week 7 - Jesus and Holiness

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. - Ephesians 4:22-24

Check out the transformation journal readings for this week.

a Montessori approach to church

I’ve been trying to follow discourse on the emerging church. It seems to be a bit of a moving target and it takes a lot of blog time to just skim the surface. But an examination of the strengths and weaknesses from Frank Viola @ www.opensourcetheology.net caught my eye. Especially, what he states as the primary weakness –

The emerging church phenomenon has wonderfully articulated some of the major flaws of the modern church, yet like all of its predecessors, it has failed to identify and take dead aim at one of the chief roots of most of its ills.

I firmly believe that the taproot of most of the problems that plague the church in modernity is the clergy system. To put a finer point on it, Protestant Christians are addicted to the modern pastoral office. The pastor is the all-purpose religious professional in the modern Protestant church, both evangelical and mainline.

Please note that my critique is not an attack on pastors as people. Most pastors in the emerging church are gifted Christians who have a heart for the Lord and a genuine love for His people. It is the modern pastoral office and role that I believe is profoundly flawed, and few of us have ever questioned it.

Let me unpack that a bit. My experience in this country and overseas over the last seventeen years has yielded one immovable conclusion: God’s people can engage in high-talk about community life, Body functioning, and Body life, but unless the modern pastoral role is utterly abandoned in a given church, God’s people will never be unleashed to function in freedom under the Headship of Jesus Christ. I have had pastors vow to me that they were the exception. However, upon visiting their congregations, it was evident that the people did not know the first thing about functioning as a Body on their own. Neither were they given any practical tools on knowing the Lord intimately and living by His life. The reason is that the flaws of the modern pastoral role are actually built into the role itself.

The pastor, by his mere presence, causes an unhealthy dependence upon himself for ministry, direction, and guidance. Thus, as long as he hangs around delivering sermons, the people in the church to which he belongs will never be fully set free to function on their own in a church meeting setting. Further, the pastoral office typically destroys those who populate it. Jesus Christ never intended for anyone to shoulder that kind of enormous responsibility and power.

Well that is a lot to digest, but for some reason, I keep thinking about this observation of pastoral leadership. If you have been listening to Pastor John and Deb describe the new ministry structure: the fractals and leadership models, then you know Peace is headed toward empowered leaders and teams. It is an exciting time, but I think it will also be very challenging. I believe it is so difficult for even the best-intentioned pastors to equip his/her members because of the way we, the lay people, grew up learning.

I am by no means a Montessori expert, but having experienced vicariously the results of such an education on my son, I can begin to appreciate how this “radical” approach to learning could be helpful in the church. Here are some characteristics of a Montessori education and how I think they could relate to church.

Stages of Development
Montessori recognizes and values the unique needs of children at different developmental stages and integrates this understanding into the educational environment. The community of the classroom provides a safe and secure place for children to develop self-esteem and confidence, while they learn to be responsible and caring members of society.

Church leaders recognize people are at different stages in their faith journey and provide appropriate building blocks for growing faith. The church provides a safe and secure environment for exploring faith.

Child Centered
The Montessori approach challenges the conventional methodologies wherein teachers 'fill' children with knowledge. The Montessori teacher acts as a guide, an inspiration and a remover of obstacles, so children can follow their natural inclinations to explore and grow.

Church leaders act as a guide, an inspiration and a remover of obstacles so that members can follow their natural inclinations to explore and grow their faith.

Independence
Montessori philosophy emphasizes functional and intellectual independence as crucial to human development. Montessori encourages children, from the earliest ages, to use their practical and intellectual skills to meet their own everyday needs and pursue academic learning. Montessori communities promote self-sufficiency in social relationships as well; providing tools and language for children to solve conflicts and negotiate peacefully.

Church leaders encourage members to use their skills to meet the needs of the church. The church community promotes and encourages self-sufficiency.

Process versus Product
Montessori utilizes a guided discovery approach to learning. Montessori guides (teachers) present lessons to children as 'keys' to open the door to learning. Learning outcomes come about naturally, often spontaneously, sparked by student-driven interest. Montessori allows the process of learning to unfold authentically until the child is ready to demonstrate mastery.

Church leaders allow people to explore their faith authentically in a non-judgmental environment.

Skills for Life
Montessori emphasizes learning through all five senses, not just though listening, watching or reading. Learning is an exciting process of discovery, leading to concentration, motivation self-discipline and a quest for knowledge that lasts a lifetime. Montessori schools group children in different age groups, forming communities in which the older children mentor the younger children

The church community forms small groups where learning and mentoring take place.

Sounds a lot like Peace, doesn’t it?

Membership or Discipleship

Recently I've been thinking of starting a blog specific to Discipleship. I belong to one of a few small groups here at Peace, called discipleship triads. The experience, only six weeks in, is transforming, in ways hard to have imagined, and equally hard to explain in a few words.

Anyway, I heard that there is increasing awareness/interest in our discipleship groups, and some wonder if we are like the secret societies UVA is so famous for.

So, I thought that maybe a blog could serve a dual purpose: first, for us in a group, a place to reflect on what it means to be a disciple, to share with one another our thoughts, experiences, and ideas as we journey together, and to support one another with encoragement and prayer; second, for those who wonder what we are, to share the same. Why should we be shy, after all?

Now, I am tinkering with just such a blog, willing to "get messy", creating a website and related blog on discipleship... I'll keep you posted.

In the course of surfing the web, I came across an interesting piece by a Lutheran Pastor in Dayton, Ohio, Rev. John F. Bradosky. The full text of his article, titled "Membership or Discipleship?" can be found at http://www.elca.org/lp/memdiscl.html.

Much of the article parallels what Pastors John and Greg have been preaching to us, about new directions and purpose and mission for Peace. The Rev. Bradosky draws a contrast between the path of discipleship that Christ models for us, and the membership model of ministry entrenched in most congreagtions today.

Bradosky writes: "The problem in our culture, as I see it, is the connection between membership and entitlement... As members, we have rights and privileges, and receive preferential treatment and praise. [But] membership doesn't go anywhere. It is more about having arrived than it is a journey. For our congregations, this is a deadly idea. Those who have arrived don't need to go or grow!"

Notice those two words! Go, and Grow.

He continues: "This understanding of membership promotes spiritual immaturity. Sensing they have arrived, members are free to learn as much or as little as they desire; to be as involved or inactive as they prefer; to give as much or as little as they find convenient; and to attend as frequently or as infrequently as they find helpful."

Ouch. There is more: "There are members who believe that the content of Christian faith is to simply have an opinion about Jesus and to design one's own personal faith. Some members believe the good news of Jesus has set us free to follow ourselves."

This reminds me of a pet phrase we frequently use in our Discipleship Group discussions: "Lord Me". We have come to use it as shorthand for our self-centered sinfulness. We talk about all the clutter in our lives, the stuff that separates us from our Lord, the desire to organize, compartmentalize, and otherwise manage our relationship with God.

The very first thing that we learned? Discipling is an intentional relationship in which we walk alongside other disciples in order to encourage, equip, and challenge one another in love to grow toward maturity in Christ.

That the early disciples, mentored by Christ, gave up all that they had, is not lost on us. It is a scary proposition. Or is it?