Barnabas File

Do you remember Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation [sic]? These were just two of a number of PBS series in the 1970s and 1980s that attempted to address major topics by gathering various pieces of information (sometimes seemingly unrelated) and identifying or synthesizing themes that seemed to make sense of all that data. In broad, sweeping strokes these intelligent men attempted to provide coherence and sense to an incoherent, senseless world. I was reminded of these series when I read Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, Outliers: The Story of Success . You will remember Gladwell as the author of two previous books— The Tipping Point (which I really liked) and Blink (which I never really understood). Gladwell is a synthesizer like Sagan and Clark. His works are cross-disciplinary discourses that (as in the present volume) draw on history, sociology, psychology, linguistics and literature. In this book, Gladwell attacks the idea of the “self-made man” (or woman). The ...

Very often we use words interchangeably that have very distinctive meanings. As I have started doing clergy coaching with Pinnacle Leadership Associates, I have found that friends tend to confuse three terms—counseling, mentoring, and coaching. Counseling is a healing or therapeutic relationship designed to help a person deal with his or her past. Although there are many variations of counseling—marital, grief, pastoral, substance abuse, and so on—the common aspect is to process feelings and experiences in such a way that the client can deal with the “baggage” of the past. In a mentoring relationship, a more experienced person helps a less experienced person to develop a specified capacity. This is an educational or development process. In a coaching relationship, the coach helps persons to learn or achieve something for themselves. This is an encouraging, future-oriented relationship. Although there are many types of coaching, the growing edge is in life coaching. This is a process th...

In conversation with a friend recently, we talked about our natural tendency to classify people or put them into “boxes.” We take a look at a pastor and try to find indicators of where he (or she) fits theologically—books read, schools attended (and when), conferences attended, known associates, etc. We readily admitted that this often cuts off opportunities to get to know the person as an individual. I compare it to an entomologist who has become so interested in properly classifying an insect that he neglects to appreciate the intrinsic beauty of the creature. In his book entitled Never Call Them Jerks , Arthur Paul Boers offers a listing of the dangers of “labeling” others. To mention just a few of these: Labeling can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, when one is identified as a “trouble-maker,” the person often proceeds to create problems. Labeling is judgmental. This is a paternalistic rather than an objective action. It dehumanizes a person. Labeling makes it easier to ...

In 1970, I became the Baptist campus minister (Baptist Student Union director) at a state university in middle Tennessee near Nashville. The area was still largely rural. The ministry was supported not only by the state Baptist convention but by the local association of about 40 churches. I found out in my initial interview with local church leaders that they were a bit ambivalent about doing ministry on the college campus. Of course, this was just after the decade when college campuses (usually in the north and west) were centers of protest and liberal lifestyles. Little of this had impacted Tennessee, of course, but our local Baptist constituents tended to fear higher education, the “liberals” on campus, and students in general. I can even remember one member of a small church saying, “Aren’t you concerned about the influence that the students will have on your children?” These were good people, but they were afraid. They wanted to do the Baptist thing and cooperate with the state co...

We gathered on the third floor of the education building at First Baptist Church, Murfreesboro , last night. Although it felt like a family reunion, this was actually the beginning of spring classes offered in Murfreesboro by Central Baptist Theological Seminary. The center opened in fall 2005 to provide graduate theological education for students who had jobs, families, and church responsibilities and were not able to relocate to another city to prepare for Christian ministry. A number of laypersons have audited courses over the years as well. The student body is African-American and Euro-American, women and men, varied in ages, and representing at least four denominations. Teachers are seminary professors from the campus in Shawnee, Kansas, or adjuncts from the Nashville area. The instructor this weekend is Eileen Campbell-Reed, who completed her Ph .D. at Vanderbilt last year. Classes are offered Friday night and all day on Saturday for four weekends a semester. Every Friday that c...

With the coming of 2009, we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of Baptists. No, we didn’t start at the Jordan River with John, Jesus’ cousin (he was a baptizer not a Baptist). Most Baptist historians today trace the origin of Baptists to a church organized by John Smyth in Amsterdam in 1609. As Baptists take this opportunity to reflect on their past and contemplate their future, some are threatened by the challenges of the 21st century. They seem to forget that the words “challenge” and “Baptist” have been synonymous for most of those four centuries. Baptists who are afraid of what the present and future hold tend to resort to two phrases: “Baptists have always done it this way” or “Baptists have never done it this way.” “Baptists have always done it this way” should be interpreted to mean “in my experience, this is the way that Baptists have done things.” For Baptists in the South, what became popular in churches in the mid-twentieth century defines “the way things have always been...

George MacLeod, twentieth century minister of the Church of Scotland, founded the Iona Community and was involved in ecumenism and social justice issues. Perhaps the best known MacLeod quote is the following: "I simply argue that the cross should be raised at the centre of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town's garbage heap; at a crossroad, so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek ... at the kind of a place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died for. And that is what He died about. That is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen ought to be about." Certainly MacLeod’s quote is as appropriate today as when it was written. This statement hearkens back to the ultimate act of contextualization—the cru...

Most Baptists of my age grew up in churches that were very program-driven. As a church and denominational worker, I was captive to this model: “Whatever your need, we have a program for you!” I know see how diverse and complex churches are and realize that “one size does not fit all.” Each church can and must make choices about what is appropriate to their unique gifts and needs. We are also seeing churches move beyond programs to processes to accomplish their mission. I still struggle with the program/process dichotomy. Over the weekend, I met with a team that is considering the most effective way to do Christian formation in our context. I must admit that I tend to fall back into the program mentality when I get in such groups—What resources are available? What classes can we offer? What are our desired outcomes and what are the steps to getting there? An idea came out of that discussion. Instead of offering new things, what if we attempted to assess the spiritual implications of wha...

I am not sure what the author of Ecclesiastes meant when he wrote, "Of making many books there is no end" (Ecc. 12:12). In context, it appears to be a negative comment. At any rate, I understand that the statement is true, especially today. Hundreds of books are published daily. Some are outstanding, some are soon (and best) forgotten, and some deserve a wider readership. I like to read. Most of the time, there are two or three books that I am reading concurrently. I rarely go anywhere without a book! As you will note, I make comments about books in this blog from time to time. I will try to identify which category into which I believe each falls--outstanding, forgettable, or deserving. If you are interested in purchasing any of these books, please check out Amazon.com. You will get a good book, and I will benefit from your purchase!

In his new book Outliers: The Story of Success , Malcolm Gladwell discusses the tragic accidents that marred the record of Korean Air in the 1980s and 1990s. He writes, “The kinds of errors that cause plane crashes are invariably errors of teamwork and communication.” Both of these are skills required if a ministry entrepreneur in the 21st century is to avoid crashing and burning! Until a few years ago, a good communicator was one who could present his or her message effectively in writing and/or verbally. In some instances, a person who could communicate effectively though the visual arts might be considered a good communicator, but more often when we talked about communication, we emphasized the ability of a person to put together clear, cogent sentences that would stir, convict, educate, or persuade one’s audience. In the 21st century, a good communicator must not only be able to use verbal, written, and visuals skills to communicate, but he or she must also be able to make good use...

Recently, I wrote that an effective ministry entrepreneur needs to acquire specific knowledge, cultivate certain values, and develop competent skills to be effective in ministry. Two of these skills are being able to read or discern the culture in which one finds oneself doing ministry and then to use that culture to influence belief. Perhaps these are just two parts of the skill of contextualization. The purpose of acquiring such skills is not to accommodate the central message of the gospel to the culture but to be able to present the message in such a way that it will be understood and received by hearers steeped in the culture. There is no doubt that first century apostles used the dominant Greek culture to organize thoughts and teachings about the Messiah and to interpret this message to their hearers. The very choice of the New Testament writers to use Koine Greek rather than Aramaic or Latin in their writings speaks to a desire to communicate in a medium that would be comprehens...