Ben Sternke

Field notes on life and mission with God after Christendom

Hermeneutics

Hermeneutical Humility T-shirt!

by 2 Comments

This has to be the best Christian t-shirt ever:

God Said it

In case you can’t read it, it says:

God said it.

I interpreted it as best I could in light of all the filters imposed by my upbringing and culture, which I try to control for but you can never do a perfect job.

That doesn’t exactly settle it but it does give me enough of a platform to base my values and decisions on.

It’s a t-shirt that actually expresses some hermeneutical humility (a simple acknowledgment that I might not know everything, and that I might be reading more into the text than I realize).

I found it here, and it looks like you can get one for yourself!

A leadership paradox: decisiveness

by Leave a Comment

Failureofnerve One thing most leadership books will tell you is that decisiveness is pretty important. For example, in A Failure of Nerve, Edwin Friedman says that many leaders today are stuck in a morass of data, thinking that if they just know enough information they'll be able to lead well. Friedman says that this is a false hope, and that while some information will obviously be helpful, leaders must be decisive, intuitive, and bold, even when others may perceive that as arrogance or brashness.

It certainly is easy to get mired down in the "paralysis of analysis," and I know there are times to make a decision and move, but I was reading something this morning that made me think that there are also times when the best thing to do is not make a decision, despite the pressure to do something.

Samuel_saul_ The story I read is in 1 Samuel 13:5-15. Saul has been made king over Israel, much to Samuel's (and God's) chagrin. Saul has an initial victory in rescuing a city from destruction (1 Sam 11), and now a large army of Philistines is gathering to fight Israel. The situation is pretty dire. People are hiding in caves and thickets, pits and cisterns, abandoning their homes and going back across the Jordan seeking refuge. Saul and his men are in Gilgal, "quaking with fear."

Saul was supposed to wait for seven days for Samuel to arrive to offer sacrifices to God before they began their operations. Saul waited a week, and Samuel never showed. Saul's men are beginning to scatter, the whole nation is cowering in fear, so Saul makes a bold, decisive leadership move: he offers the sacrifices himself.

Just then Samuel shows up and knows, "What have you done?" he asks. Saul's answer is completely understandable: the men were scattering, the Philistines are assembling, you weren't coming, so I "felt compelled" to offer the sacrifices myself. A bold, decisive move to keep people together. But also a reckless, tragic move for Saul's kingship. Because of his unfaithfulness, Samuel tells Saul that God has rejected him as king and already chosen his replacement. So much for being decisive.

I think it just goes to show that there is a paradox to spiritual leadership. There are times to move ahead boldly, to rely on intuition and hunch and curiosity. But there are also times to wait. There are times when making a decision is that last thing a leader ought to do. I suppose the trick is to figure out which time is which.

And I suppose that's where prayer comes in. Reading about the life of Saul, I never get the impression that he is a man of prayer. There aren't any Psalms of Saul. I get the feeling that this whole "life with God" part of being king of Israel is more of a superstitious chore to him than a vital part of his life. He always seems to simply be appeasing a popular old man (Samuel) than really investing himself in it. The result is that he makes foolish decisions and the kingship is taken away from him.

As leaders, sometimes we need to just start moving in a general direction, despite our trepidation and uncertainty. Other times, we need to simply wait and refuse to make a decision for awhile. May God grant us the grace and wisdom to know what time it is.

How to read the gospels

by 1 Comment

Sydney_Hardman_Gospel_writers

I really love discussing and teaching on biblical interpretation. Michael Spencer wrote 10 guidelines for interpreting the Gospels which I find to be outstanding. I've listed them below without comment, but check out Michael's post to see the whole thing.

  1. Don't harmonize the gospels
  2. Don't read them as if their words and events happened in the modern world
  3. Jesus did and said a lot of things that he never explained
  4. Our modern computer concordances don't help nearly as much as some say
  5. Beware of anyone who is "out on their own" with an interpretation. Consensus is important.
  6. Big ideas dominate the gospels. Look for them.
  7. Textual criticism is important.
  8. The Gospels were (by and large) written after the Pauline epistles
  9. The study of the historical Jesus is important
  10. Make this a lifelong passion

Again, these won't make much sense unless you go and read the whole post.

Consumerism on the brain

by 4 Comments

I've started research for an essay I'm writing on how the attitudes of Jesus and the early church toward possessions and money could prophetically challenge today's consumer culture, so I've started reading some very interesting books and collecting all kinds of bits on the Internet that relate to this issue.

While almost everyone would probably agree that "consumerism is bad," not many of those same people would have any clue of how to formulate a definition of consumerism. Typically it's other people's consumerism that is the problem. Most of us are blind to the ways we fall prey to the spirit of the age.

So here's a working definition of consumerism (I'm still at the definition part of the essay):

Consumerism describes a society where people derive their identities from the products they purchase/consume. We are what we buy, which is why shopping is so therapeutic for some. It's a society where we don't just buy a cell phone in order to speak with others, but in order to "make a personal statement" or "express our individuality." We are so used to thinking about shopping/buying in this way that's it's difficult to imagine a world where things were otherwise. But for most of history people's identities came from their family histories, the stories the culture told about the meaning of life and the significance of people. Now those stories are mostly dead (in the West, anyway) so we are left to attempt to construct our own identities out of what we find available, which happens to be consumer goods, which is fantastic news for the advertisers. Thus we no longer buy products, really. We buy lifestyles, we purchase versions of ourselves, we buy identity.

Consumerism has extended into every area of life, even those places it never used to be a factor. Like food. Oftentimes people have good reasons for being fussy about food (allergies, health, etc). But other times people are choosy with food in order to make some kind of statement about their identities. I read a recent article on how the "food sensitivities" that are so prevalent in American society are causing a disruption in the basic practice of Christian hospitality.

And the church is not exempt from this tendency. Christian bookstores today are filled with Christian kitsch, Jesus has been turned into a brand, and discipleship has been reduced to purchasing the right kinds of products (one site that hawks Christian t-shirts, that I will not link to, actually proclaims "Change Your Shirt, Change the World!" Not kidding). We construct our identities as Christians the same way the world does: buying stuff. It's a huge problem, in my opinion, because it inoculates us against the real thing.

As I get into the paper, I'll probably post a bit more on stuff (helps me process thoughts), especially as I get into the New Testament to see the specific ways it will challenge consumer culture.

What I’m studying now

by 3 Comments

I sent off my aforementioned essay late on October 31st, while Andy was teaching part of the third Presence module. It was good to have it completed. Let me know if you'd like a copy (if you're interested in 5,000-word essays exploring the importance of interpreting Scripture with the ancient church, that is).

So today I embarked on to the second module (of three) of the Master's program, which is called the Theology of the Poor. It explores issues in biblical interpretation that relate to how the gospel relates to "the poor" today. It promises to be an interesting ride! This morning I looked at the way different groups have interpreted Jesus' use of the "kingdom of God" motif, and analyzed the validity of it. It was an interesting exercise, especially in light of my charismatic heritage, the Vineyard roots of my church, and my recent interest in the societal, transformational, and liturgical implications of the gospel. It might prove to be the topic of the next essay (due February 2009).

Despite the hard work involved, I find that I really enjoy theology (probably no surprise to some of you!). But I find I don't enjoy it in some kind of esoteric way, like I just like living in the realm of ideas. What I really love to do is take these important theological ideas and translate them into implications for daily life. I am discovering that I don't study theology because I'm fascinated with the ideas, but because I am passionate about the church living into its true calling to be the people of God in the world. So viva la theology and viva la church! And Happy Monday.