Barnabas File

Hardly a week goes by without another poll dealing with the decline and marginalization of the church.   One might become easily discouraged by such reports, but I believe that one antidote is to develop a new way of looking at the life and work of the church.   This comes through the understanding and implementation of a missional ecclesiology. In theological circles, ecclesiology is the study of the doctrine of the church.  There have been a number of ways of interpreting the nature of the church informed by the Bible, history, context and practice.  Ecclesiology is an evolving doctrine. The term “missional” refers to the essential nature and vocation of the church as God’s called and sent people.  Missional is a way of being and doing life as individuals, groups, and congregations. Living missionally means that we ask the question, “What does God want us to be, do, and become to continue the ministry of Christ within our own community and globa...

According to the story, a young person asked an older, wiser person, “How do I avoid mistakes?”  The mentor said, “Get experience.”  The young person rejoined, “Then how do I get experience?” The reply:  “Make mistakes.”  Of course, this assumes that one learns from his or her mistakes.  Unfortunately, many of us make mistakes again and again but never learn from them.  How do we learn from mistakes?  Let me suggest several steps. First, pray that God will give you a teachable spirit.  If we are unwilling to learn from our mistakes and adapt our behavior, we won’t improve.  We will continue to do the same thing again and again and expect different results. Albert Einstein called that insanity. Second, give yourself the space to reflect on exactly what happened.  Don’t obsess about it, but make sure that you have a well-rounded picture of events.  You might even ask a trusted friend who observed the event or action to ...

Despite the vast changes in work and society, we continue to ask children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”   We plant in children at an early age that their work, their job, will be an important part of their identity.   Perhaps we would serve them better if we asked the question, “What will you become?” There seems to be renewed interest among Baptist Christians in the concepts of vocation and calling.  The words are used in different ways in various contexts.  Although we tend to think about only those who work with the sacred as having a “calling” and those who work in the secular world as having a “vocation,” this is not true in all Christian traditions and is probably poor theology. Whether we see what we do as a vocation or a calling, they are intertwined.  The message is the same:  We serve God by responding to the prompting of God to do that for which we are best equipped. Our vocation or calling should be an expression of what...

This week many will celebrate the life of Saint Patrick of Ireland with green shamrocks, green clothing, green beer, and even green rivers.   The day has become a time to celebrate the mythos of Eire, the Emerald Isle, and to party, but we can also take advantage of the day to take a second look at Patrick the churchman and his legacy. As one might expect, much of the story of Patrick is shrouded in myth. The accepted story is that he was kidnapped from Britain by Irish raiders when he was 16 and taken to Ireland where he was a slave for six years.  He eventually escaped and returned to his family, but he took vows with the Church and returned to his place of enslavement as a missionary.  He is credited with converting the island to the Christian faith.  By the seventh century, he had come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland. The genius of Patrick seems to have been his ability to contextualize the faith in order to win converts.  He took adv...

Create student Angela Powell Angela Powell entered seminary to pursue her ministry calling.   She had responded to the leadership of the Holy Spirit to begin Bright Future Ministries, but she realized that she needed to know more to be an effective leader.   As a create master of divinity student at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, she became part of a community that has equipped her with the ministry and entrepreneurial skills to expand that ministry. Create is an innovative approach to theological education that helps a student develop his or her unique ministry vision.  Classes and internships are designed to equip, challenge, and empower students toward that goal.  Create is not your typical master of divinity program but calls students, instructors, and administrators to be open to “the wind of the Spirit” in a supportive faith community. This is particularly true in Angela’s case.  For one of her create internships, she had the opport...

My friend Larry Taylor was our supply preacher on Sunday morning.   Larry always brings a unique perspective to a passage and wrings new truth out of familiar words.   He did it again on Sunday as he preached from John 11 about the raising of Lazarus.   I came away thinking about which comes first for a Christian—the seeing or the believing. We have heard since we were children that “seeing is believing” but the introduction of digital photography, CGI, and Photoshop makes that a questionable statement.  We now see things on the screen that are impossible or fantastic but they are there anyway.  Even in actual events such as a traffic accident, witnesses often disagree on what took place.  Each has his or her own perspective. Larry suggested that perhaps believing more often precedes seeing (at least that is what I heard).  We have to have a frame of reference in order to really understand the meaning of events.   Many who saw Jesu...

Mentoring is a very popular term today with a number of definitions and formats.   Mentoring allows us to benefit from the skills and experiences of others as we identify our own strengths and areas of potential growth.   The practice is important not only in corporations but for churches and not for profit organizations as well.   Several of types of mentoring are suggested in a blog from the Harvard Business Review, and I have added one more. 1.  Buddy or peer mentoring is much like an “apprenticeship” that helps a person “learn the ropes” in a new setting.  Formal peer mentoring helps a new person to mesh into an organization, but much of this type of orientation and assimilation takes place informally.  In a ministerial setting, we often find this type of mentoring with fellow students in seminary, other staff members, or in lunch or coffee groups with ministers in the community.  Although this may be done informally, the process is very im...

Concerns about reaching young adults for the church came up in three different conversations in which I was involved last week.  One was an online peer group call with ministers who have a particular interest in this demographic.  Another was with the minister of Christian formation in a local congregation who wants to make sure that these folks are included in church life.  The third conversation was with leaders from several states who seek to raise funds for collegiate ministries in areas where Baptists have limited resources. Of course, when we talk about young adults, we often neglect the diversity within the age group.  The demographic included singles, married couples, single parents, college and university students, graduate students, blue collar workers, young professionals, and military personnel (just to name a few).  This is not a monolithic group although they share many characteristics.  Some may resist be considered as part of a “young...