Archived Posts For 2007 November
has it occurred to you that you might be wrong?
Posted on November 13, 2007 by Geoff Matheson
Filed Under Emerging Questions | 2 Comments
The above clip is more of your traditional “tell-a-funny-story-that’s-vaguely-related” rather than making a specific point. And the title is taken from a often referred to peanuts cartoon (stole the linked image from pomomusings - hopefully they don’t mind). But here’s what I’ve been pondering. A big part of what the “emerging conversation” and considering “post-modernism” has been doing to my feeble little brain has been to reinforce this notion that there are things I’ve been “certain” of, that might actually be wrong. Some of those things I’m quite sure I was outright wrong about.
Now, if we consider that:
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1)
then I’m a little bit flummoxed about how we ought to act in regard to things we could quite well be wrong about. Because it’s easy to mistake faith for intellectual arrogance. I could try and unpack this a whole lot more but I think the discussion might be better served if I leave it there. How does humility about the things we “know about God”, interplay with wanting to act and live out of a place of faith?
a spectrum of approaches to leadership
Posted on November 7, 2007 by Tim Ogilvy
Filed Under Church | 15 Comments
I’m currently re-thinking my beliefs about the role and nature of leadership, and I thought it might be interesting to share some of those ideas here.
While I’ve learned a lot about the values and traits that make ‘good’ leaders from church and family, most of what I’ve learned about the skills and attitudes that make it all happen I’ve learned from being an adventure guide, and studying education and psychology. Sometimes these things dovetail and complement each other, and sometimes they conflict rather badly.
Of particular interest to me at the moment is the interaction between risk, responsibility, and control… and the implications for how we lead as those parameters change. As a member of a fairly liberal church, we aren’t especially ‘hands on’ with our leadership, often preferring to let things find their own way, with love and encouragement… and I think this can be justified with reference to Mathew 20:25-28. On the other hand, there are other circumstances, where we have a duty of care, or where a situation is life-threatening, where an increasingly direct approach to leadership might be mandated. Especially in reference to Mathew 18:6. The diagram below illustrates the need for an adaptive approach, and is based on theory from Kurt Lewin, and Priest and Gass (Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming, 1997).
Some churches, especially larger and more traditional ones seem to find it easy to justify staying at the authoritarian end of the spectrum, even in low risk conditions… but I find this difficult to justify, both in the light of Mathew 20, and because I believe that excessive authoritarian control can stand in the way of young people and even adults moral development (Kohlberg).
The sources of leadership power and social power, and the risks involved in misuse of power, and failure to understand the servant heart of leadership are other very interesting issues, and these ideas all have interesting implications for Christians in leadership… but I’m going to have to do more reading before I can bring a theological angle to that discussion!
the problem of good intentions
Posted on November 5, 2007 by Geoff Matheson
Filed Under Church | 3 Comments
One of the problems of being around churches, and in being someone who tries very hard to see the good in people is the way that bad things happen because of completely good and honourable intentions. Dealing with teenagers (but also in the wider world), there are some very fragile self-esteems involved, and it doesn’t take a lot to see a whole heap of damage done on the back of what starts as a “really nice idea”.
So something I really haven’t worked out yet though, is how to explain to people who have these lovely ideas that they are actually going to prove harmful for people, or are going to cause stagnation, or represent barriers to growth. Because ultimately, I know that if someone told me that my ideas were harmful - I’d want to whack them across the head. And I don’t know any way to approach it that would result in me having a different reaction.
if you can’t say something valuable…
Posted on November 2, 2007 by Geoff Matheson
Filed Under Links | 4 Comments
… then point out someone who is. So while I’m suffering a minor drought of theological inspiration (or at least complete-posts worth) I thought I’d send the loyal readership elsewhere in pursuit of theology and conversation.
Anne Jackson at FlowerDust.net has written a great post on burnout (she’s a bit of an expert - she’s writing a book) as a part of her series on “Deadly Viper Character Assassins“:
“that is where it gets me. i hate disappointing people. i want to be all things to everyone - the best wife, the sharpest employee, the most considerate friend, the most giving family member, and the most effective communicator.
and then i realize; all those things are about me. ME ME ME. nothing about bringing glory to god. nothing about even desiring to grow in my relationship with christ. obviously, i do…but it gets so easily shoved to the bottom of the list when i feel i have to do all these things.” - Read the whole post
Paul at One For The Road has an interesting collection of thoughts on consumerism in Halloween. I must admit that this is one festival that hasn’t taken off in Australia (despite our love for all culture American).
“Here i think is the the centre of my angst - i am rich enough and fortunate enough to live somewhere nice enough to be able to take part in a contrived marketing fest which is celebrated by everyone one else who is also rich enough and fortunate enough to do. It’s a festival of self indulgent consumption and heck i do like to consume and self indulge - i feel a little like a cow led by the nose with my head stuck in a trough where the feed never stops pouring in - just eat and eat and eat. I never wonder why i am being fed, why the system i am part of encourages me to keep eating, i just keep filling my face…” - Read the whole post
A couple of things from Makeesha that are worth highlighting. Firstly, she’s challenged men like myself to go have a listen to Sister Joan Chittister, which I duly did (because I always do as I’m told) and would now recommend. She’s a very wise and graceful woman, and has some fantastic things to say, so make some time to have a listen. I also thought this comment from Makeesha was worth highlighting, as we seek to love one another better:
“Encouraging one another with our words (and of course our actions) is one of the most powerful and transforming acts we can engage in within the context of human interaction. Behavior modification through judgment, proclamation of “law”, shame and fear only works sometimes and in those instances, usually only for a short time. But kind and encouraging words that spur others on generates life giving interactions that last.” - Read the whole post
And finally, Shane Magee of Fake Republic and David Hayward of Naked Pastor fame have combined to create the “fakeNaked” show. It’s still in its infancy, but it certainly looks to be worth keeping an eye on.
So, if you’ve got anything that you’ve seen from someone else’s blog that you think is worth highlighting, post it in the comments. Other than that: go forth and converse elsewhere - the blogosphere needs you.
