the task of helping students prepare for jobs, becoming good citizens, and developing into self-actualized human beings.

John Dewey (1902) argues against the dichotomy between the child and the curriculum, between the logical and the psychological, between freedom and discipline.

Whitehead argues against the teaching of "inert ideas" or ideas which are not connected with other ideas and with life. “Culture is an activity of thought, and the receptiveness to beauty and humane feeling. Scraps of information have nothing to do with it. A merely well-informed man is the most useless bore on God's earth" (Whitehead, 1929, p. 1).

The Danger

The dichotomy between teaching the Bible and teaching students is dangerous. Teaching the Bible for its own sake is idolatry. We study the Bible so we may know God. But we worship the God of the Bible, not the academic discipline of the study of God. On the other hand, teaching students for their own self-actualization makes an idol out of persons, ignores the power of sin, and ignores the absolute standard of God's revealed Truth.

Educators may attempt to solve the dilemma through balancing curriculum requirements between subject-matter courses and personal-relevance course. Bible departments may try to overcome the tension by having two tracks. The bright students study "hard" theology with Greek and Hebrew, while the more ordinary students follow a "soft" track of applied theology. But such strategies for curriculum balance only promote the worst of both worlds. These attempts at curriculum balance lead either to ivory tower thinkers or unthinking practitioners. Balancing two curriculum extremes seldom leads to real integration.

Another Paradigm Is Needed

Rather than argue between teaching content versus teaching students, and rather than attempting to balance curriculum between the two, another paradigm is needed. This paradigm places subject matter and the experiences of learners in interdependent tension. The interdependence between faith and life is not a new idea. Interdependent tension between the Word of God and life experience began with Adam and Eve. Old Testament patriarchs, judges, prophets and poets cried out for Israel to carefully follow all the commands the Lord had given. Each verse of Psalm 119 is an example of the interdependence between the Word and personal experience. Jesus' teaching does the same.

Jesus never taught subject matter which was divorced from life, nor did he teach solutions to practical problems without teaching the Word. Jesus' teaching of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is one of the best examples of the interdependence between content and experience. Jesus began by asking questions about the present experience of the disciples. He began with their felt-needs, their problem situation. Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in the Scriptures concerning himself. His teaching was not an isolated lecture – it grew out of the sadness of two people with downcast faces and out of a comprehensive understanding of Scripture. There was lack of connection between the experience of the two disciples and the truth of Scriptures. Jesus helped them to see the connection between the Old Testament and their existential sorrow. He didn't teach an irrelevant theological concept (by threatening it would be on the final exam). Nor did he have them sit in a circle to learn a meditational therapy for handling grief and for improving their feelings of self-worth. Jesus compelled then to reflect on the discontinuity between the content of the Word and their present need.

Each of Paul's letters demonstrated the interdependence of truth and life. Even the most systematic writings of Romans 1 - 11 grow out of specific life-related needs of people in the church in Rome.

Barth was impressed with the way in which Calvin related truth to life.

"How energetically Calvin, having first established what stands in the text, sets himself to re-think the whole material and to wrestle with it, till the walls which separate the sixteenth century from the first become transparent! Paul speaks, and the man of the sixteenth century hears. The conversation between the original record and the reader moves round the subject-matter, until a distinction between yesterday and today becomes impossible (Barth, 1933, p. 7)."

To say the Bible is practical or pragmatic does not mean that there is a one-to-one correlation between each verse of the Scripture and present felt needs. The Bible is practical because it helps us to know God, and knowing God is infinitely practical. But knowing the Bible is not the same as knowing God. We progressively grow in our relationship to God as we explore the tension between our experience and the Bible and respond in obedience.

An instrumental approach does not mean that absolute truth is generated by experience. To say that the Bible is pragmatic does not negate the fact that it is at the same time absolute truth. God tells us that all Scripture is not only God-breathed, but it is also useful. God alone is the author of truth. But, until we see him face to face, our understanding of truth is not absolute, and our understanding of truth is significantly influenced by experience.

The effective teacher is like a person who takes a strong rope, ties one end around the big ideas of Scripture, ties the other end around the major themes of life, and then through the power of the Spirit struggles to pull the two together. The subject-matter educator is busy tying one end of the rope to the Word, while the personal-relevance educator is tying a rope to the felt needs of students. Even if by chance both are using opposite ends of the same rope, there is urgent need for Spirit-filled rope pullers.

Educational Analysis

In order to better understand the paradigm of interdependent tension, the two sides of the dilemma will be analyzed by seeing how each would answer these three questions:
1. What are the assumptions about the nature of the learner?

2. What educational aims should we seek?

3. Which are the best educational methods?

The Content-centered Educator

The content-centered educator assumes the learner to be ignorant, with limited understanding and knowledge. Educational aims come from the deficiency between what the learner knows and what the educator thinks the learner should know. The Bible is taught from the perspective of its original meaning and its historical-grammatical interpretation.

Techniques of higher criticism are taught along with book outlines. Preferred educational methods stress means for efficiently imparting knowledge and truth. Creative subject-matter educators may also be fascinated by the use of technology for transmitting information. Videos, programmed instruction, computers, and PowerPoint presentations might be used. The subject-matter educator assumes that the learner is like raw material for the theological assembly line of knowledge.

Transmission of information through clearly presented lectures and the appropriate use of technology is good, but it is not sufficient.

The Student-centered Educator

The student-centered educator tends to idealize the current state of the learner. The learner is seen not as deficient or immature, but as a person with rich experiences, deep feelings, great dignity and worth. Aims for teaching the Bible emphasize building relationships with God and with others. Goals include emotional health, becoming aware of one's feelings, and self-actualization. Piety, worship, and the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, and meditation are included in the curriculum. The Bible is taught not so much from the standpoint of what it said to the Hebrews and Greeks, but what it says to the modern hearer.

Educational methods provide opportunities for social interaction, building interpersonal relationships, stimulating personal reflection, and encouraging a caring community. Group sharing of experiences, journaling of reflections and prayer for the needs of others in the class might be specific methods. The personal-relevance educator assumes the learner is like a wild flower, ready to bloom under the right conditions. But personal relevance without a deep understanding of absolute truth revealed by God is meaningless. The search for relevance without an understanding of Truth is ultimately irrelevant.

The Pilgrim Educator

The pilgrim educator sees the learner not as an assembly line product or a wild flower, but as a pilgrim. The learner is in process, but the process is only a part of the aim. The personal process has an external goal. The present state of the pilgrim is not seen as a deficit, but neither is it idealized.

The educational goal is to equip the pilgrim with understanding of the Map God has given (the Bible) and in the power of the Spirit to help him or her benefit from the experiences of previous pilgrims, so that the pilgrim may reach the fullness of the stature of Christ. The intended outcome of theological education is the full development of the pilgrim, so that the pilgrim may also be a blessing to the world. God is not only interested in the temporal position of the pilgrim, but in his or her character. Biblical subject matter is a necessary tool for guiding and developing the pilgrim. But the pilgrim must keep one eye on the Map of the Word while also keeping an eye on the path of experience.

Pilgrim educational methodology seeks to compel critical reflection between personal experience and the Bible. The Bible is taught clearly, but the teaching of content is not the end – it is a means. The teacher must challenge the student to explore the tension between God's standard and life experiences, and help the student pull the two together. This can be done in many ways – through a stimulating lecture, through educational technology or through a dialectic discussion method. Many methods and combinations of methods are appropriate. The effective Bible teacher is a good teacher of the subject matter, but also constantly challenges students to wrestle with biblical implications for ethical dilemmas, problems in the church, and personal lifestyle. The effective teacher will constantly hold absolute Scripture in creative tension with modern world-and-life views.

Dewey (1902) uses the metaphor of maps to teach the mutual interdependence between the logical and the psychological. Maps are useful tools for pilgrims.

Content-centered educators might teach courses in the history of maps. the original languages of maps, theories of interpreting maps, and the higher criticism of maps. But the study of maps must not take the place of the use of maps for an actual journey.

Student-centered educators might encourage each student to design his or her own map from personal experiences. Experiences and maps of previous explorers are ignored. Students are encouraged to wander through the wilderness of life. The student-centered educator isn't overly concerned if students wander into the swamps as long as they build meaningful relationships with others and better understand their own feelings as a result of the experience. There is little sense of history or sense of direction.

Dewey argued that experience is not necessarily educative but helps the child to better understand the map of bodies of knowledge. Maps and experience are dependent on each other. It is unwise to divorce the study of maps from the experiences of the traveler. And it is useless for a pilgrim to begin a journey with no sense of direction or purpose. Without the Map of revelation from God, we have no knowledge of who we really are, where we are going, or how we get there.

Suggestions for Teaching

Most Bible teachers agree that more can be done to effectively compel critical reflection on the tension between biblical truth and the needs of the person, the church and society.

The Holy Spirit is a powerful supernatural force in helping to tie together absolute standards of the Word with our sinful condition. Yet the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God, through spiritually gifted teachers, and through spiritually sensitive learners. To depend on the Holy Spirit means that spiritually gifted teachers must continue to "fan into flame" the gifts God has given. Because we are involved in a supernatural struggle between the forces of good and evil, there can be no specific guaranteed outcomes no matter how sophisticated our educational paradigms or methodologies. But spiritually gifted teachers must intentionally do more to challenge students to wrestle with truth in light of the problems of life.

1. No teacher should be satisfied with merely depositing "inert ideas" into the heads of students to be regurgitated on the final exam. We must teach to higher levels of learning. Students must be challenged to think, analyze, and synthesize ideas in terms of life issues. Examinations should go beyond informational recall and include questions that force students to interpret and use information – to demonstrate insight into current issues. Assigned papers and classroom lectures should compel students to struggle with major biblical concepts. We must also compel students to use these concepts in grappling with problems in the church and society. For example, students can be given assignments to investigate the "folk-theology" of the average lay person and compare that theology to the teachings of historical trends in theology.

2. Entrance requirements into seminary or graduate school should require students to have previous experience in working with people as well as previous studies in Scripture. How are students to integrate theology and life if the only life they have ever known is school, and the only theology they know comes from books? Seminaries worry about low students enrollments and they feel forced to recruit students with a "raw B.A." Students would not need lengthy experience but should have enough experience to know people and their problems. They could be required to spend a summer as a camp counselor or be a lay youth worker in a church. A high grade-point average is not a predictor of the ability to integrate theology and life.

3. Graduation requirements must include more than Bible credits. Every Bible major should include courses in human development, anthropology and communication. All master's or doctoral programs should have at least one course pointing out the implications of the particular subject for the needs of the church or society today. Academic programs which teach mere theological "maps" with no concern for the "journey" are sub-biblical.

4. Bible professors must have more than academic credentials. Their resume should include experience in ministry and personal concerns for contemporary theological needs in the church.

5. Majors in Christian education must constantly be challenged to reflect theologically on what they are doing. Too often a course in methods of evangelism does not relate to soteriology, and church management courses ignore insights from ecclesiology. Too often practical internships in ministry are not debriefed in light of theological understanding.

Conclusion

Radical educators are calling for a "de-schooling" of theological education, but the proposed pilgrim paradigm is not so radical. Seminaries can serve as the Interpreter’s House in Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress. Biblical knowledge is necessary for pilgrims and must be taught. Most teaching methods will not need to change. Current structures of theological education do not need to be demolished. Many Bible professors are already teaching in such a way as to promote the intentional interdependence of Bible content with problems of life, and many professors in the social sciences constantly interact with biblical and systematic theology.

Still, the paradigm shift could make a significant difference for students and for the church around the world. Bible courses too often have a reputation of being an exercise in memorizing grocery lists. Students complain that Bible classes are boring, and boredom becomes the powerful hidden curriculum. Christian education courses too often have a reputation of being exercises in techniques in the use of the sandbox and role-plays . Education in the church faces the same problems as those of the seminary or Bible College. There is an urgent need for a gracious, quiet revolution – a pilgrim paradigm of Bible teaching. The common paradigms of content-centered or students-centered education will not adequately develop students or strengthen the church.
May we communicate the Map of the Word through the power of the Spirit in such a way that students will be challenged and the world-wide church will be strengthened for God’s eternal glory.

Bibliography

Barth, K. (1933). The Epistle to the Romans. (Trans. from sixth ed. by E.C. Hoskyns). New York: Oxford University Press.

Dewey, J. (1902). The Child and the Curriculum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Whitehead, A.N. (1929). The Aims of Education. New York: The Free Press.

Intercultural Teaching in Higher Education

2010-04-05T11:03:00.004-05:00

Syllabus - Revised
ME 9240
Professor: James E. Plueddemann , PhD

Place: ROD 127
Dates: April 6-16, 2010 (Note: we will meet on Fridays)
Time: 1:30 – 5:30
(I’ll be happy to meet with students for dinner after class on some of the evenings).

Course Description

The course is designed for professors who teach in cross-cultural settings. Participants will investigate the theory and practice of course design, including cultural expectations, teaching outcomes. learning activities and curriculum evaluation in the light of cultural differences in thinking, learning and teaching. Three hours.

Course Vision - I trust that as a result of this course we will:

1. Become a community of curious scholars investigating ways to improve teaching in intercultural higher education.

2. Reflect on the significance of philosophy, theology and worldview on intercultural teaching.

3. Explore the implications of cultural values on teaching and learning.

4. Gain skills in course design, learning outcomes, teaching method and course evaluation in intercultural higher education.

5. Examine broader role of the professor: committees, office hours, professional associations publications etc.

6. Investigate models of educational leadership and the role of faculty governance in relationship to administration and boards.

7. Discuss ways to improve the effectiveness of higher education through accreditation, and other steps at modest transformation.

Required Readings

Brookfield, Stephen D. (2006) Second edition. The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in The Classroom. Jossey-Bass.

McKeachie, Wilbert J. (2002 or 2010) 11th, 12th or 13th edition. McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research and Theory for College and University Teachers. Houghton Mifflin.

Palmer, Parker J. (2007) 10th edition preferred. The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life. John Wiley.

Slethaug, Gordon E. (2007) Teaching Abroad: International Education and the Cross-Cultural Classroom. University of Hong Kong Press.

Recommend Books with a cross-cultural focus

George, Pamela Gale (1995) College Teaching Abroad: A Handbook of Strategies for Successful Cross-Cultural Exchanges. Allyn and Bacon.

Palfreyman, David and Dawn Lorraine McBride, eds. (2007) Learning and Teaching Across Cultures in Higher Education. Palgrave, MacMillan.

Recommended books with a focus on Christian or theological education

Banks, Robert. (1999) Reenvisioning Theological Education: Exploring a Missional Alternative to Current Models. Eerdmans.

Foster, Charles et al. (2006) Educating Clergy: Teaching Practices and Pastoral Imagination. Jossey-Bass.

Hess, Mary E. and Stephen D. Brookfield (eds) 2008. Teaching Reflectively in Theological Contexts. Krieger.

Holmes, Arthur ed. (1985) The Making of a Christian Mind: A Christian World View and the Academic Enterprise. IVP.

Holmes, Arthur F. (1975) revised edition. The Idea of A Christian College. Eerdmans.

Litfin, Duane. (2004). Conceiving the Christian College: A College President Shares His Vision of Christian Higher Education. Eerdmans.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. (1992) The Idea of the University. Yale University Press.

Recommended books with a focus on university teaching

Bain, Ken. (2004) What the Best College Teachers Do. Harvard University Press.

Filene, Peter. (2005) The Joy of Teaching: A Practical Guide for the New College Instructor. University of North Carolina Press.

Grunert, Judith. (1997). The Course Syllabus: A Learning-Centered Approach. Anker.

Roth, John K. ed. (1997) Inspiring Teaching: Carnegie Professors of the Year Speak. Anker.

Seldin, Peter. et al. (1995) Improving College Teaching. Anker.

Smith, Page. (1990) Killing the Spirit: Higher Education in America. Viking.

Weimer, Maryellen. (1990) Improving College Teaching: Strategies for Developing Instructional Effectiveness. Jossey-Bass

Assignments

A) Pre Course Assignment

1. Write a 2-3 page paper describing your experiences teaching or learning in a cross-cultural setting.
2. Write a short critical summary of each of the required readings (1 page per book).

B) Classroom lectures, and discussions are a most critical and delightful aspect of the course. Attendance and participation are expected.

C) Post Course Assignment: Write a short (15 – 20 page) paper relating key concepts of the course to a problem area of your choice related to teaching intercultural higher education.

The paper will be due 3 months after the last day of the semester, or August 6, 2010. A paper copy is preferred. Extensions beyond that date will be granted only in case of serious and unexpected emergencies. Late papers will be accepted with a reduction in grade.

Leadership Formation in the Missional Church

2010-02-18T15:28:00.001-06:00

Book Review
The Missional Church & Leadership Formation: Helping Congregations Develop Leadership Capacity

Craig Van Gelder, ed., Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 238 pages, 2009, $20.00.

The strength of this stimulating book is the key question it raises: “Can leadership for the missional church be developed in the seminary?” The answer seems to be, “not without radical reform.” The writers suggest that seminaries are good at providing fragmented encyclopedic information but are weak in “preparing leaders to engage the world through helping the church participate in God’s mission” (p. 38). Schools that focus on knowledge, objective reasoning and critical research are identified as Wissenshchaft institutions. In contrast, pideia schools emphasize formation and the culturing of the soul as teachers and learners interact in community. The authors downplay the importance of Wissenshchaft in favor of paideia.

The Missional Church & Leadership Formation is divided into three sections. The first two address missional leadership development in the seminary and in the local church. The third section provides helpful insights about actual missional churches. Chapter one, “Theological Education and Missional Leadership Formation: Can Seminaries Prepare Missional Leaders for Congregations?” provides a concise American history of the relationship between the seminary and church in leadership development. Chapter two, “Missional Theology for Schools of Theology: Re-engaging the Question ‘What is Theological About a Theological School?’” discusses the dynamic relationship between knowledge and formation. Professors and pastors would profit from rethinking ways to develop missional leadership through an integration of knowledge and formation.

My primary critique relates to the disturbing vagueness of the term “missional church.” The key problem arises from an unclear theology of missio Dei. Is it really the mission of the church to participate in the “whole mission of God”? Partly. But God stretches out the heavens like a canopy, brings out the starry hosts and call them each by name (Isaiah 40:22, 26). Our mission is only a small part of the mission of God and is primarily seen in the mission of Christ. “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:19). How can missional leaders foster the missio Dei while ignoring the sin-cancelling, reconciling mission of Christ?

I’m puzzled as to why many missional churches are mono-cultural and seemingly anti global missions. Proclaiming the Word of God to the nations is described as “colonizing peoples to Christianity” and imperialistic (p. 121). The writers don’t want missional churches to be mistaken for “the older emphasis on missions” (p. 209). Truly missional leaders must not disregard Christ’s reconciling commission to the church for all the nations.

As a missionary I found this book helpful for understanding how insiders define the missional church; and as a professor the book stimulated my thinking on how both formal and nonformal education must be used to develop leaders for the church.

From forthcoming issue in Evangelical Missions Quarterly

A Call to Prayer for World Revival

2010-01-29T10:33:00.004-06:00

We strongly urge that extraordinary prayer be made for the ten days between the Ascension of Christ and Pentecost. (Declaration of Dependence)

We urge all churches and all Christians around the world unite in seeking the face of God through prayer and fasting, persistently asking our Father to send revival to the Church and spiritual awakening to the world so that Christ’s Great Commission might be fulfilled worldwide.

In 2010 Ascension Day is May 13 - and Pentecost May 23.

I just finished re-reading The Power of Extraordinary Prayer by Robert O. Bakke, and was deeply moved by stories about the power of prayer in God’s people. The concerted effort of prayer led to Great Awakenings where churches were revived and a fervor for world missions was awakened. Could the Lord God Almighty bring another Great Awakening in the 21st century? Let us call all of God’s people to pray for a world-wide Great Awakening. This, I believe, is the way world missions will move forward.

One of the founders of SIM (through merger with the Africa Evangelical Fellowship) was Andrew Murray. For ten days each year, Andrew Murray challenged churches in South Africa to pray for revival. He took his model from the ten days between the Ascension of Jesus and Pentecost when the disciples “all joined together constantly in prayer.” (Acts 1:14) The Lord often blessed the concerted prayer of God’s people by sending revival.

In 2010, Ascension Day is May 13 and Pentecost Sunday is May 23. What might happen if each of us were to personally set aside extra time during these 10 days to pray for the renewal of the church around the world and for an awakening of fervor for world evangelization? What might happen if every mission challenged missionaries and churches to concerted prayer for the Holy Spirit to be poured down on our ministries and our churches?

Could individuals, churches and mission agencies unite in ten days of prayer? What if every mission organization and every mission-minded church would join together in pouring out our hearts to the Lord? For ten days, millions of God’s children would flood the throne of grace pleading for a world-wide spiritual awakening.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Pray with vision. Picture in your mind the impact of your prayers on mission agencies, on churches, and on the world. Picture the impact and pray that this vision might come true. Pray with eyes of faith.

2. Confess sin. Confess and forsake all known sin. Spiritual awakening must begin with those who are praying for the world-wide awakening.

3. Pray from Scripture. Paraphrase Daniel 9 or Ezekiel 36 or Nehemiah 9 or any other promises from the Word. Great awakenings in the Bible often took place when leaders prayed from the promises of the Word.

4. Pray together. After Jesus ascended into heaven the disciples went to the upper room to pray for the promised power of the Holy Spirit. They “joined together constantly in prayer.” I’m not suggesting that we should have a single world-wide prayer meeting. Instead, I picture tens of thousands of small groups on their knees pleading for personal and worldwide awakening during the 10 Days of Prayer.

To paraphrase the Declaration of Dependence:

We strongly urge all churches and all Christians around the world to unite in seeking the face of God through prayer and fasting, persistently asking our Father to send revival to the Church and spiritual awakening to the world so that Christ’s Great Commission might be fulfilled worldwide. We strongly urge that extraordinary prayer be made for the ten days between the Ascension of Christ and Pentecost. (Ascension Day May 13 to Pentecost May 23 2010).

Seven Standards of Excellence for Short-Term Missions

2010-01-17T08:43:00.005-06:00

The general consensus of my students is that about a third of short-term experiences do more harm than good, about a third make little difference, and a third actually make a long-term contribution to the development of the short-termer and to the field ministry. What can be done?

The following suggestions make some radical adaptations from the more common standards.

1.God-Centered – Is God honored through this experience?

2.Gospel-Centered – Will the trip contribute directly or indirectly to evangelism and developing committed followers of Christ?

3.People-Sensitive – Do participants appreciate and build on the giftedness of those they go to serve? Are they willing to listen and learn from them?

4.Field-Focused – Will the experience strengthen the ministry on the field? It the trip actually strategic for the field?

5.Long-term orientation – Does the trip promote the development of long-term missions, more fervent prayer and sacrificial giving?

6.Appropriate Preparation – do short-termers gain a knowledge of God’s plan for the nations and an appreciation of cultural values?

7.Through Follow-Up – Does the trip lead to greater understanding and missions commitment by the sending church?

Jim Plueddemann

In Praise of Long-Term Missionaries

2010-01-16T22:10:00.002-06:00

In the last few years, we have made repeated visits to 56 different countries. Our minds often reflect on the heroes we’ve met – highly effective long-term missionaries. We stand in awe of these enduring servants of the Lord who not only survive but thrive in the most challenging circumstances.

We appreciate their effectiveness, singles and families who have taken years to become fluent in a language, have learned to enjoy cultural differences, and have taken time to build the trust that takes decades to grow. Because of their long endurance they have been richly used of the Lord to make a powerful impact on the Kingdom through evangelism, healing the sick and planting vibrant churches.

We appreciate their long-term sacrifice. They have given up well-paying jobs to live in countries where they will never quite feel at home. Some live where they are targets of terrorists and armed robbery. Others live in the most polluted cities of the world, where malaria and AIDS are rampant. Part of the sacrifice is not being home for Christmas, birthdays and family reunions.

Yes, we understand the importance of short-term missions. Both of us had positive and influential experiences as short-term missionaries. Jim spent three months with Wycliffe in Peru, which confirmed his desire to serve long-term in missions and Carol grew up as a missionary kid in Ecuador and then spent a summer while in college with her parents, working with them with HCJB radio and church planting. Our two children have also had life-changing short-term encounters working with SIM. Our daughter Shari taught English to Somali refugees in the Chicago area, and Danny spent six months living with a Bolivian family. We thank the Lord for our excellent short-term experiences.

While short-term experiences provide valuable insights for the missionaries, and often provide important services on the field, the majority of the most critical tasks are best done by missionaries who take the time to learn the culture, learn the language and build lasting friendships. Bible translation demands years of study, friendship-building, teaching as well as translating. Cross-cultural seminary teaching requires not only academic qualifications, but a deep understanding of the needs and challenges of pastors. Mentoring local leaders is best done by people who have earned respect of lasting friendships. There is a critical need for many more long-term missionaries.

While we appreciate short-term missionaries, we wonder if the ratio is balanced? It’s estimated that each year about a million short-term missionaries travel from the United States to serve cross-culturally. Compare this to about fifty thousand long term missionaries sent out from churches in the United States. We wonder if U.S. churches should be sending 95% of their missionaries as short-termers while sending only 5% as long-termers. Many long-term candidates become discourage and drop out because of the difficulties of raising support. Yes, we see the value of short-term missionaries but why are we sending so few who are willing and qualified to serve long-term?

Here are some suggestions
1) Those who have had short-term experiences – Ask the Lord to show you if your experiences should be a stimulus for long-term service.
2) When you return from a short-term trip, work hard to communicate your experiences to the church. We realize that many of you have had life-changing experiences and few in your church seem to care.
3) If, after a short-term missions experience, the Lord definitely leads you to stay home, pray fervently for missionaries, and be an example of someone who is willing to sacrifice financially to support long-term missionaries.
4) If you are considering a short-term missions trip ask the Lord to touch your heart with the opportunities of long-term service.
5) Church mission committees, we encourage you to make the support of long-term missionaries the backbone of your missions program. We realize that short-term missions might seem more “glitzy” but your first obligation is not to provide interesting experiences for members of the church, but ask yourself “how can our church make the most difference in the worldwide Kingdom of God?
6) Long-term missionaries, hang in there. Yes, you are sacrificing much but your effectiveness for the Kingdom can grow every year you are on the field. No reward in the whole world can begin to match the commendation from Jesus “well done, good and faithful servant.”

Jim & Carol Plueddemann

Adapted from World-Shapers – World Pulse April 23, 2004

Education & Culture Syllabus

2009-12-14T10:08:00.002-06:00

Syllabus
Education and Culture
ES 8620
Professor: James E. Plueddemann, PhD.

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Place: ALD 201
November 9-20, 2009
1:30 – 5:00 PM
MTWRF

Will meet with groups of students after class in the White Horse.

Course Description

The course examines cultural philosophy and values shaping Western and two-thirds world educational systems including formal, non-formal and informal education. The course also investigates the influence of culture on cognition and the developmental process.

Intended Outcomes:

* To better understand the powerful and subtle influence of culture on the practice of education.
* Be able to analyze the philosophy of other cultural systems including ultimate purpose, worldview, goals, methods and practice of education.
* To wrestle with the concept of biblical universals in teaching across cultures.
* To grapple with the paradox of globalization and local values.
* Become acquainted with research methods for further investigation of education and culture.
* Gain skill and passion for teaching in other cultures for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
* To become instruments for promoting education renewal in the global church.
* To develop a community of scholars who reflect together on critical issues encouraging the effects of culture in learning and teaching. I trust we will learn from each other in class discussions, in sharing resources and in getting to know each other.

Required Textbooks (to be read and summarized before the course begins)

* Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Fawcett Crest, 1959.
* Hostetler, John A. and Gertrude Enders Huntington. Amish Children: Education in the Family, School and Community. Harcourt, 1991.
* Hefner Robert W. (ed.) Making Modern Muslims: The Politics of Islamic Education in Southeast Asia. University of Hawai’i Press, 2009. (Note: the whole book is helpful, but read at least the first chapter by Hefner and two other chapters.)
* Merriam, Sharan B. and Associates. Non-Western Perspectives on Learning and Knowing. Krieger, 2007.
* Potok, Chiam. The Chosen. Ballantine. 1967.

Course Activities

1. Before class - write a one page (double spaced 250 word) reflection of each of the required texts, with a short summary, evaluation and application of the reading. Look for the interaction between cultural values and educational goals and methodology. (Due at the beginning of the course.)

2. Before class – Write a 2-3 (500 – 750 words) page reflection of how you have experienced the influence of culture in your upbringing or in your experience of teaching in another culture. (Due at the beginning of the course.)

3. The Class is a crucial aspect of the course. One purpose of the class is to promote critical reflection on the readings and on practical implications for teaching across cultures. Another purpose of the class is to develop a community of scholars interested in effective cross-cultural teaching and learning. My role as the teacher is to facilitate reflection and community. I will lecture part of each class and then help you discover connections between ideas and experience. Be prepared to discuss each of the required readings in class.
Absence for any reason except sickness will subtract points from the final grade. If you are absent for any reason including sickness for three class sessions or more, it might be wise to consider postponing or dropping the class. Regular tardiness will also influence your final grade.
I will be willing to stay after class several days to have dinner at the White Horse (assuming it is open) for fellowship, community building and discussion of assignments.

Some of the topics to be discussed in class:
1. Analysis of a cultural philosophy of education (Frankena)
2. Developmental issues related to culture and cognition
3. The role of the implicit and explicit curriculum in other cultures
4. A study of formal, non-formal and informal modes of learning
5. A discussion of biblical principles in education across cultures
6. Research methods in education and culture

4. Discover at least five journal articles focusing on aspects of education and culture related to your academic interest. Write a short (50 word) summary of each article. Share your findings with others in the class (Due on November 20).

5. After class assignment. Write a 12-15 (double spaced) page paper that relates a practical problem in education and culture to biblical or theoretical concepts studied in class. The paper is due January 22, 2010 by 5:00 PM. A hard copy is much preferred.

Grading

1. 20% Pre-course reading summaries (Due Nov. 9, 2009)
2. 10% Pre-course reflection on influences of culture in your educational development (Due Nov. 9, 2009)
3. 20% Class participation and attendance (Nov 9-20)
4. 10% Summary of journal articles (Due Nov. 20, 2009)
5. 40% Final paper (Due January 22, 2010)

The Power of Piaget

2009-11-13T08:59:00.001-06:00

By James E. Plueddemann
Adapted from a chapter in Nurture That is Christian, James C. Wilhoit and John M. Detonni (eds) BridgePoint Books. 1995.

Growing up is both difficult and exciting, exhilarating and frustrating. The wonderful task of Christian education is to help people grow to become all God intends of them. Piaget does not tell us all there is to know about human development, but he does provide valuable insights for the Christian educator.
The pendulum of Christian education seems to swing between two unhealthy extremes: mindless learning of Bible facts and an emotion-filled philosophy that neglects the authoritative Word of God. Healthy Christian education is both true to the Word of God and relevant to the needs of the person and the world. Emotionalists claim “If it feels so good, it must be true.” On the other hand, rationalists assume that if people know the truth intellectually they will automatically be good people. Insights from Piaget bring balance to Christian education.
One of Piaget’s most important contributions was to provide a philosophical and empirical connection between external and internal knowledge. How does objective knowledge from outside the individual relate to the subjective meaning-making activity of the individual? How does Bible knowledge relate to being a godly person? How does one avoid cramming raw facts down the throats of children, or at the other extreme, merely using the Bible as a tool for feeling good about oneself?

The Practical Problem
Insights from Piagetian theory might suggest a rethinking of the theory and practice of Christian. But is such a radical rethinking really needed?
The church around the world is growing rapidly. The ratio of Christians to non-Christians is higher than it has ever been since the first coming of Christ. Both the percentage of Christians and the number of Christians in the world is higher than ever in history. Christianity is growing rapidly in Africa, South America, Asia, and Eastern Europe.
Bible-believing Christian education professors and publishers are increasingly aware of developmental psychology and at the same time are able to integrate psychology with historic orthodox theology. This is an encouraging trend.
But families are falling apart and seminaries seem to be less and less relevant to the needs of the church. Ethnocentric and racial hatred is sweeping the world. Bible teaching in the Sunday school often seems strangely unrelated to the frustrations of life. Economic and ecological prophets of doom are sounding more persuasive, while prophets of the Lord are often ignored. Hundreds of thousands of new Christians are not growing in their faith. While the number of Christians in the world is higher than ever in history, the number of non-Christians is also higher than ever before because of rapid population growth.
Though there are encouraging trends in the field of Christian education, the overall picture provides many hints of a discouraging state of affairs. Bible-believing Christian educators must not relax, but must work and pray for a quiet revolution in the field. We can’t go on like we are! Christian education is in need of a gracious, Bible-based revolution. Piaget suggests a theory and practice of Christian education that might be a beginning.

The Influence of Piaget
Piagetian theory does not have answers for all of the problems of Christian education, nor are these theories complete or adequate to fully explain human development. Piaget suggested a general skeleton for thinking about knowledge and that general structure is being modified and fleshed out by modern researchers. Piaget himself would have been disappointed if fresh thinking about his theory ceased when he died. While he was alive Piaget encouraged his students to go into new directions, to use the basic insights from his theory to understand new problems ( Shulman, Restiano-Baumann & Butler. 1985, p. xi). Piaget’s theory was dynamic and changing while he was alive, and fresh thinking about his theory needs to continue.
Robert Kegan a neo-Piagetian, believes that “in Piaget we discover a genius who exceeded himself and found more than he was looking for” (1982, p. 26). Kegan has enlarged Piaget’s theory to include personality development, with implications for clinical psychology.
While Piaget’s theory is incomplete and developing, his insights about thinking and growing may be some of the most important of the century. Several scholars have lauded the impact of Piaget and conclude, “Assessing the impact of Piaget’s work on developmental psychology is a little bit like assessing the impact of the automobile on American society” (Dolezal p. 3), or “assessing the impact of Piaget on developmental psychology is like assessing the impact of Shakespeare on English literature or Aristotle on philosophy - impossible. The impact is too monumental to embrace and at the same time too omnipresent to detect.” (Beilin, 1992, p. 191).

Overview of Piaget’s Life (1896-1980)
Piaget was born in 1896 in the small Swiss university town of Neuchtel. “His father was a historian who specialized in medieval literature, and his mother was a dynamic, intelligent, and religious woman” (Gainsburg & Opper, p. 1). Piaget was a brilliant child. He published his first academic paper at age 10. By the time he was 21 he had earned a doctorate in natural sciences from the University of Neuchtel, had published twenty-five professional papers and was considered one of the world’s experts on mollusks. By the time he was thirty Piaget held a job in the Rousseau Institute in Geneva and had a world-wide reputation (Gardner, 1981, p. 56). Piaget was a disciplined person who organized his thinking on long walks and wrote down his ideas the next day. During the summer months he would retreat to a hideaway in the Alps, take long walks, write, and come down in the fall with another book. For Piaget, writing was the way he organized his thoughts. When traveling he would sometimes go to the airport several hours early so he could have uninterrupted time to write (Gardner, 1981, p 57). By the time he died Piaget had written or co-authored about 50 books and hundreds of articles.
Piaget discovered that the shape of mollusks would change when put in a changed environment and concluded that mollusks could assimilate changes because of the need to adapt to the environment.
After finishing his doctorate, Piaget shifted his interests to psychology and began to work in a laboratory with Binet to standardize intelligence tests. Piaget was intrigued with incorrect answers children gave to questions on tests. (Wadsworth, 1974, p. 3). For example many older children would be able to distinguish between the right and left hand of a picture of a boy standing on his head, whereas children a year younger would almost always be confused by the question. He observed that the process of adaptation in children had common elements to adaptation in mollusks.
Piaget spent many hours observing his own children, watching them learn to perceive the world in radically different ways every few months.
He worked in Geneva for the rest of his life. His theories have continued to generate much interest and research.
Piaget argued that in order to understand an idea, a person in one sense has to invent that idea. Invention of ways in which the world works is a challenging task with many pitfalls. Piaget’s theories went counter to Freudian psychoanalytic theories that encouraged parents to avoid frustrating the developing child in any way. He felt such theories led to an excess of unsupervised liberty (Piaget, 1973, p. 6). Piaget felt that children do not learn unless there is an optimum level of dissonance.
He also disagreed with the ideas of Skinner and of programmed instruction. “Programmed instruction is indeed conducive to learning, but by no means to inventing. . . unless the child is made to do the programming himself” (1973, p. 7). Piaget would also disagree with Mager-type behavioral objectives. He would likely prefer problem-posing educational objectives.

Overview of Piaget’s Theory
The Process of Growth
Piaget is best known for exploring the mechanism and the stages of cognitive development from birth to adulthood.
Piaget has generated important studies on the factors that promote development. Two important factors are social interaction and the process of exploring tensions, or “disequilibration.” People tend to grow and develop as they struggle with problems in a social setting.
Interestingly, people tend to make the most progress in learning when things don’t make sense! For example, a small child may have one single mental category for animals - the family dog. Everything with four legs, a tail, and a wet nose is a dog. When the child sees the neighbor’s cat, which has four legs, a kind of tail, and sort-of a wet nose, the child labels the animal a dog. The process continues until the child sees a cow, or any animal that doesn’t fit the "dog" category. The cow has some of the characteristics of a dog, yet is very different. The cow doesn’t fit the child's mental category. This causes “disequilibration.” The problem prompts the child to construct a broader mental category for animals and produces cognitive development.
Adults also grow as they explore tensions and create new categories. This process is enhanced through interaction with other adults. This means that small groups can provide an ideal setting for healthy growth. For example, when a Presbyterian and a Pentecostal think together over a passage in the book of Acts, it's very possible that interesting "disequilibration" will take place. As they explore the tensions of their differences in interpretation, both will see things they never saw before in that passage. Interaction with people who have different perspectives can be a powerful stimulus to growth.
Ultimately, growth toward Christlikeness is a gift of God. Each Christian has spiritual gifts, so the group itself can become a means of grace. Though groups can facilitate growth, godly development is a result of God’s grace.
Piaget has described the strategies used by children to make sense of their world. The mind at birth is not a passive blank slate, but has built-in structures or schemata for organizing information. The child takes in information from the surrounding environment and puts that information in a mental file folder. Piaget calls this process assimilation. Children transform or re-write the information to fit existing mental categories. But not all the information a child receives seems to fit the existing file folders. When young children hear the story of Pontius Pilate, they put him in the mental file folder labeled “pilot.” Maybe this is why one child drew a picture of the flight to Egypt of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus in an airplane, with Pontius as the pilot. Such a picture makes sense given the child’s limited number of mental file folders. But eventually the child begins to figure out that there may be two kinds of pilots, and such an understanding results in confusion or disequilibration in a puzzling situation (LeBar & Plueddemann p. 212). The child realizes the need for accommodation, or the need to add more file folders to accommodate the new category. So the child has one category for airplane pilots and creates another category for a person named Pilate. Learning as defined by Piaget is not solely an inner or outer process, but is the interaction of the inner thinking of the child with the outer world.

Stages of Growth
Piaget spent many hours observing his own children in natural settings and found that growth takes place in spurts or stages. These stages are “great leaps” followed by times of calm and integration. He described four major stages. Many researchers have confirmed these general patterns of developmental stages in people from many cultures.
1. Sensorimotor stage (ages 0-2). The sensorimotor infant makes sense of the world primarily through physical observations - by seeing, hearing, and touching. If a baby is playing with a rattle and the rattle should fall from sight, the baby will not look for it. For babies, objects seem to cease to exist when they are out of sight.
In some ways, the sensorimotor age is the most complex of the developmental stages. Piaget discovered at least six sub-stages in infants. At birth children react entirely with their reflexes, and by the time children reach two years of age they have begun mastery of language and have discovered how to perform scientific experiments with concrete objects. For young children each day produces dozens of miracles both for the child and the parent.
2. Preoperational stage (approximately ages 2-7). At this stage there is the new capacity to make sense of the world through language and fantasy. Preschoolers learn through intuition rather than through systematic logic, and they have a creative imagination.
In some ways preoperational or intuitive thinking is the most interesting and creative stage. Children may have difficulty seeing the perspective of a parent or another child, and thus have difficulty with cooperative play. But preoperational children have a most creative way of thinking about the world. Since they are not burdened with abstract logic, cars can fly, dreams can hide under the bed, and the moon follows them as they go for a night walk. Elkind (1979) calls children at this stage “cognitive aliens.” Children speak a different language and make up words such as “mouth brow” for mustache. A three-year-old neighbor told her mom I was “lawning” when I was mowing the lawn. “We cannot take anything for granted insofar as the child’s knowledge or understanding is concerned” (p. 147). But children are logical thinkers. Their rules of logic are just based on different ways of knowing the world.
While preoperational children are “cognitive aliens,” Elkind (p. 151) calls them “emotional countrymen.” Children are least like adults in their thinking and most like adults in their feelings. Children aren’t little “thinking machines” when they read. Thinking and feeling are always tied together. Adults must treat children with love and respect.
3. Concrete operational stage (approximately ages 7-11). The elementary school-age child has the new capacity to use mental logic but is limited to situations that are real and observable. Ten-year-olds in my Sunday school class assume that “tent-making” missionaries, unless people live in tents. Children at this stage learn facts easily, are very literal, and see social issues in terms of black and white, right and wrong. They love the Guinness Book of World Records and have numerous collections of rocks, stamps, and sports cards.
4. Formal operations stage (often 12 and up). In adolescence and adulthood an important way of making sense of the world is through abstract thinking. Now there is the ability to solve hypothetical problems with logical thinking. Many principles of Scripture cannot be fully understood from the perspective of concrete operational thinking. But complex concepts such as the atonement take on deeper understanding when adults are able to see the abstract conflict between justice and mercy.
In one important sense people can have a mature faith at any level of cognitive development, but for a more adequate understanding of Scripture formal operational thinking is probably needed.
Piaget found that growth is promoted thorough interaction with other children and with parents. And progress in stage development is motivated or enhanced as the child encounters perplexing situation.
The theories of Piaget provide valuable insights for teaching children about God and the Bible. He would suggest that we encourage young people to struggle with problems rather than give them easy answers. He would also suggest we give children plenty of opportunity to explore for themselves and to interact with other children.

Growth in Perspectivism
According to Piaget, the process of growth is like the widening ripples caused by a stone falling into a pond (Plueddemann & Plueddemann, 1990). Each stage of human development leads to wider horizons and broader perspectives. The more mature person can appreciate a point of view from a greater number of perspectives, making it possible for empathetic and caring relationships with people of different perspectives. As people grow in the ability to see problems from the perspective of the other person, they can better "rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep." Perspectivism makes discussion possible as people listen and interact with each other's views. Missionaries who can present their message from the perspective of a person in another culture are more likely to be effective.
Parents know that small children are egocentric, seeing the world from their own limited perspective. A wise parent knows it does no good to tell a hungry baby to wait sixty seconds for milk. God didn’t create screaming babies with the mental capacity to contemplate the future.
As children grow older, their awareness of the points of view of other people increases, but the depth of their interaction with others is rather shallow. This is why young children tend to interact in what is called “parallel play.” They are aware of other children playing near them, but they "play alone together" (Selman, 1976). Minimal interaction for children begins to take place about the age of seven. They can now discuss concrete situations with each other and begin to take the perspective of other children. But they are still not able to discuss abstract concepts such as “sharing.” For the seven-year-old, sharing means letting another person use one particular object. So a child may remember to share an umbrella, but not a jump rope. Sharing in the abstract is a difficult concept for children.
From about the age of twelve, perspectivism grows rapidly. Teens experience a revolution of world-view when they are able to see themselves as others see them. Such perspectivism is a strong motivation for boys to begin combing their hair and for girls to pay special attention to what they wear. Teens are growing in their ability to participate in group discussions because they are better able to analyze and reflect on comments from others in the group. Teens often question the religious up-bringing of their home because they are able to reflect on what life might be if they were raised in a Muslim home. Perspectivism can lead to doubt or to a stronger personally-owned faith.
Many adults are capable of genuine perspectivism, but some adults have difficulty “wrestling” with new ideas from different perspectives. Adult Sunday school classes often end in an argumentative discussion with one person not really hearing the point of the other adult. Class comments are often a string of unrelated observations from different members of the group. At times overly simple answers are dogmatically given to complex questions. Piaget never assumed that all adults would reach formal operational thought, so genuine dialogue among adults is not something to be taken for granted.

Moral Reasoning
Why do people do what they do? The level of cognitive development is reflected in why people do or do not obey rules.
Piaget observed children playing marbles and wondered about their attitudes toward rules. Children seldom learned rules for playing marbles in a formal setting with rewards and punishment set by adults (Duska & Whelan, p. 9). Piaget wanted to know how children thought about rules, how rules could be changed, and if children actually followed the rules.
Before the age of two children play marbles without rules, but practice many of the skills of playing the game of marbles.
After the age of two, children learn from older children that there are rules to the game, and they imitate those rules. Piaget would call these children egocentric because they assume their rules are followed by all people in the world. They believe that their particular rules are sacred and should not be changed. “They believe that the rules of marbles have been handed down from adults, and some even believe that God may have originally formulated them. Any alteration in the rules is considered a transgression” (Duska & Whelan, p. 10). Children feel an obligation to play by the rules, but often play with little cooperation with other children, or according to the rules.
At about seven years of age, the child begins to play marbles according to rules set by the group, but becomes legalistic in enforcing obedience to the rules. Piaget would call this heteronomous obedience to rules. Rules can be made by the children if they all agree to a particular set of rules.
Twelve-year-olds often develop ability for abstract reasoning, and the making of rules becomes a most important task in playing a game. Rule-making becomes a social activity, rather than blind obedience to external rules. There may be a serious desire to cooperate, so children actually abide by the rules to which they mutually agree. Piaget calls this autonomous reasoning.
Younger children understand doing good as doing what one should do, obeying the rules of adults. Younger children seldom consider the intentions of people as to why they do what they do. For example if a child because of clumsiness or by accident breaks fifteen tea cups, that child is considered a worse offender than a child who out of anger intentionally breaks only one tea cup. Older children pay more attention to the intentions of the child.
Piaget’s understanding of the moral thinking of children supports the idea that children don’t merely absorb character traits from adults, but are actively involved in making sense out of moral behavior from their developmental perspective.
Piaget’s work on the moral reasoning of children stimulated much of the thinking of Lawrence Kohlberg and James Fowler in the fields of moral reasoning and faith development.

Religious Thinking in Children
David Elkind (1979b) built on understandings of Piaget when he conducted research about how children think about religious issues. He was not interested in what children were taught in formal education, but what they really thought about religious ideas in a spontaneous setting. He investigated children’s conceptions of prayer, God and religion. His method was to ask questions. “The only requirement in formulating questions is that they be so absurd, to the adult way of thought, that one can be reasonably certain children have not been trained one way or the other regarding them” (1979, p. 259).
He asked questions such as: Can God be president of the United States? Can God talk French? How did God get his name? Does God have a first name? Along a similar line he would ask a Baptist child: Can a dog be a Baptist? How can you tell a person is Baptist? Can you be an American and a Baptist at the same time?
Elkind found stages similar to those of Piaget. He found young children to be undifferentiated in their thinking (Baptists have blond hair), older children to be concretely differentiated (They don’t allow dogs in our Baptist Church so a dog could not be a Baptist), and young teens to be abstractly differentiated (Yes one can be both American and Baptist).

An understanding of Piaget can be helpful in understanding the broad task of religious education. People grow as they interact with people, with the physical world around them. and with knowledge. People are not merely empty sponges to be filled with knowledge but are active in the process of growth. Education is not something one gives to another such as teachers giving an education to a student. True education is the reflective interaction between the student and the environment.

Implications for Ministry across Cultures
The Church around the world is in serious need of Christian education that is related to the world-view and needs of culture and at the same time is under the absolute authority of the Word of God. Good teaching in another culture is most challenging.
Piaget would argue that most cultural differences are variations on a set of common themes. There may be thousands of different ways of looking at life, but Piaget would contend that such differences build on similar deep structures in the person.
Traditional IQ tests are thought to be culturally biased, but Piaget redefined intelligence. Piaget claimed that the foundational structures of intelligence are genetic, and thus are potentially available for every human being in every corner of the earth. Piaget did not promote an elitist or Western definition of intelligence. The rate of development may be slowed or optimized by cultural influences, but highest levels of intelligence are possible for every culture ( Ashton, 1975. Dasen, 1977. Price-Williams, 1981). The doctrine of Creation affirms that every person is made in God’s image with all the potential implied by that creation.
Since the fundamental components of teaching and learning are the same in every culture there are basic principles of teaching that are appropriate in every culture.

Implications of Piaget for Christian Education
Piaget’s theories need to be evaluated and modified in light of the authoritative Word of God and must be empowered by the Holy Spirit for effectiveness in Christian education. While Piaget made no claim of being a follower of Christ, his insights can remind the Christian educator of basic biblical principles.
* Piaget helps us to see that the purpose of education is development. The ultimate goal of human development is for people to glorify God by becoming like Christ in every aspect of life. The task of the Christian educator is to foster the development of people so they will become like Christ - people who more fully love, know and glorify God. Too often Christian educators become sidetracked with idolatrous purposes such as building bigger programs or merely transmitting knowledge. Church growth and program development must always be means toward the bigger goal of Christ-likeness or they become idols.
* Piaget helps us see that learning is a social activity. Christians should not need to be reminded that good education must involve the body of believers, the Church. People develop as they interact with other people. People don’t learn the most important things in life by sitting in a pew taking notes from one-way communication. Good lectures and powerful preaching may be a stimulus for significant education, but Piaget reminds us that people must interact with each other in order to grow. Education that merely fosters passive reception of information will seldom develop people.
* Piaget helps us to see that learning is a disequilibrating and re-equilibrating process. We grow as we wrestle with the problems of life in light of the Word of God. Life is filled with frustrations and challenges. We are influenced by sin at every stage of spiritual growth. There will always be tension between the way we live and the way we should live. The good news of the Gospel must always be the answer for the bad news of our human situation. The purpose of knowledge, even knowledge of the Bible, is that it be a tool for helping us to resolve the deepest dilemmas of being human.
Through the power of the Word of God and by the Spirit of God these three principles could spark renewal in the Church around the world. The purpose of Christian education is to promote the godly development of people. We must involve the whole Body of Christ in this process, using God’s Word as a means for resolving life’s tensions. If these principles are indeed revolutionary, let us be gracious and humble in implementing them, but let the revolution begin!

Bibliography

Ashton, P.T. 1975. Cross-cultural Piagetian research: An experimental perspective. Harvard Educational Review. 45, In Harvard Educational Review reprint # 13 Stage theories of cognitive and moral development. pp. 1-32.
Beilin, H. 1992. Piaget’s enduring contribution to developmental psychology. Developmental Psychology. 28: 191-204.
Dasen, P.R. (Ed.). 1977. Piagetian psychology: Cross-cultural contributions. NY: John Wiley.
Dolezal, J. G. 1984. A summary and systematization of Jean Piaget’s position on affectivity. Wheaton College, IL MA Thesis.
Duska, R. & Whelan, M. 1975. Moral development: A guide to Piaget and Kohlberg. New York: Paulist Press.
Elkind, D. (1979a). The study of spontaneous religion in the child. In The child and society. New York: Oxford University Press.
Elkind, D. (1979b). Piaget and Montessori in the classroom. In, The child and society. New York: Oxford University Press.
Gainsburg, H. & Opper, S. 1979. Piaget’s theory of intellectual development. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Gardner, H. 1981. The quest for mind: Piaget, LŽvi-Strauss, and the structuralist movement. (Second edition). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Jacob, S.H. 1984. Foundations for Piagetian education. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Kegan, R. 1982. The evolving self: Problem and process in human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
LeBar, L. & Plueddemann, J. 1984. Education that is Christian. Revised. Wheaton: Victor Books.
Piaget, J. 1973. To understand is to invent. New York: Grossman.
Piaget, J. 1932. The moral judgment of the child. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. 1969. The psychology of the child. New York: Basic Books.
Plueddemann, J. 1986. Theorists who influenced the study of James Fowler and faith development: Piaget, Kohlberg, Erikson. Christianity Today June 13, 1986
Plueddemann, C. & Plueddemann J. (1990). Pilgrims in progress. Wheaton: Harold Shaw.
Price-Williams, D. 1981. Concrete and formal operations. In R.W. Monroe, R.L. Monroe and B.B. Whiting (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural human development. NY: Garland STMP Press.
Pulaski, M. A. S. 1980. Understanding Piaget. New York: Harper & Row.
Shulman, V.L., Restiano-Baumann, L.C.R. & Butler, L. (Eds.) 1985. The future of Piagetian theory: The neo-Piagetians. New York: Plenum Press.
Selman, R. 1976. The Development of Socio-Cognitive Understanding: A Guide to Educational and Clinical Practice. in Morality: Theory, Research and Social Issues, ed. Thomas Lickona New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Wadsworth, B. J. 1974. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. New York: David McKay.

Will the Real Leader Stand Up?

2009-07-20T13:08:00.001-05:00

From forthcoming book by Jim Plueddemann - Leading Across Cultures (IVP).

There must be hundreds of definitions of leadership, each one reflecting philosophical, theological and cultural values. People from a goal-oriented culture might define leadership as accomplishing the task through other people. Leaders from a relationship-oriented society would prefer to define leadership as the ability to build alliances and friendships. Societies with a low tolerance for ambiguity insist on a precise definition, while those with a high tolerance for ambiguity would likely not bother with any definition.

Recently the U.S. News & World Report editors selected their choice of the best leaders. They defined a leader as a person who “motivates people to work collaboratively to accomplish great things.” [i] The selection committee used three criteria for the best leaders: they set direction, by “building a shared sense of purpose” [ii] they achieved results that had a positive social impact that exceeded expectations, and they cultivated a culture of growth by inspiring others to lead.[iii]

Since there is no divinely inspired definition of leadership I will show my theological and cultural bias with the following description:

Good leaders are fervent disciples of Jesus Christ, gifted by the Holy Spirit, with a passion to bring glory to God. They use their gift of leadership by taking initiative to focus, harmonize and enhance the gifts of others for the sake of developing people and cultivating the Kingdom of God.

[i] Amanda Ruggeri, “America’s Best Leaders: How They Were Picked.” U.S. News & World Report, December 8, 2008, p. 55.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.

Are All Christians Missionaries?

2009-07-07T10:10:00.002-05:00

(From forthcoming book, Leading Across Cultures by James E. Plueddemann, by IVP. Publication date October 2009)

The word missionary has mixed connotations. For some people, missionaries are heroes and spiritual giants, worthy to be put on a pedestal. At the other extreme, missionaries are thought to be religious fanatics who destroy cultures and stir up sectarian strife. Many times, they are stereotyped as being from the West and having white skin. More recently the idea has surfaced that all believers are missionaries. I remember a missions conference with the theme, “You are either a missionary or a mission field.” I recently visited a church that featured a large sign over the exit: “You are now entering the mission field.” Some Christian organizations define a missionary as anyone needing to raise support. A prayer letter from a Christian camp announced that the camp staff were all missionaries, meaning the camp didn’t pay them a salary. One of my American friends jokingly defines a missionary as anyone who receives a tax-deductable receipt for the cost of their travel.

Most missionaries are neither spiritual giants nor destroyers of culture. They go out from every country in the world, they have a unique calling, and they are not defined by whether they raise support or not.

A missionary is anyone, from any country, who leaves home in order to proclaim the gospel, usually in another culture. The term is derived from the concept of “apostle,” or “sent one,” so by definition, missionaries move beyond their home ministries.

In the Old Testament, priests had local responsibility for taking care of the temple, while prophets spoke the word of God both to Israel and to the nations. Jesus’ disciples were also called apostles or “sent ones.” They were called to leave home, family and occupations for the sake of Jesus and for the gospel (Mark 10:29). New Testament pastors, elders and deacons were responsible for local house churches, while “apostolic bands” left home to preach the gospel. During much of the history of the church, parish priests led local congregations while religious orders carried the gospel to distant places. Put simply, missionaries are people who leave home for the sake of the gospel. While differences between local and non-local ministries become fuzzy at times, the basic distinction helps to avoid confusion of roles.

The Holy Spirit gives many gifts. Local pastors, evangelists and teachers play a most important, God-given role in world missions, but they are not missionaries. Christians living or doing business in another country are not necessarily missionaries unless they intentionally seek opportunities to share the gospel. Church groups visiting missionaries in another country are most likely Christian tourists. In my definition, Christians doing relief work in Southern Sudan are not missionaries unless they also seek to talk about Jesus. Many people provide outstanding service to humanity by building houses, drilling wells, stimulating micro-enterprises and feeding the poor. But unless they also intentionally seek opportunities to communicate the gospel, I would not call them missionaries. I’m grateful for philanthropists such as Bill Gates and the Red Cross. They aren’t second-class citizens; I just don’t classify them as missionaries.

Yet, communicating the gospel is not the only thing that missionaries do. They do in fact hold verbal proclamation of the gospel together with meeting human need. Through the centuries missionaries have holistically proclaimed Christ as they healed the sick, built schools, provided clean water, initiated agricultural innovation and spoken out against injustice.

When an Indian family moves away from their own culture in south India to the Islamic North in order to do the work of evangelism and discipleship, they are missionaries. Chinese family members setting up a market stall in Afghanistan for the sake of taking the gospel westward are missionaries. An Australian English teacher in China who looks for informal opportunities to share the gospel is a missionary.

Can Women be Leaders?

2009-06-15T16:27:00.002-05:00

My Disequilibrating Journey

I’m sorry to admit that I was 36 years old before I really thought seriously about the role of women in ministry. In 1979 I was being interviewed by a woman member of the Board of Regents for a teaching position at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Out of the blue she asked me if I thought women should teach men. Without thinking I quoted 1 Timothy that Paul did not permit a woman to teach or assume authority over a man. (1 Tim. 2:12) She didn’t say anything but gave me a slight smile. I then asked her if she taught Sunday School in her church and if there were men in the class. She nodded, yes. With an embarrassed look on my face I mumbled that I assumed that she was a good teacher and admitted that I hadn’t thought much about the issue. My disequilibration had begun.

If women shouldn’t teach men, how could many of my most influential teachers be women? If women aren’t to teach men because women, like Eve are more easily deceived (1 Tim. 2:14) then for sure women shouldn’t be allowed to teach children or even worse, other women. Should men read books or sing hymns written by women? It didn’t fit my theology or my experience. My mother’s teaching led me to accept Christ as savior. If women shouldn’t have authority over men, how could some of the most dynamic, visionary leaders in missions be women? Does God’s inerrant and fully inspired Bible contradict itself when it says women should keep silent in church, while on the other hand they should cover their heads when they prophesy? (1 Cor. 14:34 and 11:5) My naïf position didn’t make sense theologically or experientially. I began to reflect on my experience, and went to Scripture again with a fresh curiosity.

I grew up in a godly, fun-loving home with a strict German father and Scotch-Irish mother. Both parents were well educated, committed Christians and influential leaders in our local church. In the home my Dad was clearly in charge, but my Mother took most of the initiative in raising and punishing me when I deserved it. Because Mom taught Good News Clubs in our home, I learned most of the Bible stories in our living room filled with children and a flannel-graph board. Even today, when I hear the stories of creation, Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Jesus and Paul, I still picture my mom moving flannel-graph figures around the board with a room-full neighborhood children.

Many other women teachers had a strong impact on my life. My fourth grade teacher Mrs. Phillipson, gave me a sense of confidence and self-worth that changed my worldview. Once, in front of the whole class, she told me that I might be president of the United States some day. As a 12 year old I recommitted my life to Christ under the dynamic Sunday School teaching of Nettie Baird. At Wheaton College, the teachers who influenced me the most were Vivian Bloomquist and Mary and Lois LeBar. When I began dating Carol I quickly realized that she was a lot smarter than I and had gifts where I was sorely lacking. She began to tutor me in Spanish, and helped edit of my papers. Because of her, my grades dramatically improved under her teaching.

After we were married, Carol and I joined the Sudan Interior Mission (now Serving In Mission) and began working with the Christian education department of a dynamic church in Nigeria. I realized that Carol along with Ruth Cox and Mary Marbaugh were much more qualified than I, at teaching, through the means of curriculum development. Mary replaced me in the leadership team when we went of furlo and became the first woman to serve on the SIM West Africa Council. Later when I became the International Director of SIM, I realized that a couple of our field countries were stagnating for lack of visionary leadership. When I appointed Becky Welling as the SIM Director of Sudan, her love for the local pastors, fluency in Arabic along with her enthusiasm and possibility-thinking revitalized the ministry.

On our first vision consultation in India we sensed a deep ingrown discouragement. When I asked the director about his vision for the country, he answered, “the last person to go, turn out the lights.” After we replaced the depressed leader with a dynamic woman medical doctor, Aletta Bell, the field took off. Seldom have we seen such a dramatic turn-around. Aletta traveled to most of the SIM sending offices, exuberantly pounding the pulpit with fresh vision for the ministry in India. In our last visit to India as International Director, the SIMers were buzzing with excitement and enthusiasm about fresh possibilities for ministry. On the last evening of a vision consultation, we sat on the beach, sang praise hymns and watched the sun set over the Arabian Sea. One of the younger folks played music on a “boom-box,” and the whole team made up of members from Ethiopia, Japan, Korea, the United States, India, and many more, lit sparklers and began to dance on the beach. Carol and I watched in amazement. What a difference between our first discouraging visit and our last one with dancing on the beach. India was our fastest growing field. God used this powerfully-gifted, possibility-thinking woman to bring dynamic change.

Journey Toward Re-equilibration

I consider myself a conservative evangelical Christian holding firmly to the fundamentals of the historic faith. I gladly ascribe to the verbal, plenary and inerrant inspiration of Scripture. Was I on a theological slippery slope toward liberalism? Did I sin by appointing women missionaries to positions of authority over men?

I continued reflecting on my life. My professional career has been either as a missionary or a professor. For 24 years I’ve been a cross-cultural missionary, and for 19 years I’ve been a professor at Wheaton College or Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I’ve lived, studied, written and taught in areas of leadership and cross-cultural studies. Both help me understand the dilemma of women in leadership.

The Bible is filled with universal moral ethical principles. Yet where Scripture seems to contradict itself—as in the command for women to be silent, and prophesy with covered head—the principle must not be universal but be intended for a specific or cultural situation. The church in Corinth well-known for specific tensions and squabbles. Many of the commands—such as the length of hair and wearing of hats in church—are generally thought to be culturally-specific. If the apostle Paul were writing to missionaries working in the Islamic world, he might say that it is not appropriate for a man to teach women. It would go against the morays of the culture. If the command is situationally cultural, then both men and women should be alert to times when it would be better for the other gender to do the teaching and leading.

My experiences and studies in cross-cultural leadership leads me to a rival hypothesis regarding the passage where Paul tells Timothy that he “does not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man” (1 Tim. 2:11). In a many parts of the world a high power-distance leadership is the expected cultural value, where a domineering leadership style is assumed by both followers and leaders. Jesus consistently taught a counter-cultural low power-distance leadership value when he told the Jews not to call anyone Rabbi (Matt. 22:8), and his disciples to avoid the Gentile style of lording it over others (Matt. 20:25). Many of the translations of the 1 Timothy passage add the footnote with the alternate reading that Paul did not permit a women to teach man in a domineering way. Since leadership struggles were common in the New Testament church, Paul equally might have written, I do not permit a man to teach either men or women in a domineer way. Most likely a woman was giving Timothy problems by her domineering teaching style. The underlying principle probably refers to leadership styles of both men and women.

Resolution

The universal principle regarding the ministry role of men and women is that they are interdependent. “Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God” (1 Cor. 11:11). Men and women are different but interdependent, where the only hierarchical relationship is God. The position isn’t quite egalitarian or complementarian.

My understanding of the doctrine of progressive revelation helps me to respect both the continuity and discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments. I don’t find the term “ordination” in the New Testament. If folks ask me if I believe in the ordination of women, I tell them “no,” but neither do I believe in the ordination of men. (I enjoy being an iconoclast.) The whole idea of a priesthood limited to the males of one family of one of the tribes of Israel is done away in the New Testament. But if we give in to the cultural temptation to “ordain” people let’s not restrict it to the Old Testament doctrine of the limited priesthood. The laying on of hands seems to be a public indication of the giftedness of an individual and there is no indication that spiritual gifts are gender specific. Surely the doctrine of the priesthood of believers is not limited to males. Galatians lists barriers broken down in the New Testament, both men and women are one in Christ Jesus (Gal 2:28).

I don’t quite fit either the egalitarian or complementarian mold. Maybe I’m an interdependent, egalitarian-complementarian. I praise the Lord for the differences between men and women. Without these differences no one except Adam, Eve and Jesus could be born. I remember reading brain research that discovered a tendency for the left hemisphere to handle abstract functions while the right hemisphere helped with more intuitive ways of thinking. The disconcerting observation is that women usually have more connections between the two hemispheres. In order to make the best decisions it makes sense to have both men and women on governing boards, on leadership teams and highest positions of leadership.

I’m sorry it took me so long to become disequilibrated. From the perspective of a cross-cultural missionary I realize that there are times when, for the sake of the gospel, both men and women need to step back from leadership positions. I respect hierarchical complementarian men and women who, because of their high view of Scripture, struggle with the dilemma. Usually these folks do all they can to include women is as may leadership roles as they can. But as I look at a world in pain, a struggling and lukewarm church and billions of people around the world who don’t know Christ, I am passionate about the urgent need to employ the giftedness of the whole church.

We shoot ourselves in the foot when we unbiblically limit the leadership gifts of at least half the Body of Christ.

Ascension Day - Pray For Revival

2009-05-13T06:48:00.003-05:00

May 21, 2009 is Ascension Day! . . . May 31 is Pentecost Sunday

Ascension day may be the most important date on the Christian calendar that is totally ignored.

This is the day the disciples along with the women who followed Jesus returned to the upper room to pray. They watched as Jesus was taken up before their eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight. For ten days they studied the Bible and prayed. They probably meditated on the last words of Jesus. "You will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth." They were told to wait for the Holy Spirit.

Ten days after Ascension Day is Pentecost! The day when God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven heard of Jesus in their own language. (Reread Acts 1 and 2)

Let us take these ten days and pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Ascension Day Hymn

Tune: Hyfrydol

Alleluia! Sing to Jesus,
His the scepter, His the throne;
Alleluia! His the triumph, His the victory alone.
Hark the songs of peaceful Zion
Thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus, out of every nation,
Hath redeemed us by His blood.

Alleluia! not as orphans
Are we left in sorrow now;
Alleluia! He is near us,
Faith believes, nor questions how:
Though the cloud from sight received Him
When the forty days were o’er,
Shall our hearts forget His promise,
“I am with you evermore”?

Alleluia! Bread of Heaven,
Thou on earth our food and stay;
Alleluia! Here the sinful
Flee to Thee from day to day;
Intercessor, friend of sinners,
Earth’s Redeemer, plead for me,
Where the songs of all the sinless
Sweep across the crystal sea.

William C. Dix 1866

LOST

2009-02-23T17:12:00.000-06:00

We were frantic. Our son Danny got lost at a Michigan State University football game. We had just come on home assignment from Nigeria and Danny was four years old. Was he kidnapped? Did he fall a couple of hundred feet over the back of the stadium? I peered over the edge of the stadium and half expected to see a crowd of people gathered around a small crumpled body on the sidewalk. Why didn’t we take better care of him? Why didn’t we teach him our phone number? Why didn’t we make sure he had some kind of identification? In a frenzy we searched through the mass of 40,000 football fans. You can imagine our exuberance when we later found Danny in a special room for lost children, eating candy in the arms of policeman. We were so glad that the University took special concern for lost children.

Lets pretend that in our panic a friendly policeman sent us to the University Committee on Lostness. I barged into the committee room shouting, “Help! Our son is lost!”

Members of the University Committee on Lostness wished to ask me some questions. I assumed that they wanted to know what Danny was wearing, where we saw him last, if he might have gone home with a friend or some other helpful question. But he asked, “What do you mean by lost?” “Is he really lost?” “Who do you think you are to impose your morality of lostness on a child?” “It’s all relative, maybe you are the one who is lost.” “How can you be so arrogant to proclaim your son is lost. You are making a value judgment on his lost state and assume have better judgment than your son?”

Weeping and pleading I shouted, “But my boy is lost, I love this boy more than I love my own life. He is in serious danger. Stop your scholarly debates on lostness and come help me find my boy!”

At this moment there are at least four billion people who are lost without Christ. About two billion lost people are out of reach of any search party. Their Heavenly Father loves these people more than he loved the life of his own Son. We sense the pain of lostness in God’s heart when we read that there is great joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents. The father in Luke 15 celebrated with an exuberant party when his lost son was found.

Mission agencies are recruiting people to form search parties to go into dark and difficult and neglected places to find the lost. We desperately need volunteers and those who will support them? How can so many Bible-believing Christians be complacent when our loving Father is weeping for His lost children?

Requiem Grace

2008-11-15T13:54:00.002-06:00

by Carol Plueddemann

Music is one of the most significant “means of grace” in my life and I’m glad for the rich variety of hymn styles that nurture my heart—ancient, contemporary, country, Black gospel, jazz and all varieties of ethnic expression . I’m no expert when it comes to classical music, but the Brahms’ Requiem has become one of my favorite pieces.

Why this Requiem? I first sang this piece with the Jos Community Choir when we lived in Nigeria. We weren’t a polished group, but we sang from our hearts. Though still in my twenties, I had begun to experience the sorrows of death in the loss of two close friends just our age. Later I sang this work with the Wheaton Choral Union on the first-year anniversary of my father’s death. Last weekend Jim and I listened to the Requiem again at the Divine Word Chapel where the lovely sounds surrounded us with comfort in the recent death of my mother.

Unlike other requiems, the text of Brahms’ Requiem is all Scripture. The piece begins slowly with a somber melody: Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall have comfort and soon moves to the glad reminder that Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Then an ominous pounding of drums announces, Behold all flesh is as the grass. The grass withers and the flower decays. In contrast, The Word of the Lord endures forevermore. Here the music becomes bright, solid and hopeful and transitions to the joyful parade of the redeemed as they come to Zion. Joy and gladness, these shall be their portion. Pain and sighing shall flee.

"As I turn the pages of my score, I see margin notes penciled in during the many rehearsals I attended. I smile as I note that these musical reminders are also appropriate life challenges: Watch! Sustain—don’t fade. Don’t rush. Support—breathe! Sing sweetly."

Lord, make me to know the measure of my days on earth—to consider my frailty—that I must perish…Now, Lord, O, what do I wait for? My hope is in Thee. And then the sweet music of the well-known piece How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs for the courts of the Lord. My soul and body cry out for the living God. These words from Psalm 84 resonate with my longings for our true Home. The subject and counter-subject weave a glorious blend as They praise thy name evermore.

The fifth movement is written in memory of Brahms’ mother. I will comfort you as one whom his own mother comforts. The soaring, sorrowful soprano solo is among the loveliest music composed by mortals. It is almost too exquisite to bear and fills me with homesickness for heaven where we will experience music in brand new dimensions.

Here on earth we have no continuing place. The music is foreboding at this point but becomes brighter as pilgrims are assured, Howbeit, we seek one to come. And then, Lo, I unfold unto you a mystery… (Brahms’ music here rivals any mystery soundtrack.) We shall not all sleep—We shall all be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the sound of a trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. (in-cor-RUPT-ible!) For death shall be swallowed in victory! (Can you hear the blast of the trumpets?) Death—where is thy sting? Grave—where is thy triumph?

Now the music explodes in a glorious chorale: Lord, Thou art worthy to be praised! And then a confident, calm affirmation: Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. They rest from their labors and their works follow after them. Those who live and die in the Lord have eternal significance. Though their earthly lives are like grass, they will be raised—incorruptible-- to praise God forever. Brahms’ Requiem is a foretaste of that praise.

The Quandary of Missionary Leadership

2008-07-12T15:52:00.002-05:00

Missionaries are people who are not afraid to take bold risks. They often march to a different drummer, and have an entrepreneurial spirit. Missionaries are a delightful yet peculiar people.

When it comes to leadership they face a quandary:
1. Individualistic missionaries are often called to work under the direction of missionaries or nationals with widely different cultural views of leadership.
2. Missionaries may be called to lead multi-cultural teams of fellow missionaries and nationals who have radically different cultural expectations of leadership.
3. Missionaries teach in pastoral training institutions in cultures with dissimilar ideas about the leadership role of the pastor.
4. The dominant worldwide assumption is that leaders have the responsibility and power to control people. The North American corporate CEO, the South American caudillo, the Asian Confucian elder brother, the Middle-Eastern paternalistic father-figure or the traditional African chief, all fit the model of leadership as power and control.
5. Missionaries in a post-modern culture react against a domineering view of leadership, feeling called to “do their own thing.” They often see leadership as a service function with little or no authority.

The Quandary

So here is the quandary. Many post-modern missionaries have an egalitarian view of leadership, while the rest of the world assumes that leadership is control. Yet today’s missionaries working with bottom-up leadership styles are expected to work under leaders and to develop leaders in cultures with top-down assumptions about leadership.

A Possible Solution

Leadership is a spiritual gift mentioned in Romans 12:8, but footnotes show that the word means to “provide for others” or to “give aid.” The list of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:28 uses the word “administration” in some translations, but in others it is translated “guidance” or “those who can get others to work together.” A biblical understanding of “the gift of leadership” challenges most cultural assumptions.

In one sense all believer have spiritual gifts and are responsible to use their gifts to influence the Body of Christ. In this sense, influence is leadership and thus all believers are leaders. But some believers have the gift of fanning into flame the gifts of others, coordinating gifted people and helping them to move in the same direction. This is the likely meaning of the gift of leadership in Romans 12:8. Maybe a way to describe the difference is to suggest that all believers are leaders with a lower-case l, while some are Leaders, upper-case L. In God’s eyes coordinating Leaders are no more or less important than leaders with general gifts.

Here is a tentative definition: Good leadership is the spiritual gift of proactively harmonizing, enhancing and focusing the spiritual gifts of others toward a common vision of the Kingdom of God.

Often leaders are thought to be either task-oriented or people-oriented. This definition assumes neither “leader as controller” or “leader as cheerleader.” The model takes the task of the Kingdom seriously and assumes that the leader will be proactive and take initiative, while being an encourager and a developer of people.

Mission Leaders are not servant door-mats, watching everyone to do what is right in their own eyes. But neither are they servant dictators, paternalistically making decisions for ignorant missionaries.

I’m hopeful that this model of leadership will allow missionaries to be more effective in multi-cultural settings.
* It brings out the best of the controller and the encourager models while overcoming the weaknesses of both.
* It allows missionaries to be proactive, to take initiative and to keep focused on the vision, while working under people with diverse leadership styles.
* It has the potential of being a bridge between the dominant modern view of leadership as power and the post-modern passive view of leadership.
* It provides a starting point and a goal for developing leaders in other cultures.

Few things in life are more rewarding than working with missionaries and church leaders of other cultures. I often say I am working with a “dream team” of mission leadership. I pray that the Lord will continue to show us how to harmonize and enhance the spiritual gifts He has given believers in every culture so that we may be used to fulfill a vision of His worldwide Kingdom.

The Intercultural Missionary - Syllabus

2008-01-09T16:07:00.000-06:00

The Intercultural Missionary
C ourse Title: ME 6240
Professor: James E. Plueddemann, PhD

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Place: ROD 125
Time: Monday - 6:00 – 9:20 PM
Date: January 9 - February 25, 2008

Credit: Two Hours

Jim’s Web Log: http://missionaryimpossible.blogspot.com/

Course Description:

The course explores decisions and developmental tasks involved in preparing for a missionary career, adjusting to another culture, learning a language, rearing a family overseas, managing conflict, and handling intercultural stress. The spiritual formation of the missionary is emphasized. Two hours.

Purpose of the Course:

The course, while based on social science research, is intended to be practical. The readings, assignments and projects will be helpful for:
* youth pastors who lead short-term mission trips
* those considering short-term missions
* short-term missionaries looking to serve on a longer term
* missions pastors
* long-term missionaries looking for fresh insights
* anyone interested in the practical aspects of ministering cross-culturally.

Vision for the Course - I pray that the course will:

1. Give you greater confidence as you face challenges in cross-cultural ministry such as language learning, conflict management, stress, family concerns and your personal spiritual growth
2. Encourage you to be more involved in the exciting adventure of world missions and help you feel more comfortable in interactions with other cultures
3. Equip you to understand, serve and be more effective in other cultures through an understanding of basic cultural principles
4. Help you to be better teachers for those seeking to serve in other cultures
5. Help pastors, missions pastors and mission committee members to better understand the cultural and personal challenges facing cross-cultural missionaries
6. Be used of the Lord to foster the development of world missions in sending and receiving churches
7. Facilitate the glory and enjoyment of God in the whole world

Activities and Requirements:

The unique feature of this course is that we will move from practice to theory and back to improved practice. The primary activities of the course will center around practical mini-projects that will relate to the readings. Class lectures, discussion and simulations will vary depending on the needs and interests of the class.

Papers for each week

Theory: Read assignment for the week
Practice: Interview a missionary or someone not from your country or observe a cross-cultural situation
Integration: Write a 2 page paper integrating reading with interview
Learn from each other: Attend class and be ready to discuss findings and listen to others

You will need to interview experienced missionaries, someone from outside your culture, or mission pastors. Another possibility would be to observe a cross-cultural situation or ministry in the Chicago area. While you may include your own experience, you will also need to interview another person or gain a fresh experience.

Since much of the course integration will take place in the classroom, both attendance and active participation is expected. There will be no final exam or major paper.

Readings: (Other books and articles will be recommended in class.)

Barnett, Betty. 1991. Friend raising: Building a missionary support team that lasts. Seattle: YWAM Press.

Hiebert, Paul. 1995. Anthropological insights for missionaries, Grand Rapids: Baker.

Maranz, David. 2001. African friends and money matters. Dallas: SIL International.

Livermore, David. 2006. Serving with Eyes Wide Open. Baker.

Storti, Craig. 1999. Figuring foreigners out: A practical guide. Yarmouth, Main: Intercultural Press.

Grading:
Seven mini-projects worth 15% each = 90%
Class participation and attendance = 10%

A 95 – 100
A- 90 – 94.9
B+ 85 – 89.9
B 80 – 84.9
B- 75 – 79.5

Class Schedule:

Jan. 9 (Wed evening)
Course and Class Introduction
Jan. 14
Paper1 Hiebert: Parts 1 & 2 - Culture and the missionary
Jan. 21
Martin Luther King Holiday – No Class
Jan. 28
Paper 2. Hiebert: Parts 3 & 4 Becoming bicultural
Feb. 4
Paper 3. Livermore – Short term missions
Feb. 11
Paper 4. Barnett – Supporting missionaries
Feb 18
Paper 5. Maranz – More on money and missions
Feb 25
Paper 6. Stortie – Helping others become bicultural

Recommended websites for missions

Compass Direct http://www.compassdirect.org/
Reports on persecution in the church around the world.

Evangelical Missions Quarterly http://www.emqonline.org/
All the articles from the popular missions journal.
(Subscription required but recommended.)

Missions Help http://www.davidmays.org/
Practical help for missionaries and mission pastors. Book notes are excellent.

Dictionary of African Christian Biography http://www.dacb.org/
Life stories of African Christians – many written by Africans

Lausanne http://www.lausanne.org/
Committee for World Evangelization including Covenant & Manifesto

Mission Atlas Project http://www.worldmap.org/
Maps and data. Current situation in world missions.

Mission Finder http://www.missionfinder.org/
Click on resources for missionaries

Mislinks http://www.mislinks.org/
Directory of other links for missions including topics in missions

Mission Network News http://www.mnnonline.org/
Missions related news service

Operation World http://www.operationworld.org/
Daily prayer guide and information for world missions.

Strategic Network http://www.strategicnetwork.org/
Over 17,000 articles on missions. Good search capabilities

World Christian Database www.worldchristiandatabase.org/wcd
Statistical information but out by Gordon Conwell & Center for the Study of Global Christianity

World Fact Book www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

Announcing Book Title Contest

2007-09-13T12:09:00.001-05:00

At the request of InterVaristy Press I have deleted chapters from the forthcoming book on leadership and culture.

Let's have a contest to give a title to the book. The present title has been criticized as being a bit blah: Leadership & Culture: Challenges for the Global Church.

Here are some of the names that have already been suggested. Feel free to give me more. (Keep checking this site for updates.)

1. From Great to Mediocre
2. The Secret of Mono-Cultural Leadership in One Easy Step
3. It Doesn't Take a Whole Village
4. Champagne for the Cross-Cultural Leader
5. Leading with the Right Side of the Brain
6. The World is Round
7. My One-Thousand-and-One Greatest Leadership Mistakes
8. The One-Hundred-and Thirty-Nine Habits of Highly Successful Cross-Cultural Leaders
9. Built to Collapse
10. Leadership for the Missional, Emergent, Post-Modern Missionary
11. Ten Easy Steps Toward Becoming a Servant Dictator
12. Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun for Missionaries

As my wife reminds me, Keep Your Chins Up!

Jim Plueddemann

Repositioning Missions for the 21st Century

2007-09-13T11:49:00.000-05:00

We need a gracious revolution in our thinking about world missions. We are not likely to be effective in the next century by merely becoming more efficient within the old paradigms. Mission boards, churches, training schools, and mobilizing organizations need a new paradigm to guide their agenda. As I describe three common mission paradigms—Factory, Wildflower, and Pilgrim, each of which have influenced me at different times—I admit that, for the sake of clarity, I may be presenting extremes. In any case, I believe we must leave the first two paradigms behind and move on to become pilgrims in mission.

The Factory

The dominant assumptions underlying some contemporary missions are rooted in what I call the factory paradigm. The industrial revolution gave us this paradigm. The factory metaphor places a high value on precision, quantitative goals, predictability, efficiency, and control. It moves planners to set goals that can be easily measured. They want to know exactly what the final result will look like, when it will be accomplished, and how much it will cost.

Such a mind-set within the Christian community affects the way we look at the task,
strategies, leadership, and evaluation of mission. When we aim only at what can be measured,
we ignore the more important goals of character, discipleship, and holiness, which we cannot predict or quantify without falling into legalism. Factory thinking forces us to aim for goals that can be accomplished in a specific time frame. It inhibits vision for the qualitative development of people, of the church, and of society.

Fortunately, most factory-minded missiologists also have a genuine love for the Lord and a deep passion for the church, which produces qualities of character in people despite the inadequate aspects of the paradigm. But while the factory model has been helpful in defining the task, far too often lukewarm churches are the result of the assembly-line mind-set.

The Wildflower

In reaction to the factory model, the wildflower metaphor, a more intuitive paradigm, has gained strength. This model emphasizes personal experience, emotions, spiritual warfare, and inner healing. While the paradigm may provide a corrective to the factory model, I question the extent of its integration with biblical teaching, and I fear it may blindly build on contributions from existentialism and Freudianism. Wildflower missionaries often prefer a “go-with-the-flow” approach to missions; they are so embedded in the existential present that they have little time for future planning, or they may assume such thinking is unspiritual. If factory-oriented missionaries have their day planned in fifteen-minute intervals, wildflower missionaries seem to be blissfully unmindful of the calendar. One manages by objectives, the other by interruption. Wildflower missionaries have many strengths and bring spiritual vigor to missions because their flexibility and people orientation enhance their ministry. The danger is that they may lose the foundation of biblical Christianity, become inward looking and lack strategic planning for world outreach.

The Pilgrim

A better mental image is that of pilgrimage. Pilgrims have a visionary goal and a sense of direction, but they realize that the path often leads through rugged mountains and foggy swamps, bringing unexpected joys and sorrows. Pilgrims travel together, helping each other follow the map of the Word of God. Because pilgrims have a sense of direction, they are better able to decide if an event is an unfolding opportunity or a sidetrack interruption. Missionary pilgrims are not surprised by difficulty and ambiguity. They are motivated in their service by a vision of the kingdom.

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An Agenda for Revolution

We in missions need a gracious revolution as much as any mission, a revolution based on the pilgrim paradigm. Our direction can be outlined in the following twelve-point agenda.

1. Vision

The pilgrim missionary is driven by a vision of what God can do for people, for the church, and for society. Pilgrims invite lost people to join them on the road to Christ, involve them in a community of believers, and help them to become all God intends them to be. They challenge them to follow the map of the Word and to become lifelong obedient students of Jesus.

For the last ten years we have been conducting vision seminars in its candidate classes, leadership development courses, and field conferences. We also conduct regional vision consultations for missionaries and church leaders in South America, West Africa, East Africa, and Asia. When field directors report to the International Council (which meets every three years), they talk about their vision and the indications they see that the Lord is fulfilling that vision.

In all our efforts, while we encourage after-the-fact numbers to describe results, we focus on inner qualities that describe pilgrims marching toward a vision of the future. We ask, What difference does our ministry make in the lives of people, in society, and in the church? As we become ever more efficient and technologically competent at doing secondary things, I fear we might lose our vision for the work of Christ’s kingdom. Instead of church growth in mere numbers, we need a vision for a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish, holy and without fault. Instead of completing a precise task by a specific date, pilgrim missionaries have a dream of what people might look like if they enrolled as students in the lifelong school of discipleship and more consistently evidenced the fruit of the Spirit.

2. Strategy

It is not enough to have a vision. Strategic plans—action steps—are necessary. In a world of constant change and uncertainty, vision provides a foundation for pilgrim missionaries who dream of creative, innovative, and even audacious strategies. When missionaries unwittingly work from a factory paradigm, they are tempted to aim at programs or methods rather than eternal results. For example, the vision for a theological school should be more than to double the size of the library or build a new chapel. Vision foresees Christ-like qualities in students and the influence they will have on the church and society.

In each vision seminar during the last five years, we have discussed and planned action steps. A pastor’s library project, which provided about 20,000 small theological libraries and training sessions for pastors in Nigeria and South America, grew out of a vision for powerful preaching by better-equipped pastors. Out of a vision for the majestic Andes mountains ringing with the praises of redeemed Quechua grew a radio ministry for that people group. Out of a vision to reach upper-middle-class people of Lima, Peru, grew a Christian TV station. Out of a vision to reach Muslim beggar boys grew a friendship and feeding program.

3. Leadership

All pilgrims are called to be both leaders and followers in the body of Christ. The doctrines of the priesthood of all believers and of spiritual gifts mean that each pilgrim is responsible to lead by taking initiative to help others in the body of Christ. Since no person has all the gifts needed for the pilgrim band, there are times when all pilgrims need to follow other spiritually gifted pilgrims. There is often a need for a person to coordinate the gifts of other pilgrims. A coordinator does not take the place of Christ, the true Head, but has special abilities to maximize the effectiveness of other pilgrims. The most appropriate style for the pilgrim coordinator is team leadership. The pilgrim coordinator needs to be proactive, pushing the process of visionary thinking and action, while trusting the insights of others.

The primary focus of factory leaders is simply to use the person to accomplish the task. Task-oriented leaders tend to use a controlling style that stifles the development of people. Wildflower leaders seek to develop the person but often ignore the task. In contrast, the primary focus of pilgrim leaders is to use the task of world missions to develop other pilgrims.

4. Evaluation

Pilgrims use evaluation not to place blame for past failures or for boasting but rather to help colleagues do a better job next time. Many times the results of ministry are serendipitous—wonderful and unexpected. Thousands of people in a resistant people group decide to follow Christ. Revival breaks out in a Bible college. A women’s fellowship group in Africa catches the vision for supporting their own missionaries to a neighboring country. Evaluation in these cases is not to transfer to humans the credit that belongs to God alone but rather to rejoice in what God has done. Similarly, when results are discouraging, the purpose of evaluation is to figure out what might be done to improve the situation the next time, not to assign blame for failure.
SIM is in the process of changing ministry evaluation forms to focus on three questions: What was your situation? What was your vision? and What did you do to get there? We ask about indicators of results in the hearts of people and look for ways to improve the strategy in the coming months. Under the wildflower paradigm, evaluation tends to focus on how people feel about themselves; attention is concentrated on interpersonal relationships. Evaluation under the factory paradigm, in contrast, is often threatening because it measures specific outcomes in comparison to predetermined goals.

5. Evangelism

John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress illustrates that evangelism is a necessary—indeed urgent— step in helping pilgrims flee the City of Destruction, enter the gate of salvation, and leave their burden of sin at the cross of Christ. Although the global Christian community has grown rapidly over the last century, due to population growth, there are today more people outside the gate than ever before. As a result, evangelism is needed as never before. Evangelicals working from all three paradigms place a strong emphasis on evangelism. While factory-oriented missiologists have been somewhat mechanical in their approach, they have provided a most valuable service in pinpointing areas of need and drawing attention to unreached peoples. Missiologists working under the wildflower paradigm have helped to emphasize the joy of the Lord for new believers and have encouraged greater creativity in expressions of worship. SIM acknowledges its debt to these streams of mission influence and seeks to be faithful as pilgrims in evangelism.
Along with our related national churches, SIM regularly asks if there are unreached people groups in our areas of responsibility. A high percentage of our missionaries are working with unreached people groups, and we have recently entered some of the most needy areas of the world.

6. Discipleship and Church Growth

When Bunyan’s hero, Christian, flees the City of Destruction, enters the gate of salvation, and leaves his burden of sin at the cross, he is just beginning the next stage of the journey. Evangelism is a most necessary and crucial step, but it is not sufficient. The most urgent need in world missions is the task of helping pilgrims become disciples, learning to obey everything Jesus commanded. There may be as many as 1 billion lukewarm, nominal Christians in the world today. Transformed by Christ, these pilgrims could evangelize their world and flood the earth with justice. Rwanda, Congo, Liberia, Colombia, China, and the United States would become models of justice and peace. Racism, ethnocentrism, and poverty would end as people began to evidence the fruit of the Spirit in their communities.

Growth in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus is an inner, qualitative process that is difficult to predict, control, and measure. It does not fit the factory paradigm. But world evangelization by itself is not the fulfillment of Christ’s Commission. Christ commands us to make disciples who will obey everything he commanded. This is a lifelong process, not a precise task that can be finished by the year 2000 or any time before Christ returns. Church growth as defined by logarithmic graphs and ten-year projections has never been a New Testament ideal for a church.

7. Theological Education

Visionary theological educators see teaching as an opportunity for fellow pilgrims to spend time in what Bunyan called Interpreter’s House. Solid biblical content is taught to help pilgrims find the right path, discover resources to win spiritual battles, and catch the vision of the ultimate goal. Teaching Bible content is a means, not an end. The implicit curriculum for the pilgrim educator is the development of a caring community of disciples learning to obey all Jesus commanded. Wildflower educators often downplay the need for formal education or emphasize personal experience over theological reflection and biblical interpretation. Factory-oriented educators preoccupy themselves with behavioral objectives, test scores, and outward compliance with course requirements.

There are about 18,000 students in our related theological schools or extension programs. A high percentage of our missionaries are involved in pastoral education. We also have worked in a low-profile manner to help promote renewal in theological education. We have encouraged international accrediting in Africa and South America, promoted Theological Education by Extension, and helped to publish the writings of theologians from the Two-Thirds World. We have led seminars for theological educators from dozens of countries, urging a quiet revolution in theological education. But I am afraid that the factory paradigm is still common in our related theological education.

8. Meeting Human Need

Pilgrims are concerned about poverty, sickness, injustice, and hopelessness; the Holy Spirit helps them respond with love and practical action. Both factory- and wildflower-oriented missionaries also have a heart for helping people in need. The factory paradigm, however, tends to see the task in terms of doing things for people, like giving them pills, fertilizer, roads, and wells. It tends to measure results in terms of economic indicators, the number of schools, and so on. Wildflower-oriented ministries tend to give aid based on the emotions of the moment rather than on the long-range development of people in need. But all real development is human development—development that leads people to become all God intended for them.
Even though we can cite many failed efforts from our past, we hope we have been
learning from our mistakes. We support programs that involve people in their own development, such as People Oriented Development in Nigeria and the Niger Integrated Development team, and helping churches minister to the poorest of the poor, for example, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It is most fulfilling to see the churches we helped to plant catch the vision for meeting human need through their own development projects.

9. Mission and National Church Relationships

Pilgrim missionaries have the task of planting and nurturing churches in other cultures, while
avoiding the temptation of trying to run them. Missionaries need to get out of leadership positions in national churches as soon as possible. Growing churches need to be self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating, and self-nurturing. At the same time, however, we must confess that an “independent” church is an oxymoron. How can members of the universal body of Christ in one country be independent of the rest of the body? The ideal relationship is one in which the national church and the foreign mission work together in a loving, trusting, and interdependent relationship, each fulfilling complementary functions, neither dominating the other.

Missions working from a factory paradigm seldom see a loving, interdependent relationship as the goal. They are primarily interested in evangelism and precise time-specific targets. For example, they may say that when 20 percent of a people group have become Christians, then 95 percent of the missionaries need to be moved to a new field. Such a strategy may avoid some tensions of church-mission relationships, but it also misses the joy of cross-cultural discipleship and the excitement of partnering together to reach the rest of the world.

We at times has had problems with national church relationships. Sometimes we have held control too long and hindered the development of the national church. But there also have been times when we lost our identity as a cross-cultural mission and fused with the local church. This has meant losing our distinct function as a cross-cultural mission. Through channels such as Evangel Fellowship, which every two years brings together leaders from our related fields, we are endeavoring to develop healthy interdependent relationships.

10.Mission Church Relationships

The home-based sending churches and mission boards have an interdependent relationship. Each needs the other. It is not healthy for a sending church merely to send the missionary and the monthly support and not be involved in the care, encouragement, and prayer for that missionary. Likewise, it is difficult, inefficient, and usually ineffective for local churches to send isolated missionaries around the world. Mission boards provide not only logistic and spiritual support but also structures for field-based visionary planning and for accountability. For individual churches to send missionaries around the world would be like local towns sending their own soldiers into war and having the soldiers report back to the mayor of their home town rather than to the officer in the field. Such a plan not only would be more expensive, it would create chaos in the battle. Sending churches and mission boards are mutually dependent on each other.

Churches and mission boards with a factory paradigm have a more difficult time with an interdependent relationship. Factory-oriented mission boards have a passion for control and may feel threatened by local churches wanting to take more initiative. Factory-oriented church mission committees may feel threatened by the mission board and resent the fact that they use so much money for administration and don’t consult them for every strategic move on the field. The pilgrim paradigm is driven by vision and has a higher tolerance for the more ambiguous relationship of interdependence.

We are learning how to listen to sending churches. While the missionary is the primary
contact with supporting churches, we can learn much from listening to highly motivated mission pastors and committees. In the past two years, leaders have hosted significant meetings with missions pastors and laypeople from major missionary-supporting churches in five key cities. The purpose is not to indoctrinate them about our mission but to listen to their vision and problems and ask if there are things we can do to help them. Several major initiatives have resulted from these meetings.

11. Partnering with National Church Missions

A primary reason why a mission needs to continue a noncontrolling, interdependent discipling relationship with national churches is so we can partner together to reach places neither could reach on their own. The Gospel will be preached in all the world with much more power and credibility if it can be preached by Bolivians together with Australians and Nigerians. It is difficult for a Muslim to say that Christianity is a Western religion when he is hearing the Gospel from a team made up of missionaries from Japan, Canada, and Ethiopia. An ideal is for Christians from any country to be able to share the Gospel together in any other country.

The factory paradigm places a high value on efficiency and getting the most results for the least amount of money. Advertisements in major magazines like Christianity Today challenge churches to simply send their money to support national evangelists because it is cheaper or more efficient. While there may be situations where churches in more-developed countries should send money to support national evangelists, the process is loaded with danger. Seldom does the national church feel the responsibility to pick up the support of the evangelist when foreign funding is eventually cut off. Often the local evangelist does not feel accountable to the local church. Moreover, sending churches in the West do not get the blessing of sending their own daughters and sons to their “Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Our related churches in Nigeria and Ethiopia each have more than 1,000 cross-cultural missionaries, supported primarily by local churches.

12. Revival

Pilgrims need regular renewal. It seems that the normal tendency is for missionaries, supporting churches, and field churches to lose their way and fall into the Slough of Despond, to be tempted at Vanity Fair, chained in Doubting Castle, or captured by the Giant of Despair. We become discouraged and begin to fight with each other. Revival helps us to get back on the pilgrim path. Revival is not the ultimate goal for the church any more than getting back on the track is the ultimate destination of a derailed train. Without revival, however, we get stuck with all kinds of problems for a long time.

Factory-oriented churches either try to control revival or are afraid it will become too emotional. Wildflower churches may at times think that the emotional high of revival is the ultimate goal rather than a means for pilgrims to get back on the path of worship and service. Pilgrims seek daily revival as the Spirit uses the Word to challenge and correct those who stray from the path.

Since 1998 we set aside the ten days between Ascension and Pentecost for fasting, confession, and obedience to the Word. Guided by the model of revival in Nehemiah 9, we included confession, worship, prayer, and obedience. We used e-mail as the primary means of encouraging the mission family each day to continue to seek the Lord.

We now have four couples who travel around the mission world as international pastors. Many times the Lord brings renewal during the annual spiritual life conferences held on each field. Many have told me that they are praying daily for revival in our mission, in our supporting churches, and in the thousands of our related churches in Africa, Asia, and South America. May the Lord graciously give us profound times of refreshing and renewal.

What might happen if churches, missions, and schools would catch a vision for a gracious revolution in world missions? Could it be that the twentieth century, an amazing century of progress in missions, will be seen by historians as a mere prologue to the astounding growth of biblical Christianity in the twenty-first century? May it be so.

Agenda for A Quiet Revolution in Christian Education [1]

2007-09-11T16:08:00.000-05:00

The field of Christian Education by its very nature needs renewal in each generation. Because we are involved in the ongoing process of helping to mature believers, we are always only one generation away from extinction. It is easy, and maybe natural, for Christian educators to lose the vision of the previous generation, and to merely perpetuate the mechanics of programming. Rather than being motivated by the driving force of our movement's founders, we are often motivated by a need for mere survival. In each generation we must seek to rekindle the fire and vision of those who have gone before us.

In some ways we are facing a crisis today as great as or greater than ever before. Anti-Christian values are more obvious in society. Families are facing pressures greater than could have been imagined 50 years ago. Missions have been very successful in the last half-century, but now much of the church around the world is facing a second-generation lukewarmness. Nominal Christianity in many of the developing nations is growing at an astounding rate.

Meanwhile, the field of Christian education is again becoming stagnant. Today we seem to be enamored with a mechanistic view of ministry -- or else we move to the opposite extreme and "buy into" a romantic intuitive view. The Christian education pendulum swings back and forth between an agenda that on one hand stresses efficiency in depositing information into the head of the learner, and an agenda which on the other hand merely stimulates people to contemplate their proverbial navels.

The church around the world is facing the age-old crisis of nominalism while the field of Christian education is again urgently in need of renewal. We must rethink both our theory and practice. This is not to say that there are not healthy signs of renewal in many of our organizations, but we can all benefit from a rekindling of our vision.

Renewal Is Difficult But Not Impossible

We err when we think that renewal in Christian education will be simple. But we also err when we think it is impossible.

Often we are tempted to think that renewal in Christian education can be brought about by adding more efficiency to our method or by instituting better planning. Sometimes we seem to assume that if we can learn to control the environment a bit more efficiently, we can program the Holy Spirit and organize the universe.

Even if we could achieve perfect curricula, programs, structures, methods, and teachers we would never be able to guarantee Christian growth. Thus, it is naive to think that we can bring about renewal by demolishing the Sunday School, by incorporating computers, or by using more creative teaching techniques. neither can we guarantee success by merely encouraging more fellowship and sharing.

Renewal in Christian education seldom comes through long-range planning. It has most often come through men and women of vision, faith, and action who were able to inspire others. If the process of Christian growth is impossible to pre-determine, then it is impossible to set a time-table for our agenda. Our agenda for renewal is not to figure out a better system. Our agenda must be to stimulate vision and action in men and women of faith.

It would be easy to conclude that renewal in Christian education is impossible. When we study the history of God's people from Adam and Eve to the present we see a frightening pattern of rebellion and refusal to grow in grace. Jesus found it much easier to raise the dead and walk on water than to promote faith in his disciples -- and how many of us can even walk on water? The story of the children of Israel is a case study in the difficulty of promoting spiritual growth. God had much less trouble getting the people out of Egypt than he did in getting Egypt out of the people. The prophets were frustrated with the ongoing problem of rebellion and idolatry in the children of God. Even with the teaching and modeling of the apostles, the power of sin was still strong in the hearts and actions of the early Christians. For some reason, God chooses not to force spiritual growth in his people, even though he has perfect control over all the curriculum factors.

Yes, it would be easy to think that the task of renewing Christian education is impossible, and in one sense it is. Yet in another important sense, it is irresponsible for us to think that we cannot work to rekindle our vision and renew ministry. We have supernatural resources. Throughout history there have been examples of people who have sought God, prayed, and through the power of the Word and the Spirit have brought about a revolution in ministry. Renewal is possible only through the grace of God, but that grace is real and is greater than all our sins. Renewal is both necessary and possible.

Hopeful Signs

There are already hopeful signs of renewal in the field of Christian education. Hundreds of dedicated youth directors are spending thousands of hours discipling youth and are using creative methods to stimulate growth. Summer missions projects are stirring up a new sense of commitment to the Lord and to ministry. The Christian camping movement is challenging youth to a deeper commitment to Christ. Seminaries are producing hundreds of graduates each year who have basic Christian education skills and a heart for ministry. Christian radio and television ministries seek to strengthen the home and the church. Topical seminars and films are meeting needs of struggling Christians. Para-church organizations are continuing effective ministries which play an important part in bringing renewal. Christian education publishing houses are producing innovative curriculum to further stimulate the educational work of the local church. Missionaries are becoming more aware of the need for understanding the cross-cultural implications of Christian education principles. Third-world church are taking advanced degrees in Christian education and related fields.

The Need For Renewal

Yet as I talk to Christian education leaders in seminaries, publishing houses, and para-church organizations, I sense discouragement, dissatisfaction and a hunger for renewal. Too often we merely go through the motions to keep out organization from collapsing. Survival or profitability, rather then significance, have too often become our chief concerns. While there are signs or renewal in Christian education, the general pattern is not encouraging.

As I suggest an agenda for renewing Christian education, I do so not as a distant critic, but as a fellow struggler. An agenda is not intended to be a final statement, but a guide for dialogue. Both the agenda itself and the implications of the agenda are intended to stimulate discussion and debate. I encourage disagreement and trust that you will help me to see the agenda more clearly.

Agenda Item #1:
We Must Cooperate.

Most of our organizations represent centers of influence in Christian education. One organization may be seeking renewal yet be frustrated by lack of support from other organizations. We tend to blame other centers of influence for not doing their part. Church may blame seminaries for not producing youth ministers with practical skills, and seminaries may blame publishing houses for not being more innovative. Publishing houses say they can't sell innovative curricula to traditionally minded churches. Creative directors of Christian education say they will get fired if they don't do what the management-minded local church Christian educational committee wants them to. The need for renewal in one center of influence calls for renewal in another centers.

Many adult Sunday school are merely providing a dull second sermon. Christian education directors may jump from one curriculum fad to another while unaware of basic questions.

Christian education in the home has been emphasized, but does not yet seem to be having much effect in helping with the problems of marriage and parenting. Parents are not finding answers and are becoming more desperate. Deep problems in the home carry over to the church and make it difficult to renew the Sunday school. Likewise, problems in the Sunday school make it difficult to renew Christian education in the home.

Publishing houses are often frustrated in their desire to improve curriculum. They know that local churches will not buy anything too different. Knowing that teachers are volunteers, and knowing they will most likely spend less than 20 minutes preparing the lesson, they give step-by-step formulas to the teacher. Such formulas make it more difficult for a teacher to adapt a lesson for the specific needs of the students. Students get bored, teachers resign in disappointment and the superintendent madly rushes to coerce another unsuspecting teacher into the cycle.

Pressure is put on academic departments of Christian education to attract more students. We compete with each other in trying to "sell" our degree as being the easiest to earn, the cheapest of the most practical course of study. Sometimes we achieve this by requiring students to do less theoretical and scholarly reflection. We are often subtly pressured to give students easy, "cook book" answers to complex problems and to give them a "bag of tricks" called teaching methods. We in the academic study of Christian education are not being encouraged to rethink our philosophical and theoretical assumptions. On the other hand, some Christian educators involved in scholarly reflection do not test and revise their theories by attempting to improve the practice of Christian education. Too often there is an antagonism between scholars and practitioners of Christian education. This antagonism leads to an isolated, ivory tower scholarship that results in poor theory, or else it leads to an uncritical acceptance of methods that results in poor practice.

No single center of influence will be able to bring about renewal. If we are to bring about renewal in Christian education, we must work together. Individual seminaries, publishers, para-church organizations, denomination and local churches will not be able to bring about a renewal. Christian education centers of influence re-enforce each other in promoting or hindering renewal. Yet our moral tendency is to compete with each other and to blame each other for failure in the church or the home, rather than to cooperate in strategizing for renewal.

Many of us are tired of shallow gimmicks and of organizational competition. In spite of the overt success of some of our churches and organizations, many insiders have the growing suspicion that the field of evangelical Christian education is again stagnant and in need of renewal. While we are bogged down with internal struggles, families are falling apart, individuals are faltering in their growth toward maturity in Christ, and churches are becoming lukewarm. The urgency of the task demands not primarily survival, but significance. Our task is to foster the maturity of individuals and the Church. This task should be our top priority.

Agenda Item #2:
We Must Re-Evaluate Out Purposes.
(BOX A)

Renewal in Christian education will not be possible until we re-evaluate the ultimate purposes of our organizations. What is the ultimate purpose of Christian education? The problem among evangelicals is not that we are unable to answer the question. We would most likely answer that the chief purpose of our organization is to glorify God. But we tend to answer as if this were a catechism question. We might say the right words but we are not sure of their significance. We say we believe that our purpose is to glorify God, but seldom understand the implications of such a statement for our ministry. Our stated purpose is seldom our actual purpose.

If we really believe that the ultimate purpose of Christian education is to glorify God, then our ultimate purpose must not be Bible knowledge, organizational survival, human development, or even church growth. All of these are means to a greater end. If they become ends, they become idols. Teaching the Bible, developing programs, building relationships and showing concern for the poor are good, but in themselves they do not automatically contribute to the glory of God. When they become ultimate ends, the educational process becomes unbalanced and less than biblical.

I fear that in actual practice, most of our organizations make idols out of means. We must re-evaluate our ultimate purposes.

Agenda Item #3:
We Must Re-Evaluate Our Motivation For Ministry.

Our real ultimate purpose, in contrast to our stated ultimate purpose, also controls our motivation, or our moral reasoning. Even good actions can reflect low levels of moral reasoning. God is concerned not only with what we do, but also with our motives. People look on outward behavior, but God is more interested in the heart. Eating and drinking can be either good or evil, but whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we must do it for the highest levels of principled morality for the glory of God.

Schools, churches, para-church organizations, denominational structures and publishing houses must operate at some level of moral reasoning. If the level of moral reasoning is to glorify individuals, or the organization, or even the Church, then the activities and results of the organization will not contribute to renewal. Our programs will reflect our level of moral reasoning, or our motives for ministry. If we could make the glory of God our actual purpose rather than an afterthought tacked on to organizational purpose statements, we would be much more willing to cooperate with each other, would have a deeper sense of personal satisfaction in our ministry, and we would rekindle the vision for renewing the field of Christian education.

I fear that in our day-to-day activities, our real motivation is seldom to bring glory to God.

Agenda Item #4:
We Must Study More Thoroughly The Nature Of Human Development.
(Box B)

In order to bring about renewal in Christian Education we must do more to study the nature of people and how they develop. Our current emphasis is inadequate. We learn about the nature of persons through special revelation in Scripture and through natural revelation. We believe that Scripture is the ultimate authority, but that God wrote the book of nature as well. The two sources are complimentary, even when they at times may seem to contradict each other.

Our first source of information about the nature of persons is special revelation. In order for us to understand the nature of persons, we need to understand the nature of God. As Christian educators we need to study theology more deeply. But again, it is not enough to know "correct" answers regarding the nature of persons. We must integrate this information into the theory and practice of Christian education. We believe that God created people in His image, yet our educational methodologies often treat people as if they were machines or animals. Other educational strategies (even those used by evangelicals) tend unconsciously to ignore the Fall and the fact that people are basically selfish and depraved. We have lost something of the image of God and thus we cannot bring about Christian growth by means of our own internal resources. We are tempted to think that we can "educate" or socialize people into the Kingdom. Even we evangelicals are tempted to think that if we can somehow get rid of poverty and injustice people will be whole. We must struggle more fully with the educational implications of our theological understanding of the nature of persons.

The second source of information regarding the nature of persons is empirical observation. Christian education at Wheaton has always studied the nature of persons. Twenty-five years ago when I was a student here, we studied age-group characteristics based on the findings of Gesell and others. We charted characteristics and implications for the practice of ministry. A sensitivity to such research helped us realize that our task was not just to teach the Bible, but to teach it to real people with specific interests and abilities.

But evangelical Christian education has been slow to catch on to the significance of newer bodies of research about nature of persons. As the LeBars learned much about the nature of persons from research in their time, we today will have much to learn about the process of human development from more recent research.

We should take the initiative in conducting research in human development. The more we can discover about how God intended people to grow, the more insights we will gain for promoting that growth. we are not doing enough serious research about human development and about the variables that promote or hinder development. Research questions should be generated from our understanding of both theology and social science. Solid theoretical research has many practical applications. Such findings are broadly generalizable and are thus useful in many more situations, including inner-city and non-western cultures. Theoretical research will help us to answer not only, "What kinds of programs work?", but more importantly, we will begin to address, "Why does it work?" and "How can we do it better?" For example, what factors in the Christian home promote or hinder internal faith convictions? What is the relationship between moral reasoning and Sunday school teaching styles? Research is crucial in helping us to understand the nature of people and the factors that promote the kind of development intended by God.

Christian educators have often been slow to see the value of theoretical research. Such research does not seem "practical," at least not for the pastor urgently seeking ideas for setting up a personal filing system. Theoretical research in human development does not seem practical for the Sunday School teacher trying to find techniques to make flannel-graph stick to the board.

Seminaries and Bible colleges have a professional orientation and do not claim to be strong research institutions. It is appropriate for them to generate practical projects rather than to conduct correlational or quasi-experimental research. But solid research must be done within the Christian liberal arts context.

All social science research builds on philosophical assumptions. Our research must be built on our theological and philosophical assumptions. For example, the recent research in faith development is an example of interesting and important research that is flawed by poor theological assumptions. But who is doing such research from an evangelical framework?

Para-church organizations and publishing houses are learning the value of market research. Such research is valuable, but it does not go far enough. We need to know not only which curriculum is most likely to be bought by churches, but also need to investigate the relationship between curriculum and spiritual growth. We need to go beyond asking, "which colors attract buyers?" to "what is happening in the lives of students and teachers as a result of the curriculum?"

If our ultimate purpose in Christian education is to help others to more fully glorify God, then we need a deeper commitment to discovering how God intended people to grow toward that purpose. We will never fully understand the secrets of human development, but a deeper understanding of God-ordained human development is a necessary precondition for re-thinking aims and means in Christian education. Apart from this kind of research we will be tempted to adopt methods without reflecting on their implications for promoting or hindering Christian growth.

I challenge us to do more research from a theological and theoretical perspective, to learn more about human development. We need to take the initiative in this research, to the glory of God.

Agenda Item #5:
We Must Reconsider The Aims Of Christian Education.
(Box C)

We will not be able to renew Christian education if we continue with inadequate aims. Our aims for Christian education must be generated from our understanding of ultimate purpose, and from our understanding of the nature of persons. Our ultimate purpose is to glorify God in what we do and why we do it. Basic to understanding the nature of persons is knowing that we are created in the image of God, yet we are fallen. In our fallen state we do not glorify God. Thus we need new birth and God-ordained development. Such development is both natural and supernatural. Growing out of these understandings, our aim must be to promote the kind of growth which will enable us to more fully glorify God.

The greatest need of the human race is to regain the completeness of the image of God which was lost in the Fall. The reason we are not able to glorify God in all that we think and do is because we have been children of the Devil. Christ died and rose again in order for us to be restored. We must be born again into God's family. Then we need to grow more and more into the likeness of Christ. This is the aim of Christian education -- to be born into God's family and to mature toward the likeness of Christ. Our aim is to promote natural and supernatural growth. Yet, we know that we shall not be like Him until we see Him as He is. In some sense, then, we can never fully achieve the aim of Christian education this side of heaven.

Growth is an inner, active and continuous process. Yet too often Christian educators understand the aim not as an inner process, but as promoting outward behavioral character traits. Often our aim is merely to impart bodies of information. Fads in teacher education tempt Christian educators to aim at pre-determined behavioral objectives. Secular trends in educational measurement tempt Christian educators to aim for measurable and quantifiable results. But our measurements are only of religious behavior or religiosity, rather than inner "heart development." Since we are able to observe and quantify much educational activity, and since we feel our aims must be measurable, our unconscious aim becomes educational activity rather than inner, active and continuous growth toward becoming all God intends us to become. Outward behavior is not a guarantee of inner spiritual growth. (In spite of what my mother taught me, cleanliness is not an indication of godliness.) People with polite character traits are not necessarily godly people. Some of the most evil people throughout history have been knowledgeable of the Bible. Satan probably would have no trouble getting a perfect score on our Bible diagnostic exams.

To be sure, outward behavior must change as we become more Christ-like. But such behavior is an indication of heart development, and is not an aim. When the indicator, or outward, behavior becomes an aim, we are really teaching people to become pharisaical.

On the other hand, some Christian educators are reacting so strongly against behavioristic aims that they say aims are not necessary at all. Some say we should just teach the Bible and let the Holy Spirit determine aims for the learner. Yet Scripture does give us aims.

Aims are not end points, but directions. We can never check off the list of the fruit of the Spirit as something finally accomplished. We can never fully say we have accomplished love, so now it is time for us to get to work on joy, and next year peace, and maybe before I die I'll get to self-control. Growth in grace is never fully achieved in this life, but it does give us an aim or a direction. Faith, hope and love do not evidence themselves in pre-determined and fully predicted behaviors. Our aim must be to promote a process rather than to predict a product. That process is growth -- both natural and spiritual growth.

God has given the human teacher a part to play in promoting growth, yet he or she is responsible for only a part of the process. Although Bible knowledge is important. But Lois LeBar taught that the Bible is a means for promoting growth and is not an end. Our greatest danger in Christian education is that we make the means the end. The result will be merely external or "outer" development. Is it any wonder that most of our efforts in Christian education do not produce "inner" results.

The aim of the teacher, then, is to stimulate conditions which are most likely to foster the process of growth.

It may be appropriate for our organizations or businesses to have pre-determined objectives and measurable standards. But we should not confuse organizational aims with educational aims of ministry.

I fear that we carry over our understanding of management objectives to the task of Christian education, which is primarily an inner process. Such a management philosophy in Christian education will produce hypocrisy rather than spiritual growth. If we see the aim as a product, we still aim for knowledge, skills, habits or character traits, all of which may or may not be an indication of true inner development. A product understanding of aims may be the reason why nominal and lukewarm Christianity is growing so rapidly in our evangelical churches.

In order to renew Christian education we must rethink our aim. The aim to foster the God-ordained process of development.

Agenda Item #6:
We Must Rethink Our Methods.
(Box D)

If the aim of Christian education is to foster a process, then the means for promoting the process is of utmost importance. In a certain sense, fostering the means for promoting the process becomes the aim.

Learning is an inner, active, continuous and disciplined process. Thus, we should begin with the felt needs of learners rather than from the theoretical knowledge of Scripture. The Bible is a means for promoting maturity in Christ and was not intended by God to be an end in itself. Such thinking is radical. Christian education methods are still too often characterized by tactics which intend the learner to be passive. Our methods are so dependent on external motivation and external behavior that we may actually hinder inner growth in grace. Too often we seek to control outer behavior rather than to compel active reflection. We use gimmicks to get the attention of the student, but such gimmicks seldom lead to an inner sense of need.

We must begin with the felt needs and experiences of the learner. We must then help the learner to see his or her own experience in light of the authoritative Word of God. When we compare Scripture with experience, we sense disequilibration. Such disequilibration can be used by the Holy Spirit to convict us and motivate us to put our experience and life more into submission or equilibration with Scripture. The process is often best done in a community of learners. The job of the teacher is the Word, the Spirit and the body of believers. The essence of interaction must compel thinking and action in the learner, relating experience to the Bible.

Methods based on technology have only limited potential. Technology can be useful for transmitting information, but usually by itself, does little to foster the process of critical reflection and action in the learner.

Neither are romantic teaching methods sufficient. such methods tend to focus only on experience, without stimulating reflection on content.

Social learning theory provides an inadequate model for method. Scripture must be free to critique society. Modeling by itself is not a good method for stimulating critical reflection between Scripture and experience.

Methodology in Christian education is in need of renewal. Too often we accept methods merely because they seem creative, make us feel good, or seem to be "at the cutting edge" of technology. We must rethink our educational methods.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I fear for the Church around the world. Almost everywhere the Church is plagued by apathy. Half-hearted Christianity is becoming a dangerous epidemic. There's a war going on! The Church is in trouble, and we Christian educators, who can provide resources for the battle, are ourselves complacent and in need of renewal. We must seriously rethink our purposes, our motives, our understanding of persons, our aims and our methods. We must move beyond our narrow organizational horizons and rekindle this strategic vision. Discussing the agenda must be only the first step.

[1] Adapted from a talk given May 22, 1988 for the celebration of the Price - LeBar Endowed Chair in Christian Education at Wheaton College

Recommended Books

2007-08-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of the most recent books Carol and I have read in the last few months.

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Half of a Yellow Sun. A novel about the Biafran war by a gifted author whose writing is reminiscent of Chinua Achebe (author of Things Fall Apart).

Ahmedi, Farah. The Other Side of the Sky: A Memoir. Story of an Afghan girl and her experience as a refugee immigrant living right here in Wheaton.

Arbinger Institute. Leadership and Self-Deception. A powerful book that shows the deceptiveness of self-centeredness in leadership. I recommended this book to lots of other folks. It would be easy to build a biblical framework for many of the ideas in the book.

Bryson, Bill. A Short History of Almost Everything. A most interesting history of science. In spite of the secular viewpoint, I found myself praising the God of Creation. I also realize how science has a difficult time with the meaning of life.

Carson, D. A. A Call for Spiritual Reformation. A delightful blend between a book that is both devotional and scholarly. The book looks at the prayers of Paul.

Collins, Francis. The Language of God. This book has challenged my thinking on science and the Bible like few others. I’m still not sure what to think of it.

Easterly, William. The White Man’s Burden. One of the best books I’ve read on the causes of and false solutions for poverty. Written by an economist who used to work for the World Bank.

Jenkins, Philip. God’s Continent: Christianity, Islam and Europe’s Religious Crisis. A description of the tensions between secular Europe in the midst of the growing Islamic influence. Jenkins feels that Christianity in Europe is not as weak as people think, and that Islam might have the capacity to become more tolerant in Europe.

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Science Fiction: How an ideal community, a community without feelings was changed by The Giver.

Sheler, Jeffery L. Believers: A Journey into Evangelical America. Written by a seemingly “backslidden” but sympathetic fundamentalist who looked at the broad scope of evangelicalism. He has a chapter on Wheaton College.

Stark, Rodney. The Victory of Reason. An enchanting, "politically incorrect" book about how the Christian worldview is the foundation for the development of science and capitalism.

Sweeney, Douglas. The American Evangelical Story. A good summary of the interdenominational nature of evangelicalism in America.

Measurable Objectives, NO! - Faith Vision, YES!

2007-05-29T15:03:00.000-05:00

Dear Missionary: are you longing for fresh vision? Do you experience a lack of appreciation for your ministry, loneliness, cultural frustrations and sickness can make your original missionary call seem like it came in a different lifetime. Several times during our lifetime we need to rekindle our original vision, our ultimate purpose for existence and for ministry. But in praying for a fresh faith vision should we not strive to try to predict and control future outcomes with measurable objectives.

I have found that much of the popular teaching on goal-setting can be discouraging rather than inspiring. As a mission executive I once wrote an evaluation for a missionary couple. Their home church wanted to know their measurable goals for the year and wanted to know whether the missionaries had achieved these goals. The same couple told me that last year the church had cut their support by $600.00 because they didn’t produce hard numbers of the people saved through their ministry.

Why is the missionary world so far behind the word of secular business? Tom Peters, famous for the book In Search of Excellence, writes in a recent article:

"Plans? Goals? Yes, I admit that I plan and set goals. After I’ve accomplished something, I declare it to have been my goal all along. One must keep up appearances: In our society “having goals” and “making plans” are two of the most important pretenses. Unfortunately, they are dangerous pretenses -- which repeatedly cause us to delay immersion in the real world of happy surprises, unhappy detours, and unexpected byways."

"Meanwhile, the laurels keep going to those mildly purposeful stumblers who hang out, try stuff with reckless abandon-- and occasionally bump into something big and bountiful, often barely related to the initial pursuit. (The Bookstore Journal, Feb. 1991)"

If secular managers are rejecting the old management-by-objectives movement, why are we still trying to do missions-by-objectives?

People with a passion for measurable objectives have a passion to control the details of the future. They have little tolerance for ambiguity, for the unfolding serendipitous opportunities the Lord may bring. Missionaries who are forced to write measurable objectives are tempted to “think small” so that they will be quite sure they will be able to be accomplished. Here are some problems with trying to control the future by precisely predicting outcomes.

• Measurable objectives are often not outcomes but activities. An example of a measurable objective might be to hand out 100 tracts per day. Such an activity is measurable, but we don’t know the outcome. Do the tracts make people angry, cause a litter problem, or actually are used by the Spirit to bring conviction of sin. Measurable objectives are often pseudo-aims and are merely a to-do-list activity and not real goals.

• Measurable objectives often reflect bad theology. Eternal outcomes for our ministry are in the hands of the Lord Jesus. For example, it reflects bad theology for us to set a measurable objective of saving ten people per week. When we say that our goal is to plant one church per year, we may get trapped into thinking about a mere building and forget about the inner qualities and true nature of the church. The church is a body of the people of God, whether meeting in a building or under a tree. Healthy churches are measured by the inner quality of faith rather than by the external quantity of numbers or buildings. It is heretical to attempt replace God so as to precisely predict and control inner spiritual qualities.

• Measurable objectives grow out of anti-Christian philosophy. Dangerous philosophies are often below the level of our awareness. The Western world is strongly influenced by logical positivism which argues that all meaning must be verifiable by empirical data. Behaviorism claims that observable behavior is all that matters. The secular world tells us that what we can see and count is the only reality. But Paul commands us to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor 4: 18).

• Measurable objectives stifle vision. If we know our support might be cut because we don’t meet predetermined objectives, we will aim at goals that are easy to attain. We will set goals that will make us look good at the end of the year rather than goals that grow from faith in a God of hope. Such goal-setting is a dreary guilt-producing exercise. People often produce measurable objectives out of fear and a desire to look good, or at least not look too bad in front of others.

• Measurable goals encourage us to control and manipulate people. If all our energies are focused on a predetermined quantifiable goal, we tend to use people as mere objects to help us accomplish our goals. Leadership style becomes controlling when the task requires us to treat people as objects. Measurable objectives require leaders to control people and coerce them into accomplishing our goals.

While measurable objectives are often mere activities, heretical, and discouraging, faith goals help us to focus on the eternal. Faith goals are visionary and can become a driving force for our ministry. Faith goals give us pictures of how the Lord God Almighty might use us to make an eternal difference in the hearts of people. We set faith goals by spending time on our knees in prayer. I often ask, “If God were to pour out his blessing on my ministry, what might it look like in the lives and hearts of other people?” What inner qualities of faith, hope and love might I see in others or in the church I am helping to plant. What qualities of the fruit of the Spirit might I see in my students?

• Visionary Faith Goals grow out of good theology. Faith goals begin with a fresh vision of the God of hope. We are convinced that the promises of God are true and trustworthy. Because we believe in a God of hope, we must think big goals even if we are in the midst of difficulty. Faith goals grow out of a fresh vision of the Lord who loves us and wants to use us for his glory. Only God can predict and control the future.

• Visionary Faith Goals seek eternal results. Missionaries with great faith goals live with a healthy tolerance for ambiguity. We are not in control of eternal results in the hearts and souls of people. Faith goals are difficult to predict with precision, because we may not see the results of our ministry until we reach heaven. But if the results of our ministry are only for this world, we are missing out on the most important goals.

• Visionary Faith Goals grow out of prayer. There is no simple formula for deciding faith goals. Computer projections do not establish faith goals. Faith goals come from spending time on our knees. We need to be open to the mystery of the powerful hand of the Lord in our lives. Wait patiently for him. Ask the Lord for his vision for the future.

• Visionary Faith Goals describe inner qualities rather than external quantities. I would encourage you to describe your goals as qualities. Don’t merely record how many people you wish to contact with the gospel, but describe what could happen in the lives of people when they give their lives to the Lord. Describe godly qualities in the lives of students you are teaching. Describe loving relationships between missionaries if the Lord would send a revival to your station. Describe a healthy church in your town rather than merely projecting numbers of believers. Then get on your knees and pray for this vision of blessing on your ministry.

• Visionary Faith Goals grow out of team ministry. Faith goals are not individualistic but depend on the Body of Christ. Individuals are stimulated by the faith goals of others in the team. And because no one missionary has all the spiritual gifts needed to help the Body to function, we absolutely must work as a team. This team includes national believers and first-term missionaries as well as experienced veterans.

Suggested action steps:

• Begin with yourself. Spend time in prayer asking the Lord to give you a fresh vision of Himself. Ask the God of hope to rekindle hopes and dreams, and faith goals for ministry. Picture with eyes of faith how your ministry might develop if the Lord would wonderfully bless your efforts.

• Dialogue with national church leaders and other missionaries. Be ready to enlarge your faith goals as you listen to the vision of co-workers. Share your faith goals with the team.

• Continue wider discussions in your district or country. What is the Lord showing you as a family? Be willing for many faith goals. Don’t make this a mechanical exercise, but an exercise of the family of God catching a fresh vision of his glory and our task.

When the Lord has given us faith goals, we are then ready to begin planning strategy. May the Lord rekindle enthusiasm for the his vision, renewed excitement for your ministry, and fresh appreciation for the Body of Christ.

Adapted an Evangelical Missions Quarterly article 1994

Prayer & Praise Hymns for Ascension Day - May 17, 2007

2007-05-17T09:22:00.000-05:00

Come my soul, thy suit prepare;
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
He himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay.

Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring:
For his grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.

With my burden I begin:
Lord, remove this load of sin;
Let thy blood for sinners spilt,
Set my conscience free from guilt.

While I am a pilgrim here,
Let thy love my spirit cheer;
As my Guide, my Guard, my Friend,
Lead me to my journey’s end.

Show me what I have to do,
Every hour my strength renew:
Let me live a life of faith,
Let me die Thy people’s death.

John Newton

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Ascension Day Hymn

Tune: Hyfrydol

Alleluia! Sing to Jesus,
His the scepter, His the throne;
Alleluia! His the triumph, His the victory alone.
Hark the songs of peaceful Zion
Thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus, out of every nation,
Hath redeemed us by His blood.

Alleluia! not as orphans
Are we left in sorrow now;
Alleluia! He is near us,
Faith believes, nor questions how:
Though the cloud from sight received Him
When the forty days were o’er,
Shall our hearts forget His promise,
“I am with you evermore”?

Alleluia! Bread of Heaven,
Thou on earth our food and stay;
Alleluia! Here the sinful
Flee to Thee from day to day;
Intercessor, friend of sinners,
Earth’s Redeemer, plead for me,
Where the songs of all the sinless
Sweep across the crystal sea.

William C. Dix 1866

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For Ascension Thursday

Hail the day that sees Him rise, Alleluia!
To His throne above the skies; Alleluia!
Christ the Lamb for sinners given, Alleluia!
Enters now the highest heaven. Alleluia!

There for Him high triumph waits; Alleluia!
Lift your heads, eternal gates, Alleluia!
He hath conquered death and sin, Alleluia!
Take the King of glory in! Alleluia!

See, He lifts His hands above! Alleluia!
See, He shows the prints of love. Alleluia!
Hark, His gracious lips bestow, Alleluia!
Blessings on His church below. Alleluia!

Lord, beyond our mortal sight, Alleluia!
Raise our hearts to reach Thy height, Alleluia!
There Thy face unclouded see, Alleluia!
Find our heaven of heavens in Thee! Alleluia!

Charles Wesley 1739

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When Revival Comes . . .

2007-05-16T09:36:00.000-05:00

What will it be like when revival comes? We find a picture of revival in the book of Jeremiah.

1• When revival comes it will not be because we are begging for revival, but it will come because we are hearing God’s pleading to come back to Him. We don’t have to bribe God with all-night prayer meetings and fasting to receive His spiritual refreshing. God is more anxious to bless than we are to receive His blessing (Jeremiah 3:12,13, 19).

2• When revival comes there will be great confession of sin. Current teaching on inner healing puts a needed emphasis on forgiving people, but Jeremiah puts the emphasis on confessing our own ugly and embarrassing sins (Jeremiah 3: 13).

3• When revival comes there will be a radical obedience to the word of God. We will see a difference in daily ordinary living. Revival will be much more than an emotional meeting on Sunday which has little impact on the daily grind of the week. Weeping with signs and wonders isn’t enough if it doesn’t result in holy living (Jeremiah 4:1-2).

4• When revival comes we will have powerful missionary effectiveness. God promises that when His people come back to Him “then, you will be a blessing to the nations of the world, and all people will come and praise my name.” (Jeremiah 4: 2).

Why is it that as we move into the third millennium, our world is still so lost? Seventy percent of the world’s people do not even pretend to follow Jesus, and two billion have never clearly heard the Gospel. What is preventing the earth from being filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea?

The greatest problem is not lack of funds, a dearth of willing missionaries, poor cultural understanding, inadequate church planting theory, a deficiency of sophisticated technology or a scarcity of satellite equipment. I’m convinced that the only serious obstacle to the worldwide spread of the gospel is that we are spiritually lukewarm and desperately need revival.

Christians who have lost their first love may still be active in church, may pray for missionaries, may give large amounts of money to support missions and may even volunteer themselves. But the world will not be changed by half-hearted Christians needing revival, no matter how active they are in the missionary enterprise.

How can we change the world?
• Listen to the pleading of the Lord in our own heart.
• Confess our sins, no matter how embarrassing they may be.
• Radically obey the word of God, no matter what the consequences.

Then get ready for an explosion of the Good News to all nations. By faith I see hundreds of millions of people from the most resistant cultures flocking to Jesus, when revival comes.

Do you have a passion for world missions? Pray for revival to begin in your own life. Then watch out, because God wants nothing more than to pour out his blessing on all nations through you.

The Great Omission

2007-05-08T14:33:00.000-05:00

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
and teaching them
to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

The Problem

If about two billion people call themselves Christian, why are so many Christians making so little difference? One would think that believers acting as salt and light in the world would stimulate global revival. How can meat become rotten with so much salt? Why is corruption often prevalent in countries where the church is so large? I wonder if a part of the reason is that Christ’s commission in Matthew 28: 19-20 has become the great omission. Christ commanded us to make the kind of disciples in every nation who will actually obey everything Jesus commanded. In spite of the growth of the worldwide church, we have barely begun to fulfill the real Great Commission.

Evangelism

The last hundred years have been marvelous for world evangelization! The Lord has worked miracles in the hearts of hundreds of millions of people. Hundreds of thousands of churches have been formed in almost every country of the world. Patrick Johnstone, the author of Operation World, challenged us with the great unfinished task of world evangelism, but he also encouraged us with news of how the Gospel has spread in the last hundred years. He estimates that only 30 million people in a world of over 6 billion people are totally without any kind of Christian witness. This means that over 99% of the people of the world live with a potential Christian witness. There are at least four billion people in the world who are not “born from above,” and we must not slow down in our efforts to bring the wonderful good news to every single person in the whole world.

Evangelism is an important and absolutely necessary task. We thank the Lord for the recent emphasis on un-reached peoples, hidden peoples, the 10/40 window and people groups. But the great commission is not primarily about evangelism and church planting, or about completing some measurable task before the year 2010. The great commission commands us to make disciples in every nation who obey everything Jesus commanded! The great commission is about helping people to be like Jesus. Just as a baby must be born before it can grow, so baby Christians must be born again before they can grow into Christlikeness.

Our Task

The purpose world missions is to glorify God by making obedient disciples of all nations. World evangelism and church planting are necessary but not sufficient for obeying Christ’s commission. Maybe our most strategic task right now is to stimulate the development of leaders, theologians and missionaries from emerging churches who are able to make the kind of disciples who obey everything Jesus commanded.

Are We Becoming Like Jesus?

It is one thing to realize that the great commission is a command to teach others to be like Jesus, but it is another thing to become like Christ ourselves. How can we claim to have a passion for missions when we ourselves are not evidencing a Christlike life? We will not be able to teach people to obey everything Jesus commanded if we ourselves are not obeying everything He commanded. It is difficult to teach others to be like Jesus if we are not ourselves growing in Christ.

God has used national evangelists and expatriate missionaries agencies to plant millions of churches with about two billion people who call themselves Christians. Our hearts overflow with praise to the Lord for such blessing. But what are we doing to help new Christians become like Jesus? Today the priority task of world missions is to equip the church make disciples at home and in all nations. Let us not be satisfied when we have a church that is merely self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating. Our goal is a church that is growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If the worldwide church will catch a fresh vision of what it means to be disciples of Jesus, a great awakening will break out, the foundations of hell will be shattered, and Christ’s commission will be obeyed throughout the whole earth. Let us work and pray with every ounce of energy in us to fulfill Christ’s commission. Lord Jesus, send a revival in our own lives and in the established churches around the world, so that an awakened church may be used of You to make obedient disciples and truly fulfill Your command.

Byang Kato & Biblical Christianity in Africa

2007-02-13T15:26:00.000-06:00

Review of a book by Byang Kato Biblical Christianity in Africa, published by Africa Christian Press, 1985. Reviewed by Jim Plueddemann.

"The spiritual battle for Africa during this decade will be fought...on theological grounds." Though Kato tragically died 30 years ago, his reprinted articles are as timely today as they were at his death. Kato had a vision for the church in the whole continent of Africa, a vision that stimulated mission and African leaders to see the continent in a new light.

First Kato saw that the struggle for biblical Christianity was not isolated to one tribe or country-his vision covered the whole of Africa.

Second, Kato's vision for biblical Christianity included the whole of the spiritual maturation process.

At a time when most were debating the relationships between evangelism and social action, Kato was warning of a more subtle and dangerous threat-the threat of theological anemia in Africa. He warned of syncretism, universalism, black theology, African theology, and ecumenical theology, while at the same time crying out for biblical, contextualized Christianity in Africa. He argued that Christianity was historically and theologically a truly African religion. While rejecting a moratorium for missionaries, he advocated more self-reliance for the national church. He pleaded that the church "evangelize or perish." He urged prayer for revival.

In reading through the five reprinted articles, one gets the impression of a modern day prophet crying our to God for Africa. His vision was for the church to be truly Christian and at the same time truly African. He loved Africa and the rapidly growing struggling church. He was troubled by theological indifference and lukewarmness.

Kato shared his vision in the first chapter, "Theological Anemia in Africa." Some of his vision is being fulfilled. Top priorities on his agenda were for more seminary-level theological schools, for graduate training, for scholarship programs for theological education, for theological publications, and for an evangelical theological society. The Lord has blessed this vision.

In the second chapter, "The Theology of Eternal Salvation," Kato expressed fear that biblical Christianity was being sacrificed on the altar of syncretism and universalism in the name of contextualization. He warned that a wrong theology of sin blinds us to the true human condition. If human problems are defined merely as physical suffering, material deprivation, and political domination, then there will be a shallow understanding of salvation. "Every inch of the African continent may be liberated from foreign domination, every family may have two cars in the garage, but that still will not save the African from his fundamental dilemma" (p. 16). He saw the fundamental dilemma as alienation from God, and that general revelation was not sufficient to bring salvation. "If Biblical Christianity is to survive and flourish in Africa, we must hold fast the truth that the fundamental problem of the human race is sin against God, and that salvation is only through Jesus Christ" (p. 22). Such a plea is urgently needed in Africa today.

In chapter three, Kato discusses the importance of contextualizing the gospel for Africa, but warns of religious syncretism and relativism. "The African loves to get along with everybody. He is, therefore, not inclined to offend his neighbor by letting him know what the Bible says about non-Christian religions. That is why liberal ecumenism is thriving in Africa." (p. 26). Kato saw syncretism as a growing influence in the Third World, and believed that Christians may have to face persecution for their Bible-based Christianity. But, "The final challenge for the African Christian is to make Christianity culturally relevant while holding fast to its ever-abiding message" (p. 31).

In the fourth chapter Kato makes a strong argument that Christianity is truly an African religion. Historically, Christianity has closer ties with Africa than with Europe. He urges his readers to "live up to the claims we make as Christians in Africa, and promote the Christian message for Africa in all areas of life and everywhere possible as true ambassadors of Christ" (p. 37).

Finally, Kato warns of syncretism, relativism, and humanism in African theology, ecumenical theology, and black theology. While affirming the dignity of the individual and condemning injustice, he pleads that we find answers in the absolute Word of God, not merely in human experience.

In the last 30 years since Kato's death there have been healthy trends in overcoming theological anemia in African church life, but in many ways the message is more urgently needed today than it was 30 years ago. The book should be required reading for every pastor and Bible school student in Africa, as well as for every foreign missionary in Africa. But the problem of theological anemia is not isolated to Africa. Perhaps anyone interested in growing healthy churches anywhere in the world should read the book.

On a personal note. As a new SIM missionary in Africa in 1967, Byang Kato was my first boss. I was proud to report to a Nigerian who became one of my best friends. Kato's vision for the development of theological education in Africa has profoundly influenced my vision. I thank the Lord that much of his specific vision has been fuflilled. Yet the vision to overcome theological anemia must be rekindled in each generation.

Revival & John Wesley

2007-02-02T09:30:00.000-06:00

We often think of revival as an emotional experience in church, at a youth camp or a religious retreat. While I praise the Lord and pray for church-related revivals the ideal revival is the daily searching our souls for anything that would hinder our daily fellowship and apprenticeship with Jesus.

We can fool each other and we often fool ourselves about the state of our souls. But God is constantly searching our hearts and knows our thoughts. Our loving Father urges us to test our hearts and examine our motives.

More than 200 years ago members of the John Wesley’s Holy Club asked themselves these questions every day in their private devotions. Picture the potential world-wide impact if we missionaries would daily re-attune our hearts to the living and loving Father? This is not a threatening activity, but a soothing exercise of the soul. I invite you to join me in daily prayer for the refreshing of our souls as we pray through these 21 questions.

Twenty One Questions
By John Wesley

1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
3. Do I confidentially pass on to another what was told to me in confidence?
4. Can I be trusted?
5. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?
6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
7. Did the Bible live in me today?
8. Do I give it time to speak to me every day?
9. Am I enjoying prayer?
10. When did I last speak to someone else of my faith?
11. Do I pray about the money I spend?
12. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
13. Do I disobey God in anything?
14. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
15. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
16. How do I spend my spare time?
17. Am I proud?
18. Do I thank God that I am not as other people?
19. Is there anyone I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so what am I doing about it?
20. Do I grumble or complain constantly?
21. Is Christ real to me?

Blanchard Hall At Wheaton College

2007-01-02T13:24:00.000-06:00

Adapted from Homecoming Chapel At the rededication of Blanchard Hall at Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL

Alumni coming back for the rededication of Blanchard Hall hope that the new Blanchard will continue some of the old traditions. We are concerned that Wheaton College not lose the vision for developing students. The trend in many famous liberal arts colleges is to downplay interactions between teachers and students. Recently Harvard was judged to be the best liberal arts college in the country. Harvard was chosen because of its world-class faculty, cutting-edge research and stringent admission standards. None of these criteria “of excellence” include the need for caring teacher/student relationships or a vision for the Kingdom of God. Most faculty at Harvard and other liberal arts colleges have a single-minded obsession with research. Students pay the price with large classes, inaccessible professors, and a heavy use of teaching assistants. Students are sacrificed on the altar of academic excellence. We pray that Wheaton College will never try to be a miniature Harvard or University of Chicago. The standards of excellence for these schools provide dangerous models.

Blanchard Hall as a Factory

• Last night I had a bad dream, a nightmare. I dreamed that there had been a mix-up of architectural plans and that Blanchard Hall had been remodeled by mistake into a factory. But nobody seemed to notice the difference.

The primary interests of a factory are efficiency, predictability and measurability. Numbers are the best indicators of success. In my dream, students were recruited primarily by their SAT or ACT scores. Depending on their SAT and CLEP scores, students were placed on a conveyor belt at the lower east end of Blanchard, and came out from the top west end four years later. Students entered as passive raw material and left as passive finished products. (Remember this was only a dream.)

• The mission of this new Blanchard Hall was to fill empty minds of students with important bodies of knowledge in the most effective, cost-effective way.

• In my dream faculty members sat in offices on the first or second floor with huge funnels on their desks. Each funnel was connected to hoses going into the ears of each student in the class. When the bell rang, professors would pour pearls of wisdom into the funnel. From time to time they would peer into the head of each student and count how many pearls actually got inside. It was the “tell-um-and-test-um” method of education.

• Since the motto was “Excellence Through Efficiency,” students were treated as children by faculty and staff. The staff had to get mean with students because they never filled out forms properly or on time. (Factories would collapse without lots of forms.) Teachers complained that students were always asking dumb questions. Since teachers knew it was inefficient to get sidetracked by trivial questions they learned they could pour in more pearls if they didn’t waste time by asking students what they thought.

• I dreamed that all the staff followed procedures of management by objectives. Staff from student accounts, the work order department, student development, financial aid, the counseling center, and the health center, could save time and money by being impersonal with students. Quality was defined solely by the numbers. Secretaries received wage increases if they consistently answered the phone before two rings. After all, the most efficient way for trustees, administrators, staff, and faculty to run a school is to treat students and each other as impersonal objects.

• In my dream, the conveyor belt propelled students past remedial funnels and divided into two directions. The scholarly students took the conveyor belt up to the second floor where they studied great books, great music, great art, and great ideas from the past. Anything as long as it was old. The less scholarly students stayed on the ground floor and studied the more professional subjects like education, business, computers, and social work.

• The debate in many faculty meetings was over the “canon” of knowledge to be injected into passive students. The second-floor faculty argued for a canon of the classics, the Great Books of the Western World. The first-floor faculty accused the “Great Books Cult” of being racist, bigoted, and sexist. They objected to limiting the curriculum to the writings of dead, European, white, upper-class, males. The first-floor faculty poured practical pearls through field trips and internship funnels.

• The “canonites” on the second floor accused the “vocationalists” of being relativists, positivists, and post-structuralists.

• In this factory there was very little dialogue. Second-floor faculty accused the first-floor faculty of being unscholarly and not true to the factory’s historic liberal arts position. The first-floor faculty accused the second-floor faculty of being like artificial intelligence computers -- highly rational but lacking a passion for the needs of people.

• Occasionally speakers would come to the factory challenging people to evaluate their ultimate purpose. One speaker said we had two tasks. The first task was evangelism, and all the bottom-floor faculty said “amen” (bottom-floor faculty talk like that). Then he said the second task was to redeem the academic disciplines, and the second-floor faculty nodded their heads in wise, condescending agreement. But the speaker didn’t stimulate much dialogue. A second speaker argued that factories have two kinds of purposes. Some are oriented toward service and others toward scholarship. He said our factory should emphasize scholarship and Bible Colleges should emphasize service. The second-floor faculty loved the lecture. Faculty in my dream would argue and talk behind backs, but seldom listen to each other.

• Chapel speakers called the factory students the “cream of the crop” and challenged them to excel. “Be a success! Be rich and famous! Anything done with excellence is Christian!” In the back corner of the chapel a few rebellious students could be heard mumbling, “We don’t need no education, we don’t need no thought control.” And then something about “another brick in the wall.”

• The thing that woke me up was a factory meeting where teachers, students and administrators were shouting at each other over questions about general education requirements about the pledge. (Or maybe I just had to go to the bathroom.)

Blanchard Hall as Interpreter’s House

The nightmare wore me out so much that I got back to sleep right away. In my sleep this time I dreamed that the revitalized Blanchard Hall was Interpreter’s House from Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress.

• All the people, from the president, to the most senior professor, to the most junior janitor, were pilgrims. The pilgrims treated each other with love as wounded but maturing people, not as cogs in a machine. They came to a safe retreat at Wheaton College for a short while to reflect on where they had been, where they were going, and move on better equipped to face the next leg of the journey.

What would Wheaton College look like if my second dream were true?

• The admissions criteria would still consider the SAT, but the primary criteria for admissions would not be test scores but leadership potential in helping other pilgrims.

• The schizophrenic dilemma of the two conveyor belts would be solved. The course titles would not be much different from those of the factory model. But the teaching methods would be radically different. Instead of students getting writer’s cramp in every class, the teacher would present a few important ideas and students would be compelled to wrestle with these ideas. Real knowledge is never poured into the heads of students. The kind of knowledge that leads to wisdom must be “owned” and accepted by active, thinking, students who are struggling for themselves. Teachers in this school would know that real learning only takes place when students are changed on the inside. Test scores have very little to do with measuring real learning.

• Pilgrims in Interpreter’s House would catch a vision for being scholars of the Map -- the Map of God’s truth. But they would also realize that knowledge of the Map is a means and never an end. They would know that there is nothing as practical as a deep understanding of God’s truth. Ideas without action make an idol out of scholarship. But action without scholarship often leads to faddish heresy. Practical skills would never be taught without philosophical and biblical foundations. Theoretical ideas would never be presented without challenging students to wrestle with implications for the problems of the present and future. Students would be more serious about scholarship. In the factory, learning was a game of trivial pursuit. At Interpreter’s House pilgrims would have a passion to understand God’s truth because they love God and are anxious to know and serve him. Pilgrims would be motivated to study because they know they all will face the Slough of Despond and the Hill of Difficulty. Pilgrims would not be ridiculed while struggling in Doubting Castle.

• In a community of pilgrim scholars people would be anxious to help each other. Cooperation rather than competition for grades would be the mode. (They wouldn’t hide key books in the library on order to “excel” over other students.) Pilgrim scholars would help each other with assignments, be more relaxed, more joyful, more hopeful.

• The purpose of Interpreter’s House would be to equip students for full-time Pilgrim service. Pilgrim missionaries, evangelists, pastors. Pilgrim lawyers, teachers, business persons, parents and professors. But also pilgrim truck drivers, pilgrim factory workers and pilgrim carpenters. However pilgrims make a living, their orientation is to be full-time pilgrims.

• In my factory dream, professors argued about integrating faith and learning. At Interpreter’s House, faculty and students think and weep with each other about how to integrate faith and living.

• The community of pilgrim scholars looks forward eagerly to the return of the King. Pilgrims know they are marching through Immanuel’s land, but they also know that this world is not their real home. They know they have a responsibility as servants to influence political and social structures. They fight for justice and care for the poor. They have a passion for the 3 billion people who live in the City of Destruction and have never heard the Good News. But they also realize that the only hope for utopia is the return of the King.

• As the class of 1965, we come back home as weary pilgrims needing to be reminded of our roots. Few of us match the mythical “Wheaton image” of success. Many of us have struggled in the prison of Doubting Castle. We are pilgrims in progress. We need to come back to our Interpreter’s House and compare notes about the journey and renew friendships. Pilgrims desperately need other pilgrims. But we also come back to remember good times and good friends. Even though the road the last 25 years has been rough, and the road ahead is unpredictable, we continue on with deeper joy and stronger hope because of our time at Wheaton College.

• As pilgrim alumni we are concerned that the remodeled Blanchard not become a factory. We plead for a renewed sense of direction guided by eternal values -- a vision that will permeate our attitudes toward people, programs and our ultimate purpose. May God build the new Blanchard Hall into a loving community of scholars who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

In Search of the Real Jesus

2006-12-16T15:24:00.000-06:00

Letter to the Editor
U.S. News and World Report
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Re: In Search of the Real Jesus

Jesus bashing again! Why does U.S. News and World Report so predictably assault orthodox Christianity at Christmas and Easter? Out of the tens of thousands of theologians from around the world, you select a half dozen from the fringe who were condemned by the Apostle Paul as hollow and deceptive (Colossians 2:8). Gnosticism was most profoundly debunked, not by Athanasius but by the Apostle Paul.

Your cover story is analogous to writing a story entitled, “In Search of the Real Holocaust” while primarily interviewing Iranian clerics.

At Christmas, why not write about the vibrant growth of global orthodox Christianity?

Letter to the Editor
Jim Plueddemann
US News and World Report
letters@usnews.com
Tuesday, April 11, 2006

I get tired of the annual Easter Jesus bashing by second-rate scholars who can’t tell the difference between a novel and history. I too have a PhD and teach at reputable Divinity School. If I were to write an article on a theory that Jesus was made out of green cheese, I suspect that I would make your cover next year. Why do you report on pipedream theories of scholars who represent less than 1% of global Christianity? Surely you can do a better job of reporting on a person who has won the hearts of two billion people.

New Element Discovered - Administradium

2006-12-16T14:24:00.000-06:00

My Dad was a research chemist. He is now with the Lord, but I have heard that Edwin P. Plueddemann continues his research from heaven. There is a heavenly rumor that he has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest element know this far to science. The element, tentatively named Administradium, was discovered by Ed in heaven. It has no protons or electrons and thus has an atomic number of zero. However, it does have 1 neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice neutrons, and 111 assistant vice neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together in the nucleus by a force that involves the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called morons.

Since it has no electrons, Administradium is inert. However, it can be detected chemically as it impedes every reaction with which it comes in contact. According to the discoverers, a tiny amount of Administradium caused one reaction to take over 4 days to complete when it would normally occur in less than 1 second.

Administradium has a normal half-life of approximately 3 years. At this time it doesn't actually decay but instead undergoes reorganization in which assistant neutrons, vice neutrons, and assistant vice neutrons exchange places. Some studies have shown that the atomic mass actually increases after each reorganization.

Researchers in other laboratories have indicated that Administradium occurs naturally in the atmosphere. It tends to concentrate in certain places such as universities, government agencies, large corporations, and school systems. The element is usually found only in the newest, best appointed and best-maintained buildings.

Scientists point out that Administradium is known to be toxic at any level of concentration and can destroy any productive reactions where it is allowed to accumulate. Attempts are being made to determine how Administradium can be controlled to prevent irreversible damage, but results are not promising.

Adapted from: http://www.crummy.com/warren/files/06/admin.txt

Children: Great Need—Great Potential

2006-11-08T09:32:00.000-06:00

By Carol and Jim Plueddemann

In recent years many have awakened to the horrible realities of suffering children around the world. We weep for the abuse and exploitation millions of children face in today’s sick world of slavery, child labor, child soldiers, street children and prostitution rings.

In this reality, the story of Naaman and the young slave girl in 2 Kings 5 takes on new meaning. Imagine the horror this child survived when bands from Aram raided Israel and took children as slaves. She ended up in the house of Naaman, commander of Aram’s army. Who knows what life was like for this young girl snatched away from her family and living in a strange country? No doubt she was treated as a piece of property, abused and dehumanized.

But look what God did in this dark situation: the child slave pointed Commander Naaman to God Almighty! “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel,” Naaman confessed. The slave girl became one of the most influential missionaries in the Old Testament.

Children today represent both great need and great potential. We must cry out against the atrocities they face, but we can take comfort in our God, the Redeemer. He can change the most awful evil into good. A child can be a mighty asset in breaking open an entire culture to hear God’s voice.

Who knows how God might use the child slaves from southern Sudan who have been taken from their Christian families and sold into Islamic nations? God may penetrate dark cultures with his light, and perhaps children will be the key.

A young man at a missions conference told us, “I’d like to serve in missions, but I don’t have a lot of skills. I just work with children.” Just? Nothing is more important—or more demanding. It’s a huge challenge to learn how children develop and learn in order to help them understand spiritual truths in a life-changing way. Children’s ministries call for the best we can offer.

Here are three big reasons why missions should renew emphasis on children’s ministries:
1. Children are most often victims during times of turmoil. The needs of hurting children are greater than ever.
2. Children are often sensitive to Jesus’ tug on their lives and seem to see with unusual eyes of faith. A high percentage of believers decided to follow Christ as children.
3. As the story of Naaman shows, children make wonderful missionaries.

Let’s pray faithfully for children who are in perilous situations. Ask God to protect them and deliver them. Pray for those who are working to change unjust practices.

Pray, too, that children will be a means of blessing to the adults around them. Often children are more open to the gospel and then become the means of bringing adults to Christ.

Pray for missionaries who reach out to children through camping programs, street children’s ministries, feeding centers and Bible clubs. Encourage and support these efforts. Make sure that children’s ministries are honored for the important and strategic part they play in world missions.

Those who minister to children often lack the status of those working with adults. May God call and prepare many to minister to the world’s children. It is a high calling that demands the finest minds and most creative energies to reach these who have great needs and great potential.

Why Missionaries Care About The Unreached

2006-10-27T14:54:00.000-05:00

Some people think that missionary-minded Christians are bigoted, narrow-minded and intolerant when we loudly sing, “Everybody Ought To Know Jesus.” Don’t the Bengali, Fulani and Quechua have their own religions? Why do they need to know Jesus? Yet missionaries have a passion to reach everyone with the wonderful good news about Jesus. If such thinking seems impolite in a “politically correct” environment, why do missionaries have a desire to reach the lost? Why do missionaries and supporting churches sacrifice much to reach out to unreached people groups in distant corners of the world? Here are a few reasons.
1. The God who created every bone and every cell in the Somali of East Africa, the Baluchi of Pakistan and the Guarani of Paraguay loves them, died for them and wants them to know and love Him.
2. The God of all creation commanded people who know and love Him to go and tell this good news with the whole world. Jesus commanded us to share the good news of how human beings can be fully human, how they can know God and get rid of hopeless futility caused by sin.
3. We have wonderful news that God wants to adopt us as His children from every tribe, language and nation The good news of Jesus is like a miracle medicine. He cures all the sadness and sickness of the world. The gospel medicine is free and there are no side-effects. Even if missionaries are misunderstood we must not withhold such wonderful good news.

We must not go with an attitude of superiority attempting to force a Western religion down the throats of unwilling people. We go as a beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. We sadly confess that at times missionaries have gone with an attitude of superiority.

What do we mean by the unreached? A person is unreached when he or she has never had a chance to hear the wonderful good news that Jesus died for our sins. Some people have heard the good news many times, but cultural or communication problems might make it difficult for them to understand and accept such wonderful news. Other people may think they are Christians but they believe in a false unbiblical kind of Christianity. We have a great desire to reach these individuals with the true answer to their deepest needs. The key question is not, “are the people unreached?” but do the people truly know and follow the Jesus of the Bible?

Another popular phrase these days is “unreached people group.” We define an unreached people as an ethno-linguistic or affinity group which does not have a viable, accessible witnessing church among them. We want to reach out to people so that they can come to Jesus and become a part of a community – a local church of their own. In addition, daughter churches are also reaching out to many other groups. Without our witness, some of these people have almost no chance of hearing of a God who loves them, who died for them, and wants them to live with Him forever. Our hearts go out in a special way to those who have never clearly heard.

When people are reached with the good news and they accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, they are like babies in their spiritual growth. The Great Commission and the Great Commandment include much more than reaching the unreached. We are commanded to make disciples in all nations, teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded. Discipleship must take place in a community of believers.

Missionaries have a great desire to reach those who are totally unreached with a message of hope and joy, to plead with those who have heard but have not accepted the message of forgiveness and love, and to nurture healthy churches for those who have accepted the message of abundant life.

Join us as we reach the Yao of Malawi, the Mapuche of Chile and the Hui of China with a new song of joy. Help us reach the world with an exuberant, fulfilling message of hope! Help us teach the world to sing a new song.

Should Missionaries Evangelize or Nurture Churches?

2006-09-26T08:12:00.000-05:00

Follow this mythical dialogue between Joe Missionary and his Guru.

Guru: Young man, if God wants to mature an indigenous church, he'll do it without your help or mine. You must get on with the task of being a true missionary. Repent of your truncated church development syndrome. Missions is world evangelization, not national church development.

Joe: Sir, I know the local church in our area of Africa is self- governing, self-supporting, and growing rapidly. But the pastor is begging me to show him how he can disciple the elders in his church. Many parts of Africa are heavily churched, but spiritual maturity is often shallow.

Guru: Your attitude is very much out of date. You're showing advanced signs of the disease of ethnocentrism. First, it appears that you don't trust the national to be able to read his Bible and contextualize it for his own culture. You seem to be saying that if these believers don't follow the American pattern and don't use Western tunes in church, that they aren't growing Christians. Second, you don't trust the Holy Spirit. So you think that the Holy Spirit can only work through Americans?

Joe: Sir, you've made two points that I need to be careful about. I don't want to encourage the church to follow Western patterns, and I must trust the Holy Spirit. But am I not a part of the Body of Christ? Or does each homogeneous unit form its own Body? The Apostle Paul seemed to have a deep concern for the maturation process in the churches he planted. Paul spent most of his missionary career nurturing churches. Are you saying the apostle shouldn't have wasted his time or repeated visits and letter writing to the early churches once they become self-governing? One could use the argument of ethnocentrism against your concern in evangelism and church planting. Don't you trust the nationals to do this? Do you think the Holy Spirit can only use Americans to do cross-cultural evangelism?

Guru: Don't you believe in evangelism? In reaching the least reached?

Joe: Yes, I surely do. I understand the urgency to reach the unreached 2.5 billion. We both need to learn to work more closely with national Christians, and trust the Holy Spirit. But even if we would evangelize the whole world, our job is not finished.

Guru: Son, I can see that you don't know the history of missions. Traditional missionaries settled on a compound, started a dispensary, a school and sometimes a church. Then they spent their time building and administering institutions, while ignoring the thousands of nearby villages.

Joe: Yes, we missionaries have made mistakes. Yet with such a large church in our country, the missionaries must have done a few things right. To say that traditional missionaries did not evangelize is most inaccurate. But we also need to seek new approaches for encouraging the maturation of the church.

Guru: Joe, I know you're a dedicated missionary with a great academic future. But don't you realize that with your present attitudes you're out of step with the whole field of missiology? How can you measure spiritual maturity? We are most interested in quantifiable results. Your interest isn't academic. Son, if you want to get ahead in the field of missiology, get a degree or two with us, write a few articles, and get invited to a couple of world congresses. Soon, they'll be asking you to lead workshops. Forget about the maturation of the indigenous church. It's a dead-end-street, academically.

Joe: Well, sir, I surely appreciate your personal concern. I'm encouraged with the interest on reaching the unreached. But I sense that something's missing from the field of missiology. I look around me in Africa and see hundreds and thousands of churches, yet there are so few well-taught believers. The major emphasis of the New Testament writers seems to be the encouragement of believers toward maturity in Christ. Yet when I search in the field of missiology I see little of this New Testament emphasis.

I'm deeply concerned for the billions who are unreached. But if "being evangelized" results in thousands of weak and dying churches, then something is wrong somewhere. When I compare the church in Ephesis that Paul encouraged with the same church that John criticized in Revelation, I shudder to think of what could easily happen in Africa. The urgent need in the spiritual battle for Africa is to facilitate growth toward biblical maturity in the local churches. But when has anyone suggested a world congress on building up the body of Christ? Church revitalization must be the starting point for world evangelization. A large carnal church must be an embarrassment to the name of the Lord, but a vital maturing church will not only grow but will please the Lord. A vibrant national church will also have a passion for sending missionaries to the unreached.

Guru: Son, this discussion has been stimulating. But I'm sure you'll realize why we can't reserve a place for you in our school. We need students who are less dogmatic and more open to new ideas.

Should Missionaries Evangelize or Nurture Churches? Yes.

Adapted from the article by Jim Plueddemann “Church Maturity: Old Hat?” Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 1980, 19, 139-141.

Seven Missionary Lessons from my Dad

2006-09-23T10:04:00.000-05:00

My Dad (Edwin P. Plueddemann) was a research scientist who had 100 patented inventions before he went to heaven. His discoveries are being used today in computer circuit boards, the space program and medical technology. While he was famous in the field of adhesives, his most powerful influence on me was through his life. Here are some of the most important missionary lessons I learned from my Dad.

1. Don’t complain when life is difficult. Dad grew up during the depression as one of nine children in the home of a poorly paid preacher. But in telling about his childhood, he only reminisced about the fun they had. Contentment characterized his whole life. When the doctor told him there was nothing more they could do to treat his cancer, he never complained. Rather than mope, he worked on improving his golf game and kept experimenting in the lab. What a lesson for missionaries!

2. Enjoy life to the fullest. Dad had a wonderful enthusiasm for life. When I was a child the children in our neighborhood often came to our door asking if Jimmy’s Dad could come out and play. Dad was constantly amazed that his company would give him a free chemistry set and pay him to play with chemicals all day.

3. Be curious about everything. As a scientist, Dad was curious about molecules, but he was also curious about the stock market, astronomy, world history, theology and politics. He taught himself German, Russian and Greek so he didn’t have to depend on others for translations. He never quit learning and even had a chemistry experiment going in the lab the night he died.

4. See all of life as Christian service. Dad felt that God had given him 24 hours a day. Ideally, he wanted to work for 8 hours, sleep for 8 hours, and be involved in Christian service for 8 hours. While he was a research scientist he also pastored a small church for a salary of $1.00 a year. In the lab he assumed God was peering over his shoulder to see if he could discover how the Creator had constructed molecules.

5. Debate ideas, not people. I learned as a child that people could disagree about ideas and still be good friends. If a conversation became dull, my Dad would stimulate debate by taking the opposite opinion. If he convinced folks with his ideas, he would switch sides again. I chuckled inside as I watched my Dad spice up the conversation with wild ideas.

6. Study the Bible with excitement. Nothing was more enjoyable for my Dad than Bible study. He spent many evenings in his easy chair reading the Bible and commentaries. He was known to stay up until 2:00 in the morning discussing the Bible with a small study group. Sermon preparation was one of the delights of his life.

7. Live for the next world. As cancer spread throughout his body and heart attacks destroyed his heart, the elders of the church came to pray for him. When they asked Dad how he would like them to pray, he replied, “Well I don’t expect to live much longer in this body, and I’ve lived longer than I thought I would. Just pray that I’ll keep rejoicing in the Lord.” As we sat around him with tears in our eyes, Dad talked about the questions he would soon ask Jesus, and he began to design heavenly three-dimensional golf courses. He knew he was leaving the world of the dying and going to the land of the living. Dad exuberantly enjoyed life, but longed for the place Jesus was preparing for him.

A joyful, creative, curious attitude is not something easily taught in College or Seminary. Dad’s missionary training helped me face many challenges in cross-cultural work.

I hope I’ll always keep an excitement both for this world and for the world that is coming.

Appropriate Sacrifice

2006-09-05T20:12:00.000-05:00

Carol Plueddemann

About twelve years ago, the publishing company I (Carol) worked for gave me an assignment: Read several dozen missionary biographies and prepare an anthology of quotations from those books. The result was World Shapers: A Treasury of Quotes from Great Missionaries.

Was there any common theme in the 40 books I read? Yes—sacrifice. Almost every significant cross-cultural endeavor has been birthed in sacrifice as lives were laid down for the sake of taking the Gospel to unreached places.

To the Golden Shore* is the story of Adoniram Judson, pioneer missionary to Burma. The book includes this letter Judson wrote to the father of Nancy Hazeltine when he was asking for her hand in marriage:

I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; …to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of him who left his heavenly home and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion and the glory of God?

The author continues, It was a letter that must have made John Hasseltine’s eyes pop nearly out of his head. With many misgivings, he left it to Nancy to make up her own mind. Whatever her choice, she had his blessing. Nancy wrote, “I have come to the determination to give up all my comforts and enjoyments here, sacrifice my affection to relatives and friends, and go where God, in his providence, shall see fit to place me.”

Judson’s letter turned out to be prophetic. Nancy Hazeltine Judson died in Burma, as did three of her children. Judson re-married, and his second wife Sarah also died. Two of her children died as well. Judson lost two wives and five children. What a huge cost! He wrote, “If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings.”

In today’s world, the Judsons’ experience would never be tolerated. If any mission agency allowed this scenario, it would probably be black-listed by various organizations and periodicals. Maybe rightly so. But what is appropriate sacrifice? (Is the term appropriate sacrifice an oxymoron?)

Seminars on risk assessment and risk management are a necessary part of missions today. But Phil Parshall, (SIM, Philippines) rightly raises concerns about this emphasis. “It seems the spirit of courage and daring has been somewhat replaced by a conservative attitude that keeps missionaries packed up, ready to evacuate to a ‘safe haven’ at the first sign of upheaval.”

The emphasis in missions today is sometimes more on member care than on vision. Of course member care is crucial and can be an integral part of Kingdom vision. But member care is not the reason mission agencies exist! The joyful task of missions is to plant, strengthen, and partner with churches around the world.

What will it take to continue the work of missions in the spirit of our pioneers? Increasingly, our world is fragmenting and becoming more and more unsafe. There are fresh martyrs’ graves as well as old ones. Will today’s missionaries and future recruits be willing to serve in hard places? Will mission committees allow them to be assigned in high-risk areas?

In our travels to many different countries, we have been very moved by the willingness of many to serve in difficult places. Armed robbery, dangerous roads, and tropical illnesses are eminent dangers in many areas. Financial limitations, loneliness, and cultural alienation are assumed sacrifices for those who serve cross-culturally. And who can count the cost of those who leave grown children and grandchildren in their homelands to answer God’s call? God gives grace for these sacrifices just as He gives grace for the ultimate sacrifice.

Jesus didn’t say “Go into all the safe places of the world…” But along with the command to go into to all the world, He gave the promise of His power and His presence.

Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

------------------

1.To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson, by Courtney Anderson. New York: Little Brown and Company, 1956.

Meekness & Missions

2006-08-25T14:15:00.000-05:00

We live in a world that worships power. People flock to assertiveness training sessions where they can learn to get ahead. But when was the last time you heard about a workshop on meekness? Books like Looking Out for No. 1 and Winning Through Intimidation are best-sellers in the cut-throat business world.

But missionaries are different, right? Missionaries have given up all rights to themselves. They should be experts on meekness. Well, if you are like me, we still have a lot to learn about Jesus’ radical call to meekness. In fact, I think missionaries suffer from two diseases that can be cured by meekness.

The first is the disease of superiority. Our missionary status symbols may be more subtle, but we still have them. For some, a 4-wheel-drive Toyota and a healthy ministry account might send a message of being exceptional missionaries. For others, working 16-hour days in a hospital or office may give a sense of superiority. A few may take pride in the fact that they have no indoor toilets or have exceptional ability to thrive in another language and culture, looking down on people who seem less competent. A sense of superiority often leads to the disease of racism, poisoning relationships with coworkers and the people to whom we minister.

The other sickness disease of inferiority. Missionaries with this disease become discouraged by a sense of incompetence, especially when they measure themselves against others who seem more capable. Some who have this disease come down with a variation of the illness called the “imposter syndrome.” Those with this syndrome do everything they can to hide their lack of ability and often worry that eventually their supporters and fellow missionaries will recognize their incompetence and reject them. For them, any kind of evaluation is a major threat. This disease leads to profound discouragement and interpersonal friction.

The best medicine for both of these diseases is a strong dose of biblical meekness. Meekness? Who wants to be meek? In many people’s minds, meekness and weakness are synonymous—they even rhyme! We tend to think of a meek missionary as a wimp who allows everyone to push him or her around. Yes, even missionaries live in a competitive world that worships influence, efficiency and competence.

Actually, true meekness requires unusual strength. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes that “meekness is essentially a true view of oneself…The person who is truly meek is the one who is truly amazed that God and others can think of him as well as they do and treat him as well as they do.” Because those who are meek have a biblical view of themselves, they treat others with gentleness, humility, and patience.

Dear missionary, meekness is a quality of God’s kingdom people. Once we understand how radical Jesus’ call to meekness is, we may be tempted to dismiss it as impossible. But we have supernatural resources and strong examples to follow, including Jesus Himself. And the rewards are eternal! Hang in there!

Are Missionaries Really World Christians?

2006-08-14T20:40:00.000-05:00

Missionaries would seem to be the epitome of world Christians. But are we really? Even though many of us work far from home, I suspect that most of us limit our horizons to our present ministry. Do our prayers reflect a passion for the whole world? Do missionaries in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Zambia, Bolivia and India pray merely for local needs? Do our Sending Offices limit their prayers to missionaries sent out by their office?

I was deeply moved when missionaries in one of our most challenging Asian countries spent half a day praying for missionaries in South America.

Here are a few suggestions on how we can be more global in our vision:

* Pray through the world news. Are you depressed as you listen to BBC, VOA or as you read news magazines? Take world events to the Lord in prayer.
* Request prayer letters from missionaries in different parts of the world. Intentionally keep up with friends you met in candidate school, consultations or home-assignment seminars. And stay in touch with missionaries from other missions, too!
* Pray through Operation World. It is a powerful tool for seeing the world from God’s perspective.

We have another motivation to be world Christians. We are a church-planting mission with a passion for evangelism and discipleship. But our goal includes equipping churches to fulfill Christ’s Commission, so we are also a mission-board planting mission. How can we challenge and equip national churches to be world Christians if we ourselves are not missionary-minded? We teach more by our example than anything else. Missionaries in South America with a passion for the lost in China teach churches more than they know.

I would be interested to hear other suggestions. Feel free to comment. I may add your suggestions to the next blog. :)

Lord Jesus, help us to be fervent world-Christians, and then make us role-models, helping the Body of Christ to fulfill Your Commission.

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Missionaries

2006-07-08T15:44:00.000-05:00

Jim & Carol Plueddemann

What makes an effective missionary? While most missionaries dread evaluation, church mission committees themselves aren’t sure what questions to ask—or what exactly they’re evaluating. A church’s attempts at evaluation can be sadly comical. On a home assignment from Africa, our supporting church’s missions committee members couldn’t think of anything to talk about, so they asked if we had any snake stories.

Another time, a Christian foundation director asked Jim, “How many people did you win, and how much money did it cost per soul? If we fund this project, how many people per dollar will come to Christ?”

The snake story episode reveals wasted chances to ask probing, meaningful questions about the essence of our work. Instead, the committee mired in trivial things irrelevant to assessing our effectiveness. The cost-per-soul discussion revealed crass materialism and a behavioristic mindset for what only the Holy Spirit can bring about.

So how do you evaluate missionaries?

“Vision-driven, outcome evaluation” considers everything according to the kingdom vision God has given the missionary, rather than simply judging a missionary’s work by a checklist. For example, instead of focusing on how many times the missionary showed the Jesus film, a vision-driven evaluation asks, “What difference will the film’s message make in people’s lives and, what are the next steps for those who have viewed it?”

Here are seven vision-driven development points to move missionaries to reflect, plan and be highly effective in their lives and ministries:

1) Spiritual: Are you growing in grace or stagnating in your relationship with Christ? What’s helped you grow? What’s hindered you? What needs to change? How does your missionary experience enhance or detract from your spiritual growth?
2) Family: How is your marriage? Your relationship with your children? What specific things have you done to build both? If single, how have you nurtured healthy relationships with others?
3) Mental: Are you growing in wisdom and knowledge? What have you done this last year to gain professional, language and cultural skills? What could you do specifically to continue developing your mind?
4) Physical: What have you done to maintain physical shape? Would more rest, better diet and consistent exercise help?
5) Relationship: Have you developed strong cross-cultural friendships? How are your relationships with missionaries and national co-workers? What has helped or hindered the growth of loving, trusting relationships? List ways you will prayerfully develop love and trust within your team this year.
6) Vision: What are your hopes and dreams for God to use you in others’ lives? If God were to richly bless your ministry, what difference would it make in other people and the church? What indications show that God has been using you to make an eternal difference in others’ lives?
7) Activities: How has God used your ministry to fulfill the kingdom vision? What have you done to hinder fulfilling it? What belongs on your “to-do” or “stop-doing” list?

This evaluation helped a missionary at one of our Kenya seminars. He found the root of his many frustrations with his work was the mismatch in his ministry. He was doing administrative tasks, but his real passion was to teach Bible. As a result, he moved to a Bible college to teach. Later he told us that this exercise greatly improved his ministry, personal life and marriage. Another missionary went through this process and moved from Bible teaching to the ministry of financial administration which more closely matched his gifts and passion.

For ten years we’ve traveled to 56 different countries, challenging and encouraging missionaries to evaluate their lives and ministries for the kingdom’s sake. We hope these seven habits may guide mission committees to move from snake stories to vision-driven evaluations that further the kingdom cause. We invite missionaries to prayerfully reflect on them to evaluate the past and plan for the future. Discuss your findings with a mentor and with your church missions committee.

What’s been your experience with evaluation? Let us hear from you as we seek ways to be highly effective servants for the kingdom.

Women and Leadership

2006-05-25T21:14:00.000-05:00

I suggest that the testimony of the whole body of Scripture encouraged woment in positions of leadership, but that the role of women in leadership must take into account cultural limitations.

From an interpretation of I Timothy 2: 12, and 1 Corinthians 14:35, we have two options. Either we require that women never teach men and totally keep silent in every educational situation, or we understand the passage as a restriction of particular first-century women in their cultural setting. If women are to remain silent in churches, then we should exclude women from the choir, congregational singing, and from the nursery. If God intended that women never teach men, as a universal ethical moral principle, then we would expect the rest of Scripture to support the restriction. Yet we find many examples of women teaching men. The prophetess Huldah proclaimed the word of God to the king Josiah and the High Priest Hilkiah, while her husband was in charge of the wardrobe (2 Chronicles 34:22). It is quite possible that the apostle Paul was taught by the four unmarried daughters of Philip (Acts 21: 9). Moses was taught by the prophetess Miriam (Exodus 15:20). Deborah was not only a prophetess but a judge and she commanded an army general (Judges 4:4). Jesus chose women to be the first to proclaim the Good News of the resurrection to the apostles. There are many more examples.
There are not only biblical reasons to encourage women to take a stronger role in leadership, there are also theological reasons. The royal priesthood of all believers includes women. Women have direct access to God, and God communicates directly with women who then have the obligation to communicate with others. Spiritual gifts are given to all believers, and there is no indication that some of the gifts are masculine and others feminine.

Biblical leadership is never dictatorial control over people. Even the God of creation gives people free will. Leaders are not dictators but influencers. Leaders take initiative to use their spiritual gifts to influence the Body of Christ, and the world. In this important sense of the word leadership, all Christian women are expected to be leaders.

Thus to make 1 Timothy 2: 12 a universal moral principle, one is forced to deny the plenary (or whole) inspiration of Scripture. If we hold a plenary view of the inspiration of Scripture we must not limit the role of women, or men, in leadership except for reasons of cultural appropriateness.

But, cultural relativity is not absolute relativity. There are absolute biblical principles of graciousness and cultural sensitivity that make it inappropriate for men or women to teach or assert authority in some cultural situations. If I were to write a book on Muslim ministry, I might write, "it is not good for men to hold Bible studies in the homes of Muslim women." I should not feel that my personhood as a male is being violated just because there are times when it is not appropriate for me to use my spiritual gifts of Bible teaching. There may be some cultural situations where women should graciously decline to use their God-given gifts in teaching for the sake of the gospel. Our strategy in using men and women must be sensitive to cultural expectations.

Forces within evangelical Christian education today attempt to polarize us. Some are trying to unbiblically and inappropriately limit the role of women in Christian education. If these forces gain influence the Body of Christ will suffer. Other forces demand that women play a dominant role no matter what the cultural expectations. The use of gifts by men and women is not the ultimate purpose of ministry. Spiritual gifts for women and men are only a means for edifying the Church.

We must have a unqualified commitment to all of Scripture. Where Scripture is clear we must be dogmatic, but where Scripture is unclear, we are unbiblical to be dogmatic. The role of women in teaching and leadership is not without possibility of several interpretations. We need patience with people who argue on either side of the debate as long as they argue from a high view of Scripture. We must continue the conversation with a love for the Word, and a love for one another even while we disagree.

The Body of Christ is under attack. I fear that we are not using all our God-given resources. Let us put the whole armor of God on the whole Body of Christ. We must grow toward Christlikeness as the whole body is joined and held together by every supporting ligament. We can only build up the body of Christ as each part does its work in love.

Serving With Eyes Wide Open

2006-05-17T10:54:00.000-05:00

Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence.
David A. Livermore. Baker Books, P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287. 2006, 188 pages, $12.99.

Reviewed for EMQ by James E. Plueddemann, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL.

“The world is crawling with foreigners,” exclaimed a student in one of my cross-cultural communication classes. Cultural intelligence is often missing in the 4 million Americans who travel abroad each year to do short-term mission work. While there are several good resources to help short-term missionaries know how to apply for a passport and where to get yellow-fever shots, Serving with Eyes Wide Open is based on solid research and fills an important gap in the literature. It is a most readable book with many examples to help short-termers understand cultural pitfalls and gain cultural intelligence.

David Livermore begins with a succinct overview of the world and the global Church. It is important for short-term missionaries to realize that the Church outside of the United States is growing rapidly, often faces persecution, recognizes spiritual warfare and is becoming a major sending force. Such an overview may help overcome the “here I am you lucky people” complex.

The next section looks at the motivation for short-term missions. I am impressed with the balance in this section. From his own experience, Livermore points out the shallow motivation that drives many short-term missionaries. He gives sad but humorous examples of what pastors from the United States thought they were teaching and compares it to what the national pastors actually thought of the teaching. He describes misunderstandings between short-termers and host people in the use of time, the urgency of the task and oversimplification of complex situations. He is concerned that too often short-termers parachute into what they perceive as a backward culture, distribute goods and then retreat.

“Open your eyes!” is the continual challenge of this book. Readers will find practical steps for gaining cultural understanding in four areas. Short-term missionaries need to gain knowledge of basic cultural differences. Then using this knowledge they can interpret cues about what is really going on in the other culture. Livermore encourages perseverance as short-termers deal with confusing situations, and gives practical advice on how to behave while applying the above three principles in another culture.

Livermore concludes with a powerful chapter on “The Heart of the Matter,” doing missions out of a genuine love for people and for God. If short-term missionaries can love the people to whom they minister they will treat them with dignity and respect. If they serve because of their love for the Lord, they will avoid a self-serving motivation and focus on genuine service.

Finally I have an accessible book on short-term missions that I can use as a textbook and also give to our youth director as she prepares a group from our church to spend two weeks in Brazil. The book is grounded in research by respected theorists such as Geert Hofstede, Robert Levine, Edward T. Hall and Robert Kohls, yet the book is written for the layperson with compelling examples and insights from practical experience. Many books on short-term missions are either descriptions of the “nuts and bolts” of how to lead a team, or are naïf propaganda extolling the virtues of the so called “next paradigm in world missions.” Serving with Eyes Wide Open is written with a perceptive understanding of the dangers and problems of short-term missions. It also gives a sense of hope by encouraging godly motivation and cultural intelligence.

Other valuable resources for short-term missions:

David Mays of ACMC has put together a valuable CD called, Trip Stuff: Stuff You Need To Know About Doing Mission Trips In Your Church. (April 2006) Contact him at www.davidmays.org.
Elmer, Duane. 2006. Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility. IVP Books.
Judge, Cindy, 2000. Before You Pack Your Bag, Prepare Your Heart: 12 Bible Studies for Short-Term Mission Preparation. Wheaton: Campfire Resources.

Spiritual Formation and Missions

2006-05-15T14:19:00.000-05:00

Spiritual formation is the driving force for world missions. Cross-cultural missions is the task of helping people in other cultures come to Christ and be formed into His image. The task of the missionary is teaching people to obey all Jesus commanded. The missionary Paul did not claim to have finished his task until the whole body attained to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ; until Christ was formed in His Church. The on-going task of cross-cultural spiritual formation includes justification, sanctification and glorification, and will not be finished in this world.

Spiritual formation is also the driving force for all aspects of human development. People who are not being formed into the image of Christ are not fully human, and thus in an important sense they are lacking in cognitive, social, physical and moral development. There should be no tension then, between spiritual formation, cognitive development, social development and community development. All God-ordained development is included in spiritual formation.

Spiritual formation is far more than mere behavioral change. People can memorize Bible verses, attend church five times a week, pray for an hour a day, fast weekly and still make no progress in spiritual formation. Spiritual formation is much more than observing spiritual disciplines. Of course outward behavior is important, but only as a genuine indication and outworking of inner heart development. While we praise the Lord for the growth of churches around the world, numerical church growth is not necessarily an indicator of spiritual formation. Neither is spiritual formation the mere transmission of Biblical or theological information. People with advanced degrees in theology have not necessarily made any progress in spiritual formation.

Spiritual formation is a process that takes place on the inside of a person and is not something that can be quantified, controlled or predicted. Spiritual formation is a life-long process and is not a precise task which will be finished by the year 2000 or even 3000 AD.

A Plea for a Paradigm Shift in World Missions

The dominant paradigm for missions is that of an efficient machine. Spiritual formation is neglected because it does not easily fit the assembly line paradigm. The factory paradigm encourages missionaries to set objectives for mere outward behavior. It is primarily interested in quantities. How big is the church? What is the rate of growth? How many unreached people groups can we identify?

The factory paradigm just doesn’t fit the real world. Can you imagine the absurdity of a family trying to raise children with an assembly line world-view? Parents feeding the baby would be challenged to promote the most weight gain with the least amount of food. Child-rearing experts would challenge parents to set growth objectives for the child to grow six inches in the next 18 months. Efficiency experts would suggest a ten year plan to produce as many babies as possible with the least amount of cost. They might do computer projections on “baby growth” to the year 2020 and beyond. Spiritual development is not produced in a factory.

The mechanistic paradigm makes an idol of efficiency, control, predictability and measurement. Success is measured by how many people come forward, by the number of those who complete a discipleship booklet or by how many join a church. While all these things are good, they don’t measure inner growth. Too often mission agencies, missiologists and local church missions committees have unthinkingly accepted an ungodly missiology.

The mechanistic paradigm has contributed to the theologically anemic and lukewarm churches on so many mission fields. Mechanistic missiologists would count countries like Congo, Liberia and Rwanda as already “reached” because a certain percentage of people claim to be Christian. Could it be that a faulty paradigm is partly helps explain for the massacres in these countries? Without a paradigm shift we are merely going into all the world to make converts. Jesus’ command was to make disciples. By aiming only for what can be predicted we are by definition aiming at something temporal. Eternal, inward results cannot be predicted or easily measured.

I’m convinced that we would do a better job of world evangelism if we could better understand the process of cross-cultural spiritual formation. The plea for a paradigm shift in missions does not come from a desire to de-emphasize evangelism. I pray daily that we will win the world for Christ in this generation, but if we neglect spiritual formation we will be forced to re-evangelize the world in every generation.

Facilitating Spiritual Formation

Spiritual formation comes by grace and is a mysterious process. The farmer in Mark 4:26 has a responsibility to scatter the seed faithfully and harvest it at the right time. But night and day, whether he is asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows. He doesn’t know how this happens. Just as the farmer can’t force growth by pulling on a stem of wheat, so spiritual formation cannot be forced.

Spiritual formation is a battle between evil forces and godly forces. Prayer is a powerful force for spiritual formation. By prayer the Spirit helps us to see the relationship between the problems in our own lives and solutions from the Word of God. Prayer unleashes the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to obey everything Jesus commanded.

The best way to facilitate spiritual formation is to make available the means of grace that God uses to promote the process of maturity. The primary means of grace are 1) the Word of God, 2) the Spirit of God, and 3) the people of God. The Holy Spirit helps individuals to understand and obey the Word of God as they are taught by people with spiritual gifts.

As Christ is being formed in people, they will progressively evidence the fruit of the Spirit, have a burden for the lost, and a passion for world missions. The goal of missions is to foster the life-long process of spiritual formation among every tribe, people and language so that together we may sing the Hallelujah Chorus at the wedding feast of the Lamb. Worship is both the motivation and the goal of spiritual formation in world missions.

Teaching the Bible in Intercultural Settings

2006-05-10T15:39:00.000-05:00

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
ME 811 & DME 811

Professor: James E. Plueddemann, Ph.D.
Time: Monday 12:45 – 2:45
Classroom: ROD 129
Semester: Fall 2006

Description

The course is designed to integrate cultural philosophies of education with ethno-pedagogy for the task of teaching the Bible in another culture. An emphasis will be placed on the use of case studies and will move from description and analysis to the question of “How should we teach the Bible in other cultures?” The course will be useful for students who desire to teach the Bible in any cultural setting. Three hours.

Vision for the Course

That the course will be used to strengthen the worldwide church through improved quality of Bible teaching in the cultural context.
That students will:
Gain skills in teaching the Bible in cross-cultural settings
Be able to describe and analyze educational philosophies in other cultures
Deepen convictions about universal principles of teaching the Bible in any culture
Gain confidence and enthusiasm for teaching the Bible in other cultures

Activities

Class participation Introduction of educational models and integration of theory and practice will take place during class lectures and discussions. Students are expected to be prepared for each class assignment so that class activities can assume background from the readings. Since primary integration will take place in the class, attendance is expected.

Weekly integration papers Each week students will turn in a 400-500 word integration paper. Integration is the key. This is not an “opinion piece,” but an essay showing how the readings of the week can be integrated (compared or contrasted) with both theory and practice of teaching the Bible in other cultures. You may integrate personal experience or case studies from the readings with biblical and social science theories of teaching. (It might be helpful for your paper to be divided into two sections: 1) integration of the reading with theory and theology and 2) integration with practice or experience. Because class discussions will grow out of the integration papers, points will be deducted if turned in late.

Final Project Curriculum Design, Teaching and Evaluation Paper
Use the Frankena model and ethnographic methods analyze the ethnopedagogy of a educational setting in another culture (not your primary culture.)
Using insights from your cultural analysis, prepare a Bible lesson to teach in that culture. (Note: Doctoral students will include a review of literature on the specific cultural analysis as well as personal observations.)
Teach the lesson or observe someone else teaching your lesson.
Using the Stake model, describe and evaluate what happened as you taught the Bible, and tell how you would teach differently a second time.
Paper Deadline -

Readings
Freire, P. (1981). Education for critical consciousness. Continuum
Hesse, H. (1951) Siddhartha. Bantam.
LeBar, L & Plueddemann J. (1989) Education that is Christian. Chariot Victor.
Lingenfelter, J & Lingenfelter S. (2003) Teaching cross-culturally. Baker
Potok, Chiam ( ) The Chosen. Fawcet.
Spindler, G. (1997). Education and cultural process: Anthropological approaches. Waveland.

Possible Lecture Topics

Readings will be supplemented with lectures on the following topics or other topics depending on the needs and interests of the class.
* The Frankena model for analyzing educational philosophy and practice
* Culture and Cognitive style – Witkin research
* Context and Culture from Edward T. Hall Beyond Culture
* The Rail Fence – the dialectic between the Bible and culture
* Culture and Cognitive Development – Piaget
* Culture and Moral Reasoning – Kohlberg
* Culture and Faith Development – James Fowler
* Models of teaching on cross-cultural settings
* Curriculum design and evaluation including the Robert Stake model of and formative evaluation

A 97.0-100
A- 94.0-96.9
B+ 91.0-93.9
B 88.0-90.9
B- 85.0-87.0

Grading
Class attendance & participation: 20% of grade
Weekly Papers: 40% of grade
Major Project: 40% of grade

Innovation and Missions

2006-04-18T09:09:00.000-05:00

The following has been taken from my Forward to an upcoming book, Innovation in Mission, by Jim Reapsome and Jon Hirst.

Change is exhilarating, terrifying and unavoidable. The innovations are real and are influencing the practice of missions. Missionaries, mission executives, mission pastors and mission committees need to stay current with global changes in order to adapt strategies effectively. Whether the innovations are helpful or harmful, a fad or a long-term trend, we need to understand them and be ready to modify programs.

Innovations are often uncomfortable. As I was stepping down as International Director of SIM (Serving in Mission) a veteran missionary asked me if my successor would make as many changes as I had. She went on to say that during my tenure I had made way too many changes and hoped there wouldn’t be more. Another missionary often quoted “change and decay in all around I see” from the hymn Abide With Me. But if the world around us is changing, our methods also need to adapt in order to fulfill the unchanging vision. Not all innovations are helpful in promoting the global cause of Christ, yet most innovations provide outstanding opportunities in ministry. For example, the internet provides amazing opportunities for life-long-learning, communication, and resources for pastors and theological students.

For ten years my wife and I traveled the SIM world holding vision seminars. We talked about the need for programmatic change within the context of an unchanging vision. First our leadership team solidified the SIM vision statement and core values and then we began to reflect on massive global innovations and our need to adapt. During those ten years the mission changed its name, merged with another mission, expanded into China, reworked the support system and challenged Sending Offices to facilitate missions “from anywhere to anywhere.” While vision and core values don’t change, everything else is open for innovation.

As we evaluate innovation in the context of missions, it’s helpful to focus on three concepts:
1. The Vision: Where are we going? We need our eyes fixed on the unchanging North Star, the changeless nature of God and the unchanging vision for world missions.
2. The Situation: Where are we? – We must understand the changing world, technologies, opportunities and resources. What are the innovations that influence our opportunities in missions?
3. The Program: How do we get there? Mission programs must always be open to evaluation and modification. If the situation changes the program must also change. Otherwise, we will not fulfill the vision.

The most important things in life never change. We can take great comfort in the changeless nature of God. In this fallen world human beings will continue to fall short of the glory of God and will be in need of Jesus Christ as their Savior. Until the Lord returns we will always need to live by faith with an unchanging hope of eternal life in the unfailing love of the Lord. Our vision for a lost world and for a holy church will not change until the end of the age. None of these foundational convictions are fazed by developments in the digital revolution, the use of business visas or the low cost of airfares for short-term missionaries. Heaven and earth may pass away, but the word of the Lord stands forever.

Once we rest secure in an unchanging God and an unchanging Gospel, we can embrace innovation. We can seek out unfolding opportunities to make whatever changes are necessary to better fulfill the vision.

I would hope that mission executives and church mission committees will reflect on Innovation in Mission chapter by chapter, asking if each of the innovations might be incorporated into the programs of their church or mission. Each one is profound and cannot be ignored.

We don’t worship innovation, so if the innovation does not contribute to the vision, simply move on. But neither do we worship programs. Mission institutions and church activities will be strengthened by the thoughtful application of innovative trends and solutions outlined in these pages.

Lighthouse: A Vision for Life

2006-04-04T15:47:00.000-05:00

How can we plan our future when the world is so confusing? What is the good of long-rang plans when the winds and waves of daily pressing crises keep blowing us off course? We need a lighthouse that shines in the storms and guides us through the uncertainties of our lives. The most secure things in life–God’s promises, His character and His eternal plan–do not change. His vision for the salvation of the lost and His passion for the holiness of the Church are constant. His unchanging vision becomes our driving force in a chaotic world. This unchanging purpose encourages and motivates us when we are discouraged and tempted to quit.

Vision is like a lighthouse keeping us on course during the storms of life. Lifelong vision is unchanging, rooted in God’s character and purposes. Daily strategies needs to change continually, but it should always lead us to accomplish our lifelong vision. The Apostle Paul received an unchanging vision on the road to Damascus. This helped him endure shipwreck, beatings and stonings. This vision was his lighthouse for the rest of his life. When he faced beatings and hunger, he knew the big purpose of his life. Even though he modified his daily plans in light of changing opportunities and unexpected opposition, he kept his eyes focused on the lighthouse of the Damascus vision.

The Apostle Paul looked to the leading of the Holy Spirit for daily guidance. For example, the Holy Spirit did not give him permission to move into Asia or Bithynia, but then gave him a vision for Macedonia. Paul’s Macedonian calling was a short-term purpose that fit his lifelong vision to turn the Gentiles from darkness to light. He learned to “play it by ear” with daily goals because his ear was in tune with the Spirit. He wasn’t sure how long he would stay in Derbe, Iconium and Lystra. In fact he had to be evacuated out of most of his “fields” during his first term. Through eyes of faith Paul still had daily leading because of his lifelong vision.

As missionaries, our daily “to-do” lists can be planned but must also be flexible and open to change. Who we witness to partly depends on who the Lord leads our way. What we teach in a Bible college class depends on how well students understood the last lesson. Daily activities for an administrator depends on which problems come up that day. But daily action always needs to be guided by the lighthouse of a lifelong vision. We need to ask the Lord to rekindle and sharpen our lifelong vision. There are still four billion people in the world who are outside of the family of God and about two billion who have little chance of hearing the Good News. Over one billion so-called Christians urgently need to grow in grace. God’s unchanging ultimate purpose acts as a lighthouse in a world of shifting currents and waves. We can be enthusiastic as we prayerfully reflect on daily vision because we know that it leads to an eternal vision of the Kingdom of God.

Dear missionary, if you are like me, there are times when you feel like quitting, wondering if it’s all worthwhile. It is easy to lose sight of the lighthouse vision when people aren’t responsive to the Gospel, when pollution levels and heat become unbearable, when cultural frustrations overcome us and when we long for the comforts of home and family. I pray that the Lord will rekindle in each of us a mighty lifelong vision. May His unchanging vision for the nations motivate and encourage us with a fresh sense of encouragement. In the midst of storms and crashing rocks on the shore, may a clear vision of God’s Lighthouse keep us rejoicing in hope, patient in affliction, fervent in prayer.

Dozing in Prayer Meetngs

2006-03-25T15:26:00.000-06:00

I know in my head that prayer for world missions is of critical importance. Jesus commanded us to pray to the Lord of the harvest for workers, and the first missionary journey began with prayer. While I don’t fully understand the theology of prayer, I know from experience that God answers prayer. I suspect that I’ll be embarrassed for praying so little when I get to heaven and finally figure out why prayer is so important.

But if prayer is biblical, urgent and important, why does my mind wander during my personal prayer time and why do I become sleepy in missionary prayer meetings? As a new missionary serving in Nigeria the most difficult part of the day was not Hausa language study but staying awake in afternoon prayers. The heat was unbearable and I was still waking up from a much needed nap. We prayed for people I didn’t know who lived in places I couldn’t pronounce. But I knew I would get in trouble with the District Superintendent if I missed afternoon prayers.

If prayer is a ladder between two worlds, a breath of heavenly air, and a telephone to the King, why do I doze in prayer meetings?

Strong faith leads to fervent and consistent prayer, while weak faith results in a guilt-motivated duty of going through the motions of prayer. I suspect that we neglect prayer when our eyes of faith have become near-sighted. Could it be that our prayers are weak because our faith is anemic?

Maybe the heart of the problem is that we don’t realize we are at war. The Church is fighting in two wars – an earthly war, and a heavenly war. We struggle on two battle fronts – the struggle we experience in this world and the unseen conflict between forces of evil and the armies of God. Prayer is the emergency phone call from weary and wounded soldiers calling the heavenly King for instructions, comfort, and reinforcements. Prayer is battle communication between two worlds.

Suggestions:

Missionaries, when you write prayer letters, include highlighted prayer requests and be sure to report on answers to prayer. Too often prayer letters tell about family news and exotic experiences but overlook the central role of stimulating people to pray.

Pastors and Church Mission Committees, ask yourselves if there is more you could do to stimulate fervent prayer for missionaries. Are there ways that you could encourage informed prayer in small groups, Sunday School classes, the Sunday morning worship service, and in elder and deacon meetings?

Christian, pray daily for missionaries. Consider using your computer to remind you to pray for missionaries each week. I divide the missionaries into seven groups and pray for one group each day of the week. Or use an old-fashioned note book to keep track of needs and answers to prayer. When you receive a prayer letter, update requests and praise the Lord for answered prayer.

For reasons we don’t understand, the sacrificial going and making disciples of all nations will not succeed without faithfulness in prayer. Can you imagine the impact that prayer could have on the world? Through eyes of faith, picture hundreds of millions of people who live in darkness finding the Light of the world. Picture churches around the world becoming salt and light in decaying societies. Prayer is God’s crucial tool for changing the world.

When you are tempted to doze in missionary prayer meetings remember that your prayers have a powerful influence on what is happening half way around the world; and amazingly, they also influence supernatural powers before the throne of grace.

Leadership & Culture Syllabus

2006-03-19T20:42:00.000-06:00

DME 914 Leadership Development & Culture
James E. Plueddemann Ph.D. Professor
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Hours Credit: Three
Date: May 22 – June 2, 2006 (No class on Memorial Day)
Time: 8:30AM – 12:30 M-F
Place: Rodine Room 127
Course Moodle Site http://webapps.tiu.edu/moodle/
Plueddemann Blog http://missionaryimpossible.blogspot.com/

Course Description

The course will investigate theological, philosophical, anthropological, and developmental foundations of leadership. These foundational issues will inform the practical challenge of developing leaders in cultures that have different assumptions and worldviews. Special emphasis will be given to the missionary role of teaching leadership development in cross-cultural settings. Models of education and curriculum design for leadership development will also be explored.

Importance of the Course

As the church around the world continues to grow, a most crucial missionary task is fostering the development of local leadership. Missionaries must also learn to work graciously and effectively under the leadership of people from other cultures. When clashing cultural values about leadership are below the level of awareness, missionaries and nationals face serious frustration and misunderstanding. The multi-cultural practice of leadership must be sensitive to cultural differences, but must also be aware of biblical and theological universals. It would be possible to find examples in every culture of good and bad leadership.

Vision for the Course

If the Lord were to richly bless this course, I picture:
1. Our class as a community of learners working with enthusiasm to gain theological, theoretical and practical insight into the challenging task of developing leadership in other cultures.
2. A community of learners better equipped to be leaders, work under leadership, and develop leaders in other cultures.
3. A community of scholars making a lasting contribution to the discipline through writing, practicing and teaching on leadership and culture
4. Leadership in the Church around the world better equipped to make disciples in all nations through the life-long impact of students in the class.

Course Texts

Handy, Charles. The Age of Paradox. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1994.

Handy, Charles. The Gods of Management: The Changing Work of Organizations. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978.

Hofstede, Geert. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.

Nouwen, Henri. In The Name of Jesus: Reflections on Church Leadership. New York: Crossroad, 1991.

Other books articles and bibliography will be available during class. Class members are invited to share books and articles you have found helpful in understanding leadership and culture. A selection of Plueddemann articles will be available on the course on the Moodle site and my blog.

Highly Recommended by not Required (Partly because of cost)

Friedman, Thomas L. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.

Hall, Edward T. Beyond Culture.

Trompenaars, Fons & Charles Hampden-Turner. 2nd ed. Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business. London: Nicholas Brealey, 1997

Harris, Philip R et.al. Managing Cultural Differences: Global Leadership Strategies for the Twenty-First Century. Sixth Edition. New York: Elsevier, 2004. ($59.00 used on Amazon)

House, Robert J. et al. Culture, Leadership and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, 2004. ($84.00 used on Amazon)

Assignments

Before Class: (Note: Because of the doctoral seminar format for the course, students will not be allowed to take the class if they have not completed all the pre-course assignments. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.)

Write a 2-3 page paper describing your previous experiences in working with leadership in another culture. Describe some of the most important things you have learned about cross-cultural leadership, and some of the aspects that continue to puzzle or frustrate you.

Read all the required books. Write a 5-6 page reflection paper on the four required texts giving a short summary of each book and possible implications for your past or future work in developing leaders in another culture.

During Class:

They dynamics of the course are deeply related to classroom interaction. We will discuss topics and articles not included in the assigned readings. Attendance and participation are a crucial part of the learning experience.

After Class:

Write an article that has the potential of being published related to leadership and culture. The article (whether part of the published article or not) must contain a significant review of the literature on the aspect of leadership and culture related to your interests. The article can be biblical, theological or social science related. The article should 1) begin with a practical problem or challenge in leadership and culture, 2) reflect on the problem from a review of literature and your own study and 3) recommend possible solutions to the original problem and suggest further research. Be ready to make a short presentation of your paper idea in class. The paper will be due my midnight October 2, 2006.

Grading:
Before Class Assignments: 10% of grade
Class participation and attendance 30% of grade
After Class project of paper 60% of grade

Possible Class Topics

In addition to the assigned readings and depending on the interests and background of the class we will investigate some of the following topics:

* Theories of Edward T. Hall on culture and leadership from his book Beyond Culture.
* Suggestions from Plueddemann and Plueddemann from Pilgrims in Progress.
* Philosophical analysis of leadership and culture using the Frankena system
* Biblical insights on universal qualities of leaders
* Theological insights on the biblical meanings of leadership
* Insights from developmental psychologists on leadership and culture
* Educational & curricular methods of developing leaders in other cultures
* Class members will be expected to share articles and books on leadership and culture

What Is the Cutting Edge in Missions?

2006-02-16T09:13:00.000-06:00

Recently a mission “expert” was giving advice to a pastor. “Your mission program is good,” he said, “but it is rather traditional. You are no longer at the cutting edge.” He went on to say that traditional churches support long-term missionaries while cutting-edge churches support short-term missionaries, nationals or form church-to-church partnerships.

The internationalization of modern missions is indeed one of the most exciting movements of our day. This movement, however, has a long history and it didn’t just happen in a vacuum. It is the fulfillment of the goals and prayers of long-term missionaries who have consciously fostered the formation of national church leadership and missionary societies in the non-western world. Since the earliest days of cross-cultural ministry, missionaries who have given their whole lives to planting churches that are equipped to fulfill Christ’s commission.

God has used the efforts of “traditional” missions in such an outstanding way that today the numbers (and perhaps the spiritual vitality) of the non-western church outstrip that of the West. Because of God’s blessings, “traditional” missionaries have been effective beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Possibly the main reason they have been so effective is because they have taken the time to learn the culture, cultivate trust with nationals and learn the language well. The patient endurance of long-term missionaries is a critical factor in their success. I would like to suggest that the cutting edge of missionary strategy is still long-term missionaries working together with national churches to win the rest of the world. As we work in joyful partnership, we model the unity that God intended for His church and we become more effective in the task of world-wide evangelism.

God’s call to “go” must continue to be answered in every culture and era. If we ever dilute that call to simply “send money,” or merely travel during our vacation time, we will lose our sense of God’s heart for the world. Our missionary vision will be reduced to fund raising and mission tours. Of course we must help national churches to fund their ministries. But we need to help responsibly without creating an unhealthy dependence that robs churches of initiative and ownership in their missionary outreach.

Sent ones from every culture working together in loving fellowship worldwide form the most powerful strategy in missions. The cutting edge of world evangelism hasn’t changed in the last 2000 years!

Thoughts on Theology of Leadership

2006-02-14T14:05:00.000-06:00

Many people think that the world is divided into two groups – leaders and followers. Strong leaders are thought to be visionaries with powerful personalities and super management skills. They are extraverts who now how to make good decisions and know how to get other people to follow the their vision. Good followers are thought to be people who recognize strong leaders and follow them with enthusiasm.

Older research in leadership shows that among most animal species there is a “pecking order.” The corollary, they say, is that since animals dominate animals, people should dominate people. In the human species leaders get work done through followers. The old philosophy argues that “leaders know the art of inducing compliance.” Leaders are the kings, chiefs, rulers, generals or heads of state. With the “ruler” concept of leadership, a distinction between leaders and followers is crucial. This is a common but dangerous understanding of leadership.

Rethinking Leadership

Secular researchers are beginning to rethink leadership.

"Leadership is an interaction between two or more members of a group that often involves a structuring or restructuring of the situation and the perceptions and expectations of the members. . . It should be clear that with this broad definition, any member of the group can exhibit some amount of leadership. "(Benard M. Bass. Bass & Stogdill’s Handbook of Leadership 1990, p 20)

Leaders are people who influence people and circumstances. In an important sense every Christian should be a leader. Every Christian has been given spiritual gifts for the sake of influencing the Body! We all have a sacred obligation to take initiative to use our gifts to help change the world.

We are called a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).We often talk of the priesthood of all believers. We also need to talk of the royalty of all believers. We are all queens and kings! The dichotomy between commoners and royalty is not a biblical ideal. The status dichotomy between leaders and followers is unhealthy.

Leadership in the sense of “inducing compliance” is not a spiritual gift. The gift of administration in 1 Corinthisns 12:28 (kybernesis) is an important gift for guiding people, but it is not a gift for controling people. Administrators have been given special abilities by the Holy Spirit to coordinate maximize and encourage the gifts of influence in the rest of the Body. The gift of leading (prostatis) in Romans 12:8 is better translated the gift of giving practical aid to people in need. The doctrine of spiritual gifts undercuts the idea that a few people are born to give orders and the rest are born to obey orders. The doctrine challenges each Christian is to take initiative to use her or his God-given gifts to influence the body.

But human beings tend to either want to control people or to be passive and let others use their gifts. Some people have the tendency to rebel against all external influence and seek to do what is right in our own eyes. The Bible does not allow believers to be dictators, doormats or lone rangers. The Holy Spirit gives some believers the gift of coordinating, maximizing and encouraging the giftedness of others. Often organizations give formal authority to people who evidence the gift of coordinating maximizing and encouraging the gifts for the good of the body. We are called to submit to people who are given formal authority to coordinate and maximize the leadership gifts of others in the body (1 Peter 5:5).

Here are some possible implications for Christian leadership:

1. All Christians are called to take inituative to influence the body, thus in an important sense all Christians are leaders. It is not appropriate for a Christian to merely sit back and wait to be told what to do because he or she is merely a follower.
2. People who have the gifts of helping the body to work together toward a God-given goal need to be respected. The primary quality of for both people who have maximizing leadership gifts and those who have direct ministry leadership gifts is humility (1 Peter 5: 5b).
3. No believer has all the spiritual gifts, so all Christians in most areas of life must also be be influenced by the leadership gifts of others. Thus at times we are all followers as we submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21.)
4. Hierarchical structures might be helpful organizational tools in some cultures to coordinate people and tasks, but organization charts seldom reflect true influence, and they never reflect a person’s significance or insignificance.
5. A primary task of all believers is to fan into flame the leadership gifts of each person ( Timothy 1:6). The idea of superiority or inferiority of Christians is goes against the clear teaching of 1 Corinthians 12.
6. The only ruler in the Body is the Head -- Christ alone. The doctrine of the one body and many parts does not specify a gift called the head. (1 Corinthians 12: 12-20.) People were not intended to dominate other people in the church.
7. Planning, leading, organizing, and evaluating need to be functions of the whole Body. Spiritual gifts need to be organized and coordinated by capable administrators. Egalitarian leadership must not promote confusion but community.
8. Everyone is a leader, but people cannot merely “do what is right in their own eyes.” We are all held accountable to the absolute standards of the Word of God. We are commanded to work in a community. We are all leaders in a community of kings and queens, and directly to the King of Kings.

If you are tempted to be an autocratic leader, you need to be reminded that you are coordinators of the leadership abilities of the Body, and all have a direct connection with the Head, Jesus Christ. On the other hand, are you fearful of taking initiative? Then you need to be reminded that the Lord calls you to take initiative and be a visionary, dynamic coordinator of the gifts of the Body.

“The body is a unit,
though it is made up of many parts;
and though all its parts are many, they form one body. . .
Now you are the body of Christ,
and each one of you is a part of it.”

1 Corinthians 12: 12, 27

Evaluation: My Second Most Favorite Activity

2006-01-31T16:39:00.000-06:00

I had just finished an end-of-term evaluation by the Board of Governors. While the evaluation was affirming and pointed out helpful areas where I could improve, I have decided that evaluation is my second most favorite activity . . . My most favorite is having my teeth drilled.

The very word evaluation floods our minds with painful memories of school. From the first grade we are evaluated by how many words we misspelled, how many “sums” didn’t add properly and by inability to identify what happened in 1066. Evaluation is often a synonym for embarrassment.

A common disease of missionaries is the “impostor syndrome.” We often have a deep-seated feeling that we are not as good as people think we are, and fear that someday people will discover how incompetent we really are. Evaluation becomes a dreaded enemy, or a game for hiding reality.

The threat of evaluation can make us defensive rather than visionary. We are tempted to set easily attainable goals so as to look good on an end-of-term evaluation, rather than setting big audacious faith goals which if not attained may make us look bad.

Missionaries are often at the point of being overwhelmed with heat, culture shock, political instability, fear for safety, loneliness or worry about financial support. The last thing you need is an article from “those dunderheads in Charlotte” waxing eloquent on the glories of evaluation.

In light of our fears, here are some thoughts on evaluation.

1. Jesus’ love for us doesn’t depend on our score on a language exam, our level of cultural adjustment or our third-culture-kid parenting skills. His love for us doesn’t depend on a performance evaluation interview. There is no way he could love us more, it is pure grace. What a relief!

2. The word evaluation means to place value or worth. Each of us has infinite worth in the eyes of God. We have no idea how greatly we are valued by the person who knows us best. What wonderful medicine for the disease of the impostor syndrome!

3. Since God’s evaluation is not based on performance but on grace, we need to evaluate each other through God’s eyes. He isn’t finished with any of us yet so we need to be patient with each other. To paraphrase C. S. Lewis, if we could see the seemingly least competent missionary or national brother as they will be when the Lord is finished with them, we would be tempted to bow down and worship them. Let us love one another!

4. Our Father in heaven loves us so much that he hates any idols or sins in us that get in the way of his love. He evaluates our hearts so he can bless us more deeply. May His loving evaluating drive us to daily confession, cleansing and refreshing revival!

5. We should love Jesus so much that we should constantly seek to improve our effectiveness in serving Him. How amazing that the King of kings should choose us to be His ambassadors. The best motivation for evaluating our ministry is love for Jesus!

6. Our loving Father doesn’t demand results, but requires faithfulness. We won’t be evaluated by how many churches we planted, how many students we taught or how many sick people we healed. May we always seek excellence as we serve the Lord with gladness and wait for His final evaluation:

“Well done good and faithful servant.”

Foundations of Christian Mission

2006-01-12T15:14:00.000-06:00

Syllabus
Foundations of Christian Mission - ME 523
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Professor: James E. Plueddemann, PhD

e-mail: jpluedde@tiu.edu
Phone: 847-317-4187
Place: ROD 124
Time: Thursday 6:00 – 9:30 PM
Dates: January 11 – March 1, 2006
Plueddemann Blog: http://missionaryimpossible.blogspot.com/

Course Description

Survey of the theology, history, culture, politics, and methods of the Christian mission, with special emphasis on recent developments, crucial issues, and future trends, ending with a careful study of missions in the local church.

Dear Student:

I realize that this is a required course and that some of you are in the class to merely meet a school requirement. Some of you may have had bad experiences with guilt as the primary motivation for missions. You may have stereotypes of missions as either heroes on a pedestal or else bumbling ethnocentric fanatics. Some of you have had delightful short-term experiences in other cultures and others may have been traumatized by your interaction with other cultures. Others may have seldom left the country where you were born. Some of you have had many years of experience in other cultures or may be international students experiencing American culture for the first time.
But whatever your background or experience I pray that this course will stimulate you to think seriously about your role in God’s plan for the world. I also hope that it will be an enjoyable class where you meet new friends and sense the expansion of your worldview.
I also pray that this course will make a difference not only in you, but in the world. My prayer is that the course will help you to be used of the Lord Jesus to make a significant contribution to the planting and development of the worldwide Body of Christ. I picture graduates from this course, as pastors, missionaries, para-church servants or in the business world or in the home incorporating a passion for world missions into their personal life goals and vocations.
On a personal note: my wife and I spent 13 years with SIM as missionaries in Nigeria where I worked under the leadership of the Evangelical Churches of West Africa in Christian education and theological education. I then taught at Wheaton College and Graduate School for 13 years. In 1993 I became the International Director of SIM where we worked to stimulate fresh vision and strategy and traveled to 56 different countries and in over 100 international trips. I began teaching at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in January of 2004.

My vision for the course is that you will:

Be challenged, encouraged and equipped to become personally involved to your own Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.
Grow in biblical, theological and historical understanding of God’s consistent plan for the nations.
Develop an understanding of the present state of the worldwide church.
Gain practical insights on the role of the pastor and the local church in world missions.
Be able to find resources for missions on the web.
Develop the habit of prayer for the growth and development of the worldwide church.
Begin a life-long personal commitment to world-wide missions through, preaching, praying, teaching giving or going.

Course Texts:

Achebe, Chinua. No Longer at Ease. Fawcett. 1960.
Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. Oxford. 2002.
Markandaya, Kamala Nectar in a Sieve. Signet. 1954, or 2002 edition.
Moreau, A. Scott, Gary Corwin, Gary McGee. Introducing World Missions. 2004.
Piper, John. Let the Nations be Glad. Baker. 1993.

Course Format, Expectations and Assignments

Class sessions are a crucial part of the course. Classroom time will be divided between discussion of the readings and lectures on current issues in missions. Lectures will cover such topics as the role of the sending church, short-term missions, church-to-church partnerships, the role of the mission agency, relationships with national churches, mission strategy, and other topics of interest to the class. Because of the discussion nature of the class session it is most important that you complete assigned readings before class and that you share your reactions in class. Attendance is required.

Reflection papers. A two page paper of no more than 500 words is due at the beginning of each class. The reflection should be both academic and experiential. Points will be deducted for late papers.
Suggested Outline for papers
1. About 100 words – Summarize the key concepts of the reading.
2. About 200 words – Academic reflection: relate the reading to other courses, previous readings, theological reflection or other books you have read.
3. About 200 words – Experiential reflection: relate the reading to your personal experience or practical implications for missions. Feel free to share your feelings about the reading.

Project: Interview a missions pastor or members of the missions committee of a local church. Describe and evaluate the role of world missions in that church. Summarize your findings in a 5-7 page paper.
1. Describe the present attitudes of the congregation and pastor toward world missions and describe the present activities or programs that promote world missions in the church. What is the present understanding and commitment toward world missions?
2. What would you recommend? What activities should this church keep doing, strengthen, change, or add?

Assignment and Final Course Grading:

Class attendance and participation – 35% (Each class will be worth 5% of grade)
Weekly integration papers – 50% (Each paper will be worth 10% of the grade)
Project – 15%

A 95 – 100
A- 90 – 94.9
B+ 85 – 89.9
B 80 – 84.9
B- 75 – 79.5

Course Calendar

Date
Assignment

Jan 12
Introduction to the course and to missions
Jan 19
1. Moreau - Chapters 1-8 & 2 Page Reflection Paper
Jan 26
2. Achebe + 2 Page Reflection Paper
Feb 2
3. Piper - Chapters Parts 1 & 2 (Chapters 1-5) & 2 Page Reflection Paper
Feb 9
4. Jenkins - Chapters 1, 2, 3 & 8, 9, 10 & 2 Page Reflection Paper
Feb 16
5. Markandaya + 2 Page Reflection Paper
Feb 23
Final Project Due – Be ready for short report in class

Note for those who have one excused absence from a class.
1. Write out a short paragraph as to why you needed to miss the class.
2. You may turn in your reflection paper late with a 1 point reduction in grade.
3. You may interview two people who were in the class, copy their notes and turn in your written observations about the class you missed. There will be a 1 point reduction in grade.

A 100 Year Plan for World Missions

2006-01-06T18:57:00.000-06:00

Every mission agency, every church and every Christian should have a 100-year plan to ensure the continuation of world missions.

Some people may object to such a wild idea. How can anyone plan even one year ahead when the world is so changing so rapidly? How in the world can a church make plans for the next 100 years when the global, political and economic future is so uncertain? In an unpredictable world, we need a new kind of strategy to keep the missionary vision alive until the Lord returns.

I believe that the most important strategy for long-range planning is to focus on children. We need to do everything we can to challenge children with Christ’s world-wide commission.

The teen years are a good time for teaching missions through short-term mission trips, but younger children can learn about missions too. I made a solid commitment to be a missionary when I was ten years old. I was deeply moved by a film showing the problems of leprosy in China and I began to have a concern for the needs of the whole world. A missionary to Africa, Don McClure, stayed at our house when I was a child. This man, who was later martyred, had a passion for life and for the needs of the world. I wanted to be like him. Since my parents were also enthusiastic about world missions there was really nothing else I wanted to do when I grew up. My childhood decision affected all the decisions I made as a young adult–what to study in college, who to marry and what to do when I graduated.

I have always been challenged by the world-changing potential of children. This motivated me to teach a Sunday School for 10-12 year old boys for many years. The boys called themselves the FBI Class or the “Faithful Bible Investigators.” One Sunday a missionary came to the class and told how he was working with needy children in Honduras and why he needed prayer and financial support. The boys took the rest of the class asking probing questions. The FBI class decided to adopt this missionary. Every Sunday they insisted we pray for the missionary and carefully read every prayer letter he wrote. When the missionary was successful they felt a part of his success. When he faced trials, they prayed even more. They gave sacrificially from their allowance money and from job earnings. They did extra baby-sitting and worked hard at mowing lawns in the summer. They put so much money in the Sunday School envelope that they insisted I write a note to the treasurer saying, “All the money in this envelope came from the boys. The teacher did not put in any money.”

Children are the future of missions. Parents need to read missionary biographies to their children, watch mission videos together and pray through books such as Operation World or You Can Make a Difference to pray about help their children to be aware of what God is doing in the world.

Many churches have a strong missions program for children. Churches can build up a strong children’s missions library and schedule the best missionary speakers for children’s classes. Sunday School classes can adopt a missionary family with children about the same age as class members. Children should be encouraged to make friends with children from other cultures in their neighborhood or school.

Nothing is more important for long-range planning in world missions than children who are well informed, challenged and enthusiastic about God’s plan for the nations. The hand that leads children is the hand that will change the world.

Beyond Cannibal Jokes: Teaching Missions in Sunday School

2005-12-20T10:26:00.000-06:00

Many Sunday Schools do a great job of teaching missions. Evidence of success is seen throughout the whole church. Children are excited about a coming missions’ conference. Dozens of high-schoolers have had short-term experience serving in another culture. Almost 50% of the church budget is designated for missions. Every year three or four young people or families from the church are commissioned for service with missions. Church members remember to pray daily for missionaries.
A church with a vital interest in world missions will be a church with vitality in other ways. People with a personal interest in missionaries pray for current events in the world. It is also likely that their eyes are opened to the needs of people in their local community. Many churches seek out an international community near them. A strong interest in missions not only makes a difference in the world, it also makes a difference in the local church.
But when a Sunday school fails to teach missions, the whole church will suffer. Even a concerned pastor has little to reinforce his preaching about missions and must beg the congregation to attend the missions’ conference. Very few youth seem interested in being missionaries. Adult Sunday Schools become inward-looking and don’t want their activities to be interrupted by an unfashionable missionary. Mission giving declines each year. World missions is neglected as the church slides into lukewarmness.
Two problems will result if the Sunday School fails to stimulate world Christians and the church has no vision for the world.
First, the cause of Christ around the world will suffer. Missionaries will become less effective because of weak prayer support. Fewer missionaries will be sent, and less money will be given to build and strengthen the church around the world. What a tragedy! Over half of the world or more than two billion people have not clearly heard the good news. There are tremendous needs in discipleship and leadership development in many world communities. Jesus’ last words to his disciples was a command to be world Christians. What a crime if the Sunday School rejects Jesus’ command.
Second, the church will become self-centered and lukewarm. A church without a vision for the world will also be a church without a vision for the needs in the local community, and believers will stagnate in their own spiritual growth. Ministry opportunities revitalize and strengthen Christians. Supporting missionaries is not a burden. Missionaries supported by the church with prayer and finances are doing that church a favor! No church, no matter how small or how poor can afford to have a feeble missions’ emphasis in Sunday School.

The Challenge
It isn’t easy to cultivate a dynamic concern for world missions. Many families are so overwhelmed with their own problems that they can’t even begin to think of the needs of the rest of the world. Churches have so much debt from their own building programs that they don’t think they can afford sacrificial giving for the needs of the world.
It’s not easy to get the Sunday school concerned about the needs of the world. Many people feel uneasy watching the evening news vividly portray dozens crises around the world. The rest of the world seems to be an enemy. Foreigners smuggle drugs, take our citizens hostage, cause our banks to collapse by defaulting on loans, and produce unemployment through cheap imports. During a discussion on missions in a Sunday School class, one discouraged adult blurted out, “The world is crawling with foreigners!” Is it any wonder that missionaries on furlough are encouraged to entertain Sunday School classes with cannibal jokes and snake stories rather than challenge people to be world Christians.
Most people see their family and friends as the comfortable center with a hostile world all around them. But Jesus died for the whole world! It is sinful to be “ethnocentric”, believing that Jesus loves only me, my friends and my country. While it is difficult for people to see the world from God’s perspective one goal for teaching missions in the Sunday school must be to broaden our perspective. People who see the world from God’s perspective become world Christians.

The Next Step
Catching a vision for the Sunday School and the whole world is the first step. The next step involves prayer and planning for the Sunday School. Perhaps teachers could meet on a Saturday morning to discuss Sunday School and missions.
Begin with a time of prayer for the world and for the Sunday School. Challenge each other with the importance of having God’s perspective of the world. Some may read Scripture telling of God’s care for the nations. Others may tell of how the Lord helped them overcome ethnocentrism. Before the Sunday School can produce world Christians, the teachers themselves must have God’s heart for the world. No missions curriculum, no matter how good, will stimulate people for missions if the teacher is half-hearted.
Next, brainstorm ways to motivate an interest in missions for each age group. Here are some beginning suggestions.

Preschool
Some child psychologists claim that all children are creative geniuses until they go to school. Imagination is never more vivid than in preschoolers. The child has a profound intuitive grasp of the immediate world. While children may not be able to explain complex concepts such as evangelism, they can feel and express joy from hearing good news. It is easy for imaginative four-year-olds to picture a God who is everywhere at the same time. Literalistic ten-year-olds have more difficulty trying to explain God’s omnipresence. Preschool is a crucial time to begin missions’ education.
Missions education must be concrete. Avoid the symbolism of challenging preschoolers to be fishers of men. Delightful five-year-olds will take you literally and pretend to throw fishhooks into people’s mouths. Preschoolers have a difficulty thinking about time and numbers. To say that William Cary lived a long time ago may seem like a week ago to a five year old. To say that a billion people live in China is almost meaningless.
The heart of world missions is a loving God who wants to be our friend. Preschoolers can learn about the personal love of God. Children can draw pictures of doing loving things for others, make get-well cards for a sick child, pantomime how Jesus loved the children, or make up a story of a child who did loving things for other people. The beginning of missions’ education is the truth that “Jesus loves me” and “Jesus loves all the children of the world.”
Another crucial missions’ concept is that God is creator of everything in the world. “God made me! God made my mommy and daddy. He made the beautiful flowers and the children I play with.” As children begin to joyfully associate the God of creation with their beautiful world it will be easier to teach that God made all the people in the world, including foreigners.
Invite missionaries and missionary children to the Sunday School class. Children may learn more from the smiles, hugs and tone of voice of missionary visitors to class than they will from their stories. Informal teaching is crucial.

Elementary
I decided to be a missionary when I was in fourth grade. I saw a film about a missionary in China working with children who had leprosy. It struck me for the first time that God loves people who are not like me. Elementary school years may be the most important years for teaching missions in Sunday School.
Elementary children have experienced tremendous intellectual growth but are still not able to understand abstract concepts fully . They have potential for an empathetic understanding of people in other cultures, but may be confused with the idea that Jesus is the light of the world. The fourth grade boys in my Sunday School class had seen an object lesson about a flashlight that needed batteries before it would work and how this was a lesson of us needing Jesus in us before we can be a light to others. When I asked them to explain it, they mimicked Popeye the Sailor Man swallowing batteries before witnessing to friends.
Even though elementary children are literalistic, they are beginning to understand concepts of space and time. True stories of missionaries or heroic national Christians are powerful. Introducing children to real missionaries and missionary children is important. They are able to empathize with the needs of people outside of their home or school setting.
When one of our high-school students planned to make a missions trip to Latin America, I asked her to come into my junior boys’ class. She told about how she wanted to help the people in one village to have clean water and to hear about Jesus. She said she wanted to play soccer with the children in that village. The boys in my class got so excited about her missionary trip that they began to get extra jobs so they could have more money to put in the Sunday School offering. The guys made me write a note for the Sunday School superintendent saying that all the money was contributed by the boys and not by the teacher! They prayed for her every Sunday. When she returned, she didn’t have time to make a presentation in my class. All she could do was answer questions. At least two graduates of that Sunday School class are actively planning to be missionaries.
Elementary children are being exposed to a wide world. The Sunday School teacher can give the children assignments to more intentionally explore this wider world. Refugee families with children moved into our community. I asked the boys in my Sunday School class to become friends with a child in their school who was different from them. One of the boys came to Sunday School the next Sunday shocked to discover that a boy from Cambodia had never heard about Jesus. He became a cross-cultural missionary in the fourth grade.

Junior High and High School
Junior high and high school are the “best of times and the worst of times” to teach about missions. Youth are beginning to think realistically about specific decisions for their lives. Teenagers think more clearly about the purpose for living. This is a crucial time to emphasize missions.
Once I realized that God wanted me to be a missionary, I knew I had to make some decisions about courses I should take in high school, girls I should or should not date, and about the kind of college I should attend. I figured that I needed to learn to eat all kinds of food. The possibility of missions’ involvement motivated me to be a Boy Scout and to learn camping and boating skills. (I used these skills later as a summer missionary in the jungle of Peru.) I listened intently to anything that anyone had to say about missions. As a high school student I took a summer job working in the fields with Mexican immigrant farm workers. These were some of my first friends from another culture. I was deeply impressed with how much they helped me to learn Spanish and to hoe beans. They were my friends and teachers.
But adolescence can also be a difficult time to learn about missions. Peer pressure and self-consciousness become more intense. Temptations to be inward-looking and self-centered are greater than ever.
Sunday Schools can be a bridge between what teenagers are learning in school about the world and God’s perspective of the world. As students are required to read Time or Newsweek in a high-school course, the Sunday School class can pray through the magazines and follow the development of the church in those countries.
Much could be written about short-term missions projects for high-school students. Such experiences if rightly done can provide an earthshaking experience for youth. One high school student from our church went on a short missions trip to help with a building project in a poor country. When he returned and reported to my junior boys class he was obviously overwhelmed by his experiences. He was so emotionally moved by the poverty he had seen that he could hardly get the words out. This teenager will never be the same. He wants desperately to be a missionary.
When missionaries come to talk to a teen Sunday School class they should tell the specific steps needed in planning to be a missionary. Most of the time could be spent answering questions teens have about missions.

Adult
If adults are apathetic toward missions the rest of the church will soon become indifferent. Adults can set the tone for the rest of the church. Missions should be more than an elective in the adult Sunday School. Adults often become so overwhelmed with family and financial needs that they stop thinking about the needs of the rest of the world. They become so preoccupied with paying bills and rent or mortgage that the challenge of sacrificial giving for missions is seen as a threat.
Only a few adults in most churches are genuinely concerned about missions. Few see the world from God’s perspective. It might be good to do an informal survey of adults in the church to get their opinions about missions. What hang-ups do they have about missions and the church around the world? What responsibility do they think we have for others in the world? The missions program should then be built on these questions.
Bible studies can include the study of God’s plan for the world. Small groups can be challenged to pray for the church around the world. Many adult Sunday School classes have adopted an international student or a refugee family. One adult Sunday School class used their summer vacation to go with their families to a needy area of the United States to work and witness. Adult Sunday School classes can strategize about how to resolve tensions between evangelism and social action. They can make recommendations about the church budget and about communicating with church-supported missionaries.
What could be more exciting! If the Sunday School can become revitalized through a deeper understanding of God’s love for the world, the whole church will be renewed. If the church is renewed, the world will be different--in fact all of eternity will be different.

Local Church and Mission Agency - Working Together

2005-11-16T21:05:00.000-06:00

Look in on this email conversation between the mission pastor of New Life Church (NLC) and the director of a mission agency called Bread Company to the World (BCW).

To: Director, Bread Company to the World
From: Mission Pastor, New Life Church
Subject: Appreciation

I’m writing to thank you for the good interaction we’ve had with Bread Company to the World Mission about our missionaries Joe and Sally Kuhl. Our church here used to think that you were out to beg for money and steal our best people. We also thought mission agencies like yours were bogged down with needless overhead. So we decided to cut out the “middle man” and send our missionaries directly to the field. Boy, did we get in trouble! We had to hire extra staff here at NLC to handle training, shipping, visas, overseas banking and dozens of details we never thought of before. We didn’t have a clue how to provide schooling for the Kuhl children or language study for the parents. We couldn’t provide field administration, accountability or pastoral care. When the Kuhls arrived they weren’t part of a team and struggled to develop personal relationships with the national church. And guess what? They ended up using a lot of the services that mission agencies had put in place. We’ve learned to appreciate you folks at BCW and understand now why there has to be some administrative overhead.

To: Mission Pastor, New Life Church
From: Director, Bread Company to the World
Subject: Re: Appreciation

Well, thanks! I’m afraid that we mission agencies have been at fault for not working closely enough with churches like NLC. I’m so sorry that we didn’t learn to listen to each other sooner. We used to accept candidates even if they didn’t have strong references from their churches. When missionaries hit difficult times, we tried to help them but failed to communicate with their church. I’m so glad we now insist that each candidate has a home church, and we’ve learned to pay careful attention to your references. We also gained a lot of valuable input when our mission leaders spent a day with you and other pastors to listen to your vision for outreach. Our role is to help you fulfill the missionary vision God has given you for your church. I’ll send you a copy of our “end-of-term” evaluation with Joe and Sally Kuhl. We listed several areas where we need your advice on how to help them prepare for their second term with BCW.

The partnership between churches and mission agencies has not always been harmonious. At times churches have charged mission agencies with taking their people and funds while allowing little opportunity for local church ownership. Individual churches sometimes set up their own sending agencies only to discover the inefficiency of providing services and accountability.

I’m delighted at the growing cooperation between mission-focused churches and mission agencies. Mission organizations have been listening to sending churches, and sending churches have grown in their appreciation of the unique help of sending agencies. We need each other.

Throughout history sending churches and mission agencies have been wonderfully used of God to plant and nurture churches in every country of the world. The Bible illustrates the distinct but complementary role of church and mission. Mission agencies fulfill the traveling prophetic and apostolic role and churches carry out the local priestly and elder function. Prophets and apostles are sent out; priests and elders are called to local evangelism and nurture. The local church and mission agency form an interdependent bond, each needing the other and both included in the Church, the worldwide Body of Christ.

While harmony is growing, we could do more to strengthen the partnership and accomplish Christ’s worldwide commission.

Suggestions for Mission Agencies

* Collaborate closely with sending churches in the selection and placement of missionary candidates.
* Expect candidates from para-church backgrounds to take part in the life of a local church before sending them to another culture
* Ensure that missionaries communicate regularly with their sending churches and relate closely with the pastor and missions committee.
* Keep churches up-to-date on special issues as they arise, or from end-of-term evaluations.
* Create forums for listening to the vision of pastors and missions committees. Then find innovative ways to help them fulfill their vision.
* Suggest mission resources, sermon ideas and curriculum for pastors, missions committees, small-group leaders and Sunday School teachers.
* Expect missionaries to invest time with their churches while on home assignment, realizing that missionaries have a responsibility both to plant churches in another culture and to be a blessing to their sending church.

Suggestions for Sending Churches

* Teach God’s plan for the nations in every facet of the church, including the pulpit, Sunday School and small groups.
* Challenge church members with cross-cultural ministries, coming along side them to select a ministry, mission agency and location.
* Support home staff missionaries who amplify the effectiveness of field missionaries.
* Give freedom to the field ministry. Even mission agencies must allow flexibility in strategy for their field teams.
* Partner with the mission agency in the ministry of healing for missionaries who face burnout, frustration and depression.
* Expect regular interaction and prayer requests from those you send.
* Assign missionaries to Sunday School classes and home groups for consistent prayer and communication.
* Draw the whole congregation into prayer for missionaries. World missions is the joyful privilege of every Christian, not just those serving in another culture
* Honor missionaries on home assignment and those returning from short-term trips with opportunities to stimulate missions and enthuse the church with God’s plan for the world. Too often missionaries come home from life-changing experiences with no occasion to communicate their passion.

The Body of Christ includes both the church and the mission agency. When the two join together in harmony, the local church is richly blessed and together they become a powerful tool for influencing the world.

Strategic Stumbling About In Search of Surprises

2005-11-08T09:49:00.000-06:00

Precise long range planning isn’t difficult. It’s impossible!

We often talk about the need for a gracious and humble revolution in mission leadership, but we are vague about precise objectives. I suggest that powerful leaders must have a compelling vision, but they seldom are sure of precise outcomes. They recognize success when they see it, but aren’t sure what it will look like ahead of time.

Many books by management experts proclaim that the first thing a person needs is a measurable goal. They say “If you don’t know where you are going, you may end up some place else.” Some management consultants teach the need for precise long-range goals, divided into short-range goals and then put on a time chart They say you can not plan unless you have predictable goals. But leaders disagree. They say if you have precise, predictable goals you are aiming at something of secondary importance. Peter Drucker writes: “the non-profit organization exists to bring about a change in individuals and in society.”[1]

1. The most important goal is to glorify God and help others come to Christ and progress in their pilgrimage toward Christlikeness. Such goals are imprecise and will not be fully accomplished this side of the Jordan River. It is impossible to predict how much progress pilgrims will make in the next few weeks or few years. But when we see growth toward maturity we will recognize it and rejoice. We cannot predict where the path will lead, but we know where it will end.

2. The means for facilitating Christlikeness are also out of our control. We are involved in a spiritual struggle with forces not made of flesh and blood. The best teacher plays only a minor role in the process of Christian maturity. Spiritual growth comes only by the grace of God, not by precise methods. We need to be committed to the methods God uses to bring us to himself.

Tom Peters, famous for the book In Search of Excellence, writes in a recent article:

"Plans? Goals? Yes, I admit that I plan and set goals. After I’ve accomplished something, I declare it to have been my goal all along. One must keep up appearances: In our society “having goals” and “making plans” are two of the most important pretenses. Unfortunately, they are dangerous pretenses -- which repeatedly cause us to delay immersion in the real world of happy surprises, unhappy detours, and unexpected byways.
Meanwhile, the laurels keep going to those mildly purposeful stumblers who hang out, try stuff with reckless abandon-- and occasionally bump into something big and bountiful, often barely related to the initial pursuit.”[2]

Too often, business-oriented management theory dominates Christian views of leadership. According to management theory, leaders need specific, measurable goals. “If we aim at nothing specific, we’ll hit it every time.” Or, “what gets measured gets done.” But precise goals are alien for pilgrims who are facing unpredictable dangers on the road. There are too many precarious experiences along the path. Pilgrims must have a strong sense of direction and destination, but they are not specifically sure where the path will lead in the near future. Leaders who get bogged down with measurable, short-term objectives often miss unfolding opportunities that arise around them. By definition measurable and predictable goals are not eternal! We are headed to a heavenly city. We are concerned with the inner character development of pilgrims. We are fighting for the souls of people. The most important things in life and in eternity are not measurable: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17).

Yet pilgrim leaders don’t lack vision. Effective leaders must have an obsession for the glory of God and a passionate love for other people. They have a picture of how eternity can be different because of God's influence through them. They have a strategic vision for eternal goals and they know how to respond to the opportunities unfolding around them in light of that vision. Christians may achieve excellence as managers and administrators and yet damage pilgrims. Good management can be a useful tool, but management should never be confused with leadership. Pilgrim leaders are people with a passionate love for God who use their spiritual gifts for developing other pilgrims.

Pilgrim leaders are also concerned to stir up a clearer sense of vision in other pilgrims. They study God’s vision as explained in the Map of the Word. Their focus in not on short-term activity, such as “covering” a certain amount of material, but on the long-term development of people for the glory of God (pp. 71,71).[3]

Pilgrim missionaries who are deeply committed to promoting the development of people for the glory of God are not afraid to stumble about. But the stumbling is not random or irrational -- but purposeful. We need to plan with much common sense and clearly focus on a vision. But for some reason, God intended life to be unpredictable -- at least from our perspective. We long to be in control of results. But while God gives us a significant task, he does not allow us to be in control of our own lives or want us to control the lives of other people. And yet our stumbling is not aimless or purposeless. We stumble about led by the unseen hand of a loving Father who delights in giving us joyful surprises.

“Since future victory is sure, be strong and steady, always abounding in the LORD’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever wasted.” 1 Cor 15: 58

[1] Drucker, P.F. (1990). Managing the non-profit organization. NY: HarperCollins.
[2] Peters, T. (Feb. 1991) in The Bookstore Journal.
[3] Plueddemann, J.E. & Plueddemann, C.E. (1990). Pilgrims in progress. Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers.

The Silent Famine

2005-10-05T13:52:00.000-05:00

In my travels throughout Africa I have seen corn stalks parched in the dry ground while starving people wait for rain. I was overcome with grief. The famine was ugly.

Yet another kind of famine may be even more dangerous; a silent famine. Most people are too distracted to care about this kind of famine. A few struggling people see the great need and are willing to give their lives to prevent this famine. But little money is available and few volunteers are willing to help. Relief organizations ignore this famine. The famine I fear most is described in Amos 8:11.

The days are coming
declared the Sovereign LORD,
when I will send a famine through the land -
not a famine of food
or a thirst for water
but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.

The Church in many parts of the world is large and growing, yet ominous clouds are on the horizon. Bible-believing Christianity is facing a time of crisis. Liberal Christianity challenges the authoritative foundations of Scripture and promotes a universalism which undercuts the urgency of evangelism. Fanatical Islam threatens to disrupt political stability encouraging politicians to see religion as a social evil which could upset national stability. Militant Hinduism seeks to legislate against orthodox Bible teaching. Secular postmodern values are sneaking into Bible-believing churches.

Meanwhile the evangelical church is searching for theological leadership: pastors who are able to struggle with local needs in light of well thought out evangelical theology. Local believers are wrestling with anti-biblical beliefs and practices while much local leadership is not able to give thoughtful biblical help.

The greatest need in the world-wide church is to prevent spiritual famine. The development of spiritually minded, theologically grounded pastors, professors and missionaries is a most urgent task. Evangelism, church planting, church growth, discipleship, and nurture are all dependent on this critical task.

The greatest need in the world-wide Church today is for theologically sound Bible teachers who are skilled at applying the solutions of the word of God to the critical needs of the world. Why is it that so many evangelical Bible Colleges, Christian Liberal-Arts Colleges and Seminaries are facing urgent financial needs while hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent on important but temporal physical needs? Imagine what might happen if Bible-believing Christians would catch the vision for supporting theological education the with the same passion with which they support tsunami, hurricane and famine relief? Picture student enrollment trends in theological schools if Christians would be as motivated as passionately by spiritual needs as we are about physical needs. Yes, it is good to be deeply concerned about meeting physical needs, but may the Lord stir up a fresh fervency for the eternal needs of the silent spiritual famine.

Lost

2005-09-23T21:13:00.000-05:00

We were frantic. Our son Danny got lost at a Michigan State University football game. We had just come on home assignment (furlo) from Nigeria and Danny was four years old. Was he kidnapped? Did he fall a couple of hundred feet over the back of the stadium? I peered over the edge of the stadium and half expected to see a crowd of people gathered around a small crumpled body on the sidewalk. Why didn’t we take better care of him? Why didn’t we teach him our phone number? Why didn’t we make sure he had some kind of identification? In a frenzy we searched through the mass of 40,000 football fans. You can imagine our exuberance when we later found Danny in a special room for lost children, eating candy in the arms of policeman. We were so glad that the University took special concern for lost children.

Lets pretend that in our panic a friendly policeman sent us to the University Committee on Lostness. I barged into the committee room shouting, “Help! Our son is lost!”

Members of the University Committee on Lostness wished to ask me some questions. I assumed that they wanted to know what Danny was wearing, where we saw him last, if he might have gone home with a friend or some other helpful question. But he asked, “What do you mean by lost?” “Is he really lost?” “Who do you think you are to impose your morality of lostness on a child?” “It’s all relative, maybe you are the one who is lost.” “How can you be so arrogant to proclaim your son is lost. You are making a value judgment on his lost state and assume have better judgment than your son?”

Weeping and pleading I shouted, “But my boy is lost, I love this boy more than I love my own life. He is in serious danger. Stop your scholarly debates on lostness and come help me find my boy!”

At this moment there are at least four billion people who are lost without Christ. About two billion lost people are out of reach of any search party. Their Heavenly Father loves these people more than he loved the life of his own Son. We sense the pain of lostness in God’s heart when we read that there is great joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents. The father in Luke 15 celebrated with an exuberant party when his lost son was found.
How can so many Bible-believing Christians be complacent, when our loving Father is weeping for His lost children?

In Praise of Long-Term Missionaries

2005-09-09T13:34:00.000-05:00

Jim & Carol Plueddemann
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In the last ten years, we have made repeated visits to 56 different countries. Our minds often reflect on the heroes we’ve met – highly effective long-term missionaries. We stand in awe of these enduring servants of the Lord who not only survive but thrive in the most challenging circumstances.
We appreciate their effectiveness, singles and families who have taken years to become fluent in a language, have learned to enjoy cultural differences, and have taken time to build the trust that takes decades to grow. Because of their long endurance they have been richly used of the Lord to make a powerful impact on the Kingdom through evangelism, healing the sick and planting vibrant churches.
We appreciate their long-term sacrifice. They have given up well-paying jobs to live in countries where they will never quite feel at home. Some live where they are targets of terrorists and armed robbery. Others live in the most polluted cities of the world, where malaria and AIDS are rampant. Part of the sacrifice is not being home for Christmas, birthdays and family reunions.
Yes, we understand the importance of short-term missions. Both of us had positive and influential experiences as short-term missionaries. Jim spent three months with Wycliffe in Peru, which confirmed his desire to serve long-term in missions and Carol grew up as a missionary kid in Ecuador and then spent a summer while in college with her parents, working with them with HCJB radio and church planting. Our two children have also had life-changing short-term encounters working with SIM. Our daughter Shari taught English to Somali refugees in the Chicago area, and Danny spent six months living with a Bolivian family. We thank the Lord for our excellent short-term experiences.
While short-term experiences provide valuable insights for the missionaries, and often provide important services on the field, the majority of the most critical tasks are best done by missionaries who take the time to learn the culture, learn the language and build lasting friendships. Bible translation demands years of study, friendship-building, teaching as well as translating. Cross-cultural seminary teaching requires not only academic qualifications, but a deep understanding of the needs and challenges of pastors. Mentoring local leaders is best done by people who have earned respect of lasting friendships. There is a critical need for many more long-term missionaries.
While we appreciate short-term missionaries, we wonder the ratio is balanced? It’s estimated that each year about a million short-term missionaries travel from the United States to serve cross-culturally. Compare this to about fifty thousand long term missionaries sent out from churches in the United States. We wonder if U.S. churches should be sending 5% of their missionaries as long-termers while sending 95% as short termers. Many long-term candidates become discourage and drop out because of the difficulties of raising support. Yes, we see the value of short-term missionaries but why are we sending so few who are willing and qualified to serve long-term?

Here are some suggestions

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* Those who have had short-term experiences – Ask the Lord to show you if your experiences should be a stimulus for long-term service.
* When you return from a short-term trip, work hard to communicate your experiences to the church. We realize that many of you have had life-changing experiences and few in your church seem to care.
* If, after a short-term missions experience, the Lord definitely leads you to stay home, pray fervently for missionaries, and be an example of someone who is willing to sacrifice financially to support long-term missionaries.
* If you are considering a short-term missions trip ask the Lord to touch your heart with the opportunities of long-term service.
* Church mission committees, we encourage you to make the support of long-term missionaries the backbone of your missions program. We realize that short-term missions might seem more “glitzy” but your first obligation is not to provide interesting experiences for members of the church, but ask yourself “how can our church make the most difference in the worldwide Kingdom of God?
* Long-term missionaries, hang in there. Yes, you are sacrificing much but your effectiveness for the Kingdom can grow every year you are on the field. No reward in the whole world can begin to match the commendation from Jesus “well done, good and faithful servant.”

Requiem Grace

2005-08-30T16:34:00.000-05:00

By Carol Plueddemann

Music is one of the most significant “means of grace” in my life. I enjoy a whole variety of music—hymns, country, contemporary, Black gospel, jazz and all varieties of ethnic expression. I’m no expert when it comes to classical music, but Brahms’ Requiem has become one of my favorite pieces. Each year during Easter week, I listen to this celebration of those who have died in Christ. I give it my full attention, following along with the score and the English translation of the German text.

Why this Requiem? I first sang this piece with the Jos Community Choir when we served as missionaries with SIM in Nigeria. We weren’t a polished group, but we sang from our hearts. Though still in my twenties, I had begun to experience the sorrows of death in the loss of our close friends Len Dyck and Elsbeth Christensen. Later I sang this work with the Wheaton Choral Union on the first-year anniversary of my father’s death. Unlike other requiems, the text of Brahms’ Requiem is all Scripture.

The piece begins slowly with a somber melody: Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall have comfort and soon moves to the glad reminder that Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Then an ominous pounding of drums announces, Behold all flesh is as the grass. The grass withers and the flower decays. In contrast, The Word of the Lord endureth forevermore. Here the music becomes bright, solid and hopeful and transitions to the joyful parade of the redeemed as they come to Zion. Joy and gladness, these shall be their portion. Pain and sighing shall flee.

As I turn the pages of my score, I see margin notes pencilled in during the many rehearsals I attended. I smile as I note that these musical reminders are also appropriate life challenges: Watch! Sustain—don’t fade. Don’t rush. Support—breathe! Sing sweetly.

Lord, make me to know the measure of my days on earth—to consider my frailty—that I must perish…Now, Lord, O, what do I wait for? My hope is in Thee. And then the sweet music of the well-known piece How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs for the courts of the Lord. My soul and body cry out for the living God. These words from Psalm 84 resonate with my longings for our true Home. The subject and counter-subject weave a glorious blend as They praise thy name evermore.

The fifth movement is written in memory of Brahms’ mother. I will comfort you as one whom his own mother comforts. The soaring, sorrowful soprano solo is among the loveliest music composed by mortals. I remember listening to this piece with Gail Pauls in Chile. We both agreed that it is almost too exquisite to bear and truly makes one homesick for heaven where we will experience music in brand new dimensions.

Here on earth we have no continuing place. The music is foreboding at this point but becomes brighter as pilgrims are assured Howbeit, we seek one to come. And then, Lo, I unfold unto you a mystery… (Brahms’ music here rivals any mystery soundtrack.) We shall not all sleep—We shall all be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the sound of a trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. (in-cor-RUPT-ible!) For death shall be swallowed in victory! (Can you hear the blast of the trumpets?) Death—where is thy sting? Grave—where is thy triumph?

Now the music explodes in a glorious chorale: Lord, Thou art worthy to be praised! And then a confident, calm affirmation: Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. They rest from their labors and their works follow after them.

Those who live and die in the Lord have eternal significance. Though their earthly lives are like grass, they will be raised—incorruptible-- to praise God forever. Brahms’ Requiem is a foretaste of that praise.

Revitalizing Leadership: The Story of A Conductorless Orchestra

2005-08-26T11:30:00.000-05:00

The 12 hour flight from Dhaka to London challenged me to reconsider my theology of purgatory. In spite of the tiredness, boredom and cramped seats I began to reflect on our time in India and Bangladesh. The more I pondered the more I realized the amazing goodness of God. Carol and I had visited India six years ago when morale was at an all-time low. Our team strategy seemed to be withdrawal with dignity. When I asked about a five year plan one joked, “The last person leaving, turn the lights out.”
What a difference this time. Now, India is our fastest growing field. The team is working in partnership with over a dozen groups and moving ahead with innovative even audacious strategies. Our spiritual life conference ended with a time of worship on the beach watching the sunset over the Arabian Sea. Our hearts were filled to overflowing as we sang “Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nations.” We ended our time with fireworks, a bonfire and watched the excited young people swirl around the beach with sparklers.
How can a dying, visionless field be revitalized? It is God from first to last, but how does God do it? In India God used our new director Dr. Aletta. She became deeply disturbed that we were declining just at a time when God was beginning to do a new work in India. She traveled around the world powerfully challenging each of our sending offices, in fact almost giving them an old-fashioned guilt-trip for their neglect of India. Soon a small but talented team of new workers built up in India. Aletta didn’t become a visionary dictator, but worked as a team-player with a growing group of possibility-thinking young people. This group worked together on a vision statement that reflected a real gleams in their eyes, then they together initiated some of the most innovative strategies in our 100 year history. Aletta is a medical doctor, but she recruited talented business people, visionary planners, linguists, computer experts and other medical people. The whole team shared innovative leadership working together to fulfill the vision. No one person had all the gifts needed to revitalize the work in India, but God used the whole Body of spiritually gifted people to create opportunities and generate excitement. The India team is facing discouragements and huge challenges, but they are moving ahead with prayerful vision.
On long sardine-can flights I often take a book, something I should be reading but never seem to find time. I read the book, Leadership Ensemble: Lessons in Collaborative Management from the World’s Only Conductorless Orchestra the story of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra by Harvey Seifter and Peter Economy. The book tells of a small group of people who are passionately dedicated to a vision of excellence, have learned how to listen to each other, share leadership and depend on the creativity of individual members. What a delightful difference from the two extremes of domineering leadership that squelches initiative, and the demoralizing leaderless style that encourages everybody-do-what-is-right-in-your-own-eyes.
I wonder if an important part of the solution to the problem of lethargy in the work of the Kingdom is the need for a gracious revolution in the theology and practice of leadership? What would leadership look like if we radically understood the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers and the doctrine of spiritual gifts in the Body?

(Leadership Ensemble: Lessons in Collaborative Management from the World’s Only Conductorless Orchestra the story of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra by Harvey Seifter and Peter Economy)

What Is The Cutting Edge in Missions?

2005-08-17T11:14:00.000-05:00

Avant garde missiologists are often critical of traditional missions. In a condescending tone of voice they might say something like this. “The missions program of a your church is very fine, but it is rather traditional. You are no longer at the cutting edge.” They may assume that traditional churches support long-term missionaries while more up-to-date churches support nationals, short-term missionaries, or have direct connections with churches overseas.

Yes, SIM helps fund national ministries, we deeply appreciate short-term missionaries, and we help churches to partner with each other. While these trends have been helpful, they have many potential problems. I would argue that the cutting-edge of missionary strategy is traditional missionaries working in innovative ways together with national believers.

Because of God’s blessings, traditional missionaries have been effective beyond our wildest dreams. Never have there been so many Bible-believing Christians and never has such a percentage of people called themselves Christians. By the grace of God, long-term traditional missionaries working with national believers have accomplished more in the last 50 years than in the previous 1900 years. Teamwork with long-term missionaries working in loving fellowship with national sisters and brothers is the cutting edge in missions. The “cutting-edge” of world evangelism hasn’t changed in the last 2000 years!

We need more people like Carol Edgar Rutt who has spent almost 40 years in Nigeria. During the early years people rejected the good news and threw stones at her, but she hung in there, learned the language, made friends, gained trust and continued to teach. Today many of her former students are pastors and Bible school teachers. Dozens of churches in northern Nigeria praise the Lord for Carol.

Lolita and Elvin Harbottle stuck with it with discouraging results in Niger. They worked hard and spent many hours in prayer for over 30 years. Today, in that area, the Lord has brought thousands to himself and churches are growing. It often takes a long time to build trust and show people we genuinely care.

Howard Brant is working with our SIM-related churches of Evangel Fellowship to set up an International Missions Association. SIM will be just one of a dozen mission boards with a vision of reaching the world together. In order to stay at the cutting edge we need more long-term traditional missionaries like Howie.

If you want to have an avant garde missions strategy I suggest that you send more long-term missionaries to work in innovative and loving ways with national believers.