Church in New Modes

December 21, 2011 By scotmcknight 6 Comments

From Wendy McCaig:

While both Erin and I see ourselves as somewhat of an anomaly, I think there is a reason for our weirdness.  We are both women who pursued our theological training in a Baptist setting.  Female Baptist seminarians have a far greater challenge than most seminarians in finding positions within local church settings.  Both Erin and I are leaders, both are apostolic in our call, both of us are very creative and we are both willing to take risks.

The institutional structures in most Baptist expressions of the church are none of the above.  Thus, to be who God created us to be, we had to go outside the traditional church walls.  The funny thing is that we are both being called back into “the church” to help change the structures so that others who are shaped like us, do not have such a hard time living their call while staying connected to the institutional church. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized 6 Comments

Teachers and Creative Students

December 21, 2011 By scotmcknight 18 Comments

By Alex Tabarrok:

One of the most consistent findings in educational studies of creativity has been that teachers dislike personality traits associated with creativity. Research has indicated that teachers prefer traits that seem to run counter to creativity, such as conformity and unquestioning acceptance of authority (e.g., Bachtold, 1974; Cropley, 1992; Dettmer, 1981; Getzels & Jackson, 1962; Torrance, 1963). The reason for teachers’ preferences is quite clear creative people tend to have traits that some have referred to as obnoxious (Torrance, 1963). Torrance (1963) described creative people as not having the time to be courteous, as refusing to take no for an answer, and as being negativistic and critical of others. Other characteristics, although not deserving the label obnoxious, nonetheless may not be those most highly valued in the classroom.

….Research has suggested that traits associated with creativity may not only be neglected, but actively punished (Myers & Torrance, 1961; Stone, 1980). Stone (1980) found that second graders who scored highest on tests of creativity were also those identified by their peers as engaging in the most misbehavior (e.g., “getting in trouble the most”). Given that research and theory (e.g., Harrington, Block, & Block, 1987) suggest that a supportive environment is important to the fostering of creativity, it is quite possible that teachers are (perhaps unwittingly) extinguishing creative behaviors.

Filed Under: Education 18 Comments

Paul’s Spiritual Vision 4

December 21, 2011 By scotmcknight 19 Comments

Rodney Reeves’ new book, Spirituality according to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ, probes a singularly important topic in all religions, including Christianity:

The temptation to live as a legalist or to live as a libertine. To turn the moral life into law or to justify most anything.

Some are tempted to one or the other, those on both sides are judgmental of others, and the temptation to pursue a life with God in either direction never seems to go away.

Where are you seeing legalisms today? where are you seeing libertinism?

Reeves’ big point? Neither is the way Paul envisioned the Christian life, and that is why FF Bruce famously said — he said it to me personally one day but I’ve heard others quote the same from his lips — that Paul would roll over in his grave if he saw how modern Christians use his letters as a new form of law. And many would also say the way libertines use Paul’s freedom statements to justify anything they want to do.

A gospel shaped life, however, puts to death a life of legalism as well as a life of libertinism. The cross kills both.

The two things Paul blames for sin in this world are — get this — the flesh and the law of Moses. The law, Paul says, was a cruel taskmaster (Galatians 3:23-24). Thus Reeves: “law and righteousness were mutually exclusive” (74). Righteousness comes from Christ, through the Christ, via resurrection, in the Spirit. Faith in Christ was the point of no return (to the law). So what is Paul’s solution? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Paul 19 Comments

Just what is gossip?

December 21, 2011 By scotmcknight 19 Comments

My grandmother had the sort of theology that believed humans could become sinless, and she believed she had achieved that level in her Christian life. I was suspicious of such a theology, and so were my parents and siblings, not because we were particularly adept in such things but because we were taught that we could not attain sinlessness in this life. Once I heard my grandmother talking about another person on the phone so when she came back into the living room I asked her if gossip was a sin. (I was ready for a gotcha moment with my fun-loving grandma. Grandma: “Of course gossip is sin.” Me: “Weren’t you gossiping on the phone?” Grandma: “What I was doing was a mistake, Scot, and God looks over mistakes.”

So, there you go, even among the most stringent of those who believe in sinlessness gossip is a sin. Which raises our question for the day:

What is gossip? When is talking about another gossip?

I ask this because I’m reading Joseph Epstein’s new book, Gossip: The Untrivial Pursuit, and he offers plenty of observations on what is and what is not gossip, and I thought I’d toss a few out there — and the one thing he doesn’t do is offer theological probings of what it ought not to be done by God-fearing folks. I’ve been reading Epstein for years, and in all of his writings there’s some gossipy tidbit tossed in about someone, and it has made for years wonder about the guy. What I wonder is two-fold: where does he get all this inside-job stuff and why is he so intent on revealing it? One thing I’ve seen in Epstein: he’s got a good eye for character and where others fall short. He’s not adverse, either, to turning it on himself. Lightly, of course.

For Epstein gossip is a reality; he enjoys it; and he likes to talk about it and observe how it works. But there are limits, and here are some of his many observations, and they can lead us to reflect today — together — on what gossip is, why it’s wrong, and why it is so dadburned incurable among even those who think it’s wrong.

“it usually serves to diminish or tarnish that reputation” (3). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books 19 Comments