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I read the six chapters of the required book and found much to appreciate and much to ponder. Allow me to respond to the major category of each chapter: calling, spirituality, giftedness, personhood, leadership, and authority. CALLING. I appreciated the author's take on "calling". I have always kept as a mental template the picture of Saul being knocked to ground on the road to Damascus. This has not been my experience, and I don't expect to be knocked to the ground any time soon. As the author says on page 74 "For many of us, the call has come more slowly, a growing conviction which developed over time. Sometimes it has even met our resistance." Amen to this. Perhaps my category of calling is "the more-convenient time call". I have waited for a more convenient time which never seemed to arrive. Like Augustine asking to be saved, but not quite yet. Like some people postpone marriage, and others postpone having children, I have postponed my ministry. My biological clock (re: lifespan) continues to tick. It's now or never, and I pray it's not stillborn. SPIRITUALITY. I have never known a day in my life that has not included thoughts of God and spirituality. This is not to boast, but to give a testimony to the way my parents raised me. I have seen my life since earliest memories as a pilgrimage and this earth as not my home. My severe personality (INTJ to the max) has facilitated a commune with God, but has produced an aloofness from His people. I have the respect of many but the affection of few. Being spiritual is not a problem for me, being human is. Lost in my own spiritual thought, recasting godly words until they align with my thought, these I can do with ease. Dealing with people, demonstrating a genuine concern for their everyday problems, this I find most difficult. GIFTEDNESS. I believe that I have a handle on the gifts bestowed upon me. I understand pretty well that God has gifted me with much. I thank Him for these blessings. My struggle is not so much with the gifts, but with the voids. How can I become more people-oriented? How can I follow through with personal relationships? Is there a ministry for the socially awkward? Is it my body language, my tone of voice, my eye contact, that betray a detachment that often times masquerades as otherworldliness? PERSONHOOD. I agree with the author that upon my conversion my life was radically transformed. Yet "the personality and identity of the Christian, though perhaps kinder and gentler than before encountering Christ, is essentially the same. (p.108)". I understand this. I see the personalities of the Apostles Peter and John transformed yet consistent from introduction to exit from the New Testament narrative. As I pray and grow, I will be "wondering how the Holy Spirit is filling up the interior spaces that are structurally defined by our own personalities. (p. 109)" I am still trying to figure how my "personal ministry can be enriched and enhanced by the same aspects of personhood. (p. 121)" LEADERSHIP. One of the detours en route to a full-time ministry was the U.S. Army. I signed up in 1976. The next thing I knew 20 years had passed and I was retiring in 1996. The security, travel, and experience was grand, but I always felt my purpose lay elsewhere. I understand leadership. This was preached from the rooftops at every army class I attended. I agree with most of the pronouncements in Chapter 11 about leadership. I just have a few observations about leadership that weren't mentioned in the chapter. The first observation is that "age does count". At 50 years old, many people in my church attribute me with wisdom. They give me the benefit of my years. I am assumed wise, unless I open my mouth and prove otherwise. This was not true in my twenties. People assumed that my opinions were not valuable. I was assumed ignorant, until I opened my mouth and persuaded them otherwise. A leader must be able to bond his followers in a common purpose. A military leader must be prepared to ask his followers to sacrifice their lives. When common soldiers are asked "Why did you do it? Why did you risk certain death?", the most common response is "I didn't want to let down my buddies. They were depending on me". I can see this applied to a church congregation. Why do people show up on church clean-up day? Is it for God's sake? Probably not. Is it because the pastor is such a great leader? Again, probably not. It's probably this sense that "I don't want to let my buddies down" or "they are depending on me". One challenge of a leader to foster a church environment where this healthy responsibly grows. AUTHORITY. I have always considered authority in the church to be puzzling. Am I to be a servant that leads or a leader that serves? I appreciated learning the difference between internal and external authority. I can see that in Baptist churches leadership is internal must be earned day to day. I read of "female nurturing trends" with interest. Is it heretical to say that I uncovered nothing in the authority chapter or in the leadership chapter that precludes women from serving as senior pastors? (If it is, please un-read the last sentence). I also have to admit peeking at some of the other chapters. I read the sexual harassment chapter and think that it contains important information for all seminarians. I also read the "church" and the "teaching" chapters. Both were informative. I'll probably keep this book handy and refer to it from time to time. |