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The Ministry of Little Daily Habits

Posted in Christian Life, Discipleship, Mentoring, Revival, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on 03/18/2023| 2 Comments »

Our society has become very good at knowing exactly what course, program and service to use to instill change. You struggle with something and they tell you attend that meeting, do that training, join that group. You struggle with anger, well there’s this group that can help. You are not good with money, well I know exactly the program you need. You are having problems with your relationships? What about attend this service. You can’t read or pray? Try this course. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when that’s exactly what it’ll take.

But while there are times this is true, I think most of the times change happens slowly and gradually.

But I think all this has made us believe that change will take a miracle and something out there to make it happen. That it’ll involve a special attention and a whole other group of people. Sometimes it almost sounds impossible to change unless a revolution happens. But while there are times this is true, I think most of the times change happens slowly and gradually. You might need a course or program to become aware of what you need to work on. A conversation with a friend might go a long way. And a program might expose an area where you need to pay close attention. But it’ll take deliberate daily initiative to make it happen. In the end a program or social group won’t change you. It’ll probably not involve a miracle or a revival but start with little daily habits.

Discipleship is Slow and Messy

I’m always amazed by the life of Jesus’ disciples in the Gospel accounts. Though these guys walk with God literally speaking, for three years still they struggle with the same things we do today. There’s unbelief, love of money, desire to be great, fear, impatience, lack of self control, struggle with prayer and the list continues. It takes them three years to get who Jesus is and start getting why he came. Even then only after persecution do they go out of their comfort zone to proclaim his kingdom. It takes them the addition of Paul to get how big the scope of Jesus kingdom is. And I believe the journey of sanctification needed to continue happening. Change didn’t just happen or take a miracle although they saw and did many. It was slow and sometimes even tiring to Jesus.

Other times it’ll look like we are going three steps ahead and four backwards. Sometimes we won’t realize how much we have changed until we look back.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit came in for this very purpose. That he would remind these forgetful and fearful bunch of disciples about Jesus and what he had accomplished for them. The ministry of the Spirit would then be a lifetime work in the hearts and lives of believers. If that’s what it took for the first disciples then you know you need more than a miracle, more than a revival. Actually with God’s spirit you need to start with the little daily habits before sanctification is complete. Change will be slow, sometimes even hard to put a finger on it. Other times it’ll look like we are going three steps ahead and four backwards. Sometimes we won’t realize how much we have changed until we look back. It’ll be easy to assume something out there will fix our situation. But to our suprise it’ll take the word of God applied deliberately to our daily lives especially those daily habits. It’ll start small before it gets big but in the end we’ll be surprised what has become of us.

Our obsession with revivals and conferences make us believe change will be instant.

Think Small to See Big Changes

I think we set ourselves up as believers when we imagine we’ll wake up one day being the person we admire. Our obsession with revivals and conferences make us believe change will be instant. That I will attend a meeting and be a totally different person tomorrow. That’s how we sell out events, come and your life will never be the same again. And again I want to be careful here, sometimes that’s the trigger we need. Sometimes we need to get away from all the distractions and our comfort zone. But in the end it won’t be an event that changes us, it will be what follows. It’ll be the direction our lives takes that sees us grow or soon shrink back.

Think about how you became a Christian. For those with an impressive story of having been an absolutely terrible person before we met Jesus it’s amazing to see what he was able to accomplish in us and through us. The day our lives took a turn from rebellion to obedience is one we can recall vividly. We know the day, the preacher and perhaps the clothes we were wearing. But the truth is, it was the first of the many that has brought us transformation. The Spirit opened our eyes then but the process of change and transformation took time and sometimes we faced real temptations to return to that former way of life. It was the first day of the many days needed for sanctification.

What seems small and almost inconsequential has brought about unimaginable change in us.

Actually if we looked carefully we’d see God has been fixing us one problem at a time. It’s been the small sins that the world thinks less about that he’s been killing with his word by his Spirit. One by one and sometimes returning back to those that had only fainted he’s made us different. With a service here, a fellowship there and a conversation with a brother he’s made us aware of what is ailing us. Then by the power of his word he has convicted us of our sin and when we yield to the Spirit he’s worked on that area. What seems small and almost inconsequential has brought about unimaginable change in us. You want to see real change in your life? Take small steps and you’ll see big changes in time.

Start with the Little Daily Habits

Our lives can be summarised by our daily choices. There will be days that are very significant. Days when our walk with the Lord feels so close and so intimate. When we are reading the word and praying for hours. Days we can’t believe people still struggle with sin. Days when our fellowship is on fire. Days when we are truly obeying Jesus and his great commission. But there are others that we wish we slept through and woke up the following day or weekend. Days when we feel everything is going wrong in and around us. Days when we find ourselves falling on the same sins we repented of. Days when we regret words we’ve used. Days when fellowship goes out of hand. When friends betray and our hearts are broken. Days when we miss the words to pray.

If we want to see real change in our lives it’ll have to start with our small daily habits.

The good thing is all these things happen for a season. The good and the bad don’t last. The difference is the daily habits we keep. If we insist on fellowship not matter what happens then we’ll be amazed what it can do. Sometimes I have gone for a fellowship meeting when every fibre in me wanted to just stay at home. To my suprise it was exactly what I needed. Sometimes you lack the words to pray at the beginning but as you start you find yourself getting them and enjoying that time. After COVID there’s always a temptation to say today I’m feeling tired or unwell maybe I should stay indooru and watch something online. But the day you pull yourself out of that sofa you find you not only needed to go out but you had one of the best conversations after church. Someone said something that uplifted your spirit.

If we want to see real change in our lives it’ll have to start with our small daily habits. Perhaps we don’t need to start with reading 5 chapters and praying for 3 hours in the morning. We might find reading and meditating on small portions of the word every day brings such a change in us. A commitment to start every day with 5 minutes of prayer might do us more good than an overnight kesha once in a while. A commitment to work on an area of need every day is what we need. You struggle with anger, what about not responding immediately when someone says something that offends you today. If you start with taking the time to think things over then you might find there was no cause to be angry. You struggle with Bible reading, what about starting with those small portions with a title in most Bibles. Sometimes it’s like 2 or 3 verses. You struggle with talking to people after church. Coming Sunday just talk to one of them who looks more like you. Chances are they want someone to talk to them. Start with the little spiritual habits and you’ll be amazed where you land in the long run.

And don’t let anyone tell you God only works through instant miracles. Most of the times he works through our little daily mundane choices.

Even Writing this Took Time

Let me let you in on a secret. It’s taken me a whole week to write this article. I got the idea last weekend and wrote the title down. Later I thought of a way to start that I kept changing. I paused a day to think if it would make sense or cause more trouble. Then I went ahead with the first two paragraphs, then the body and later the last part. Finally I needed some editing time before sleeping on it once more. Now there are times I write in one sitting then leave it to simmer to post later. Other times I do everything but then I delete the whole thing. What am I saying? Things don’t happen in an instant. It’s only Hollywood that communicates that though we know how long it takes them behind the scenes. If we took time to work on ourselves and what we believe one step at a time we would be amazed what God accomplishes in us and through us. And don’t let anyone tell you God only works through instant miracles. Most of the times he works through our little daily mundane choices. He works through that unimpressive fellowship and through our daily spiritual habits.

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When Speaking Betrays the Preacher

Posted in Christian Life, Digital Ministry, Ministry, Preaching, Writing, tagged , , , , , on 02/08/2023| 1 Comment »

Every now and then we encounter people who have destroyed their careers and lives simply by something they said. Politicians top this list. Someone will be doing great in their campaigns, and command the attention of their constituency only to say something in a rally that becomes their downfall. Sometimes you get that feeling that some people shouldn’t hold the microphone for more than two minutes. Other times we hear stories of people who were about to win a court case and then threw in a detail that changed everything. Our words can fight for us but so often they fight against us. But while politicians can deny what their tongue said preachers are even more vulnerable in this area.

Our words can fight for us but so often they fight against us.

Public ministry is a dangerous place to be because building a reputation takes years and yet destroying it only takes a few words thrown here and there. More is expected of those who lead and yet they are as human as any of us. The Bible says those who speak regularly are vulnerable to sin more frequently with their tongue, Proverbs 10:19. Those of us who love sharing our opinions on social media are vulnerable in sinning with our mouths and typing fingers. Speaking is the tool of the preacher but he needs to be careful it doesn’t become a weapon forged against him. So how do we guard our mouths without faking it until we make it?

Feed Your Heart Intentionally

The word tells us that it’s from the heart that we speak, see Luke 6:45. What comes out of the mouth is evidence of the food of our mind. We speak what we believe and when cornered what we truly believe. Some people are able to separate what they believe and what they need to say. They know exactly what to say in a particular context. But so often what’s hidden within tends to come to the surface. It’s worse for those who speak more regularly. Pretence will work for some time but soon the truth will come out.

The Bible doesn’t sugarcoat the failings of its human characters and the true nature of man. But it invites us to the transformation of the Gospel.

But instead of this hard double life the word frees us to know that God knows us truly and yet has called us fully. The Bible doesn’t sugarcoat the failings of its human characters and the true nature of man. But it invites us to the transformation of the Gospel. We are capable of a lot worse than we imagine but the Gospel is capable of changing us more than we would ever dream of. The remedy isn’t hypocrisy but continually feeding our hearts with the food and practice of the word. And here I don’t mean just read more Bible passages. I mean take the time to reflect, apply and own the word. Feed your heart with the truth and your mouth will be safe. Let the overflow of your speech be the evidence of what is hidden in your heart, the sweet and precious word of God.

Bridge Public Ministry with Private Life

When we read the Gospels we tend to side with the sinners who come to Jesus more than we do Pharisees. Why? Because we all hate hypocrisy and we can see it so clearly in others. Those in public ministry have a private life that can ruin or build their ministry. We are not expected to be perfect but we shouldn’t be hypocrites living a double life. Our private life left unchecked will influence our public ministry. Our hearts will betray our tongues or we’ll always pick and choose what to teach.

Instead, the man of God has to learn to be God’s student number one. He doesn’t stand as God’s lawyer but as his keen student who knows his own need and of those he ministers to. None of his sermons are directed to others. It always begins with him before it flows to beggars like him. If we don’t keep asking God to work in us, if we ignore our desperate need for the meal of the word then we’ll inevitably become hypocrites. Our mouths will teach what we don’t believe and soon our tongues will betray us.

Watch Your Tongue and Typing Fingers

We speak to such a diverse audience these days. When you post on social media there’s all kinds of people with different backgrounds and unique context that read your post. It’d be better if we had more opportunity to speak the truth to fewer people in a specific place and setting. But while we should do that more regularly still we’ll find ourselves having to speak to a more general audience. If you like writing like me then you know your audience will be even more diverse. For this reason I think we need to be even more careful with our words. Now more than ever we need to watch what we say, how we say it and who we intend to hear if we want to truly influence people with the truth.

We cannot afford to be careless with our words and expect anyone to take us seriously. The sword of truth should be used to dispel lies but not slay our audience. We ought to speak with care and wisdom to protect our audience from our extremes. Haven’t you listened to someone and knew what they were saying was important but the way they did it made you dismiss them. Sometimes I see posts on Facebook that makes me feel the author needed to take a glass of water to cool down first. How can we be expected to help others if we cannot control ourselves. Keyboard warriors need to be warned of their sinful hearts masquerading as defense for the truth. By all means we should speak the truth all while watching our hearts and controlling our tongues.

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The Social Media Ministry

Posted in Digital Ministry, social media, Writing, tagged , , on 02/23/2022| 6 Comments »

When I first started sharing a lot on social media I thought I had learned something the world needed to hear. I was for the first time coming face to face with the true Gospel as the Bible taught it. It was just not something I could keep to myself. But a few years later I came to realize maybe Facebook shouldn’t have been my first go-to audience.

You see it’s only social media that allows a new convert to be a church elder the following day. To qualify for the office all I needed was to be vocal about my convictions and not necessarily godly in my character. I would point fingers at anyone but never myself. But while some said I was bold many saw my ignorance. I would see it with time and regret my quickness to share and fight in public.

You see social media can hoodwink us to think that this is the platform I just need to turn the world upside down. I have 3k followers and I won’t rest until they all know the truth. Sometimes I would even get offended seeing that good churches didn’t do as much online ministry. That was before COVID forced all of them to run there.

But now, I’m actually skeptical of how much can be achieved online. We need to think a bit more before we put that post out there. Sometimes we might conclude this belongs to my diary, not the public space. And if we cannot kill a post that says a lot more about us. Perhaps we are the ones who need help.

Don’t get me wrong I appreciate this platform and you know I use it as much as I can. There’s a lot of good we can do here. But unfortunately how we do this can sometimes lead to hurting than building the body of Christ. Sometimes what happens on these streets rarely makes a difference if not giving us the wrong labels.

But since like COVID social media is here to stay, we need to think a bit more about those we are trying to reach and how we do that. We need to know our world so we can be effective on this pulpit. And we need to remember the times we live in. Here are a few things to bear in mind.

You can’t put us in a box – “Hatupangwingwi”
We are a rebellious people in a democratic world. We hate authority and anyone who tries to tell us what to do. We despise those who hold their labels and show us how wrong we are. They might be right but who are they to question us? You might feel this way about this post and I’m sorry for the offense caused.
But this means that even a good pastor will have a hard time rebuking and correcting his loyal congregant. What about a stranger that you have no relationship with? I think you are inviting trouble before you finish your first paragraph.

It is for this reason that I think that deep theological questions don’t belong on the social media school where there’s such a wide range of standpoints and you are more likely to be misunderstood. If we are genuine and truly want to help people that’s not where we’d start. Going to the mosque and screaming, Jesus is Lord might look bold but I doubt you’ll do much before you are silenced. We also need to remember that the call to be bold doesn’t always mean we have to be offensive to be truthful.

I sometimes wonder how come we speak so less of the many things the Bible addresses simply and clearly to all. We speak little of the call to die to self and serve others. Speak less of killing sin daily. We speak less of the need to grow in the word and in prayer. Speak so little of our heavenly calling. Less of the call to one anothering. Instead, we always seem to go for what divides us not what would mutually build and challenge us all on social media.

Know your crowd -“Even Algorithms know their audience”
The interesting thing about this global village is that yours is just a small village in the wider globe. By this I mean you actually don’t have the attention of the whole world contrary to what we might imagine. Your audience is still people who mostly already agree with you. They subscribe to your school of thought and already like you. The exception is those you’ve attracted for the wrong reasons.

This means our posts echo what our clan already believes and it might help to ask what would build and encourage them. I was taught any good sermon has a specific audience in mind. But if we write our posts for people we cannot even imagine having a relationship with then we are just shouting to the air.

On the other hand, we need to remember how hard it’ll be to convert those outside our clan. Our posts ought to be directed to those we are already serving and meeting as often as we can. These would only reinforce what they already believe not try to teach something new and controversial in such an environment.

Change takes time and the right space
Perhaps this is the one thing we always forget with social media. We put up a post, wait to see the comments, and assume change is happening. But that’s just not how it works. How long has it taken us to change? And how did that happen? I doubt it was a post from a stranger on Facebook that did it. If we happen to convince someone on social media it’s probably because others are already working alongside them in real life.

I think it’d help if our posts were geared to mutual encouragement of the saints more than forceful and offensive engagement. Point them to the one who can grow and change people. Let social media just be a supplement to ongoing ministry, not the primary platform.

Remember we hate toxic people
Branding people toxic and cutting them off has never been easier. We’ll do it in a beat and I bet a lot of us have already blocked a number of people. Sometimes it’s the best thing to do in some cases. But this also communicates how easy it is to reject what we don’t agree with.

It means if we truly love and care about the people we want to reach then how we do it matters as much as what we post. For every challenge, I think a normal human being needs at least three encouragements. You’d notice the Bible labors a lot on positive motivation before the negative. Paul who was clearly unashamed for the truth spoke a lot of encouragement to the churches before he could rebuke them. If our wall is then full of offensive language I doubt you’ll achieve as much.

Our intentions are not always neutral

The Bible teaches us that our hearts are desperately deceptive. It’s possible to think we mean well and our actions are informed by a love for God, his Word, and his people. As I said we might feel disappointed that others in our circles aren’t trying to share the truth as much. But we need to ask ourselves what’s in it for me? Why is it that I feel so strongly about this? Is there something else lurking in my good intentions? What idol is begging my attention?

It is a good thing to share our deep-held convictions and it should give us comfort to imagine we are helping others. In a platform where people are already feeding on a lot of junk, I can say we need a more helpful and balanced Gospel diet. But I shouldn’t think it’s my job to comment on anything and everything. If I have to force my convictions on others then I need to be rebuked. I need to remember I’m a sinner too, that I haven’t arrived yet. For anyone who seeks to teach others, I think we doubly need to ask if we are learning from the Saviour ourselves. Are we killing our own sin? How are we pursuing godliness? Do we know our idols and might we be feeding them in the name of helping others?

So where does this leave us?
When all is said and done I would submit that God works despite our ignorance and arrogance. All of us would remember things we’ve said and done that we might regret today. Perhaps there are posts we’ve had to pull down. I think we shouldn’t beat ourselves too much if that’s the case though we should learn from it. If anything that shows growth.

This also doesn’t mean we only share what massages people’s egos. It doesn’t mean we cannot challenge others as the word is challenging us. Actually, any talk of the Gospel will be challenging and offensive. But it does call us to weigh what we do, be careful how we do it, and be intentional with those we have in mind. Our posts can benefit people we don’t know and didn’t expect but only because we were also informed by a love for a specific audience.

We need to be intentional with our ministry and if possible let our focus be on people we already walk with. There’s a reason Jesus had a primary audience among the twelve, not with the crowds and the Pharisees. Even when he spoke to the crowds he had the disciples and those who would be his disciples in mind. That old method of working a deep Gospel work with a few to reach the many is still the most effective model. Let social media supplement that not spoil, compete or take over from it.

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In praise of pen and ink (and face-to-face)

Posted in Bible, Orality, Writing on 06/14/2016| 1 Comment »

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One of the big cultural differences I’ve encountered in Kenya is the perception of written communication. Each year, in the session on communication at our induction workshop for the new apprentices we ask for the advantages and disadvantages of oral and written communication. If you asked that question of a group of UK fresh graduates I’m pretty sure that you’d hear quite a lot of disadvantages of oral communication and quite a lot of advantages of written. In Kenya we come up with the reverse – lots of advantages of oral communication and hardly any advantages of written (beyond the fact that there’s a record).

It’s a challenge to the western mind to appreciate the sentiment of the elder John who would “rather not write with pen and ink” but “see you… and… talk face to face” (3 John 13-14). It’s a challenge to those of us who gravitate towards blogs and emails rather than picking up the phone or getting out and seeing people. Certainly there are great advantages in bodily presence, fellowship over food, really connecting. The great joy we look forward to is seeing Christ face to face. And there are advantages in the process of communication – body language and facial expressions helping us get the tone and mood more accurately, immediate feedback, the chance to work things through, clarify misunderstandings, negotiate, develop a conversation in new directions.

And I was reminded by our Eastern European sisters (whose culture may in some ways be closer to Africa than NW Europe) that coming and visiting someone to talk about something or request something, rather than writing an email, communicates effort and importance and humility. It is more costly and risky but at the same time harder for the person being visited/asked to say No!

So there are lots of advantages to face to face communication but as Harrison often reminds us and as Njeri reminded me a in a recent post, there are advantages to pen and paper too in this present age.

  1. Writing gives stability, consistency and longevity to a communication. As Njeri points out, how would we know anything about Athanasius and Augustine and Luther if they had never written? How much of the detail of Paul and his missionary journeys would have survived if Luke and Paul himself hadn’t written? Oral communication can carry words a long way over long time periods but over time it inevitably gets distorted and splits into multiple traditions and versions which all recite the history somewhat differently. You can imagine the confusion after a few hundred years when one story teller recites the teaching of Paul in one way while another recites it very differently. One says that Jesus said this, while another tells us Jesus said that. We end up with different gospels and little way to tell between them which is the true one. This is why the laws of nations are written down. Some of the earliest writing discovered is of legal documents. Imagine the chaos if law was passed on orally and each policeman and judge just had to remember the law as it was passed down to them with no fixed point to refer to (we may think that sounds rather familiar in our context but that’s another story). Similarly, when it comes to organisations, having written policies is what maintains consistency and impartiality (1 Tim. 5:21). Interestingly, when it comes to the Bible, although there was certainly some oral transmission involved at certain points, compared to most ancient narratives, God’s Word was written down very early, often by the eye witnesses themselves (Num. 33:2; Deut. 31:24; John 5:46). Luke clearly wanted to move things from oral to written (Luke 1:1-4). The Bible is not just a bunch of amorphous ideas, like a jellyfish, shifting, without sharp edges – according to Jesus it is very important that every word in the original languages is persevered precisely, unaltered (Matt. 5:18 cf. Rev. 22:18-19). Our faith rests on the fixed rock of truth.
  2. Writing takes responsibility, accepts accountability. Recently a friend checked with the local government whether he and his organisation were complying with all the statutory requirements to operate as an NGO in a particular location. The council representative checked through the requirements and said, “Yes, you’ve done everything you need to do.” My friend asked, “Can you put that in writing for us? Just a note to say that we have done everything we need to do and are legal here?” To which the answer was, “Errrr, no – I’d rather not do that.” When you put something in writing and put your name at the bottom you take ownership of your words. Walter Chen: “Good managers want to be held accountable and aren’t looking for ways to weasel out of responsibility.” When we just speak words into the air we can deny them or edit them later. When we have written there is something to stand by. When God puts his word in writing he is taking ownership of it. “Thus says the LORD.”
  3. Writing indicates the seriousness and trustworthiness of a warning or a promise. This flows from the last point. When we say, “I’ll put it in writing” we are saying that we seriously mean what we say. A written warning in the workplace is a step up the discipline ladder from a verbal warning. A written commitment to pay back a loan usually has more seriousness (and legal currency) than a verbal agreement. A particular case in point is a Last Will and Testament (which if you haven’t done you should get done today!) which is a written document. As Luther realised, the whole Old Testament can be looked at as a legal Will – a set of promises that require the death of the one who made them for them to come into force (cf. Heb. 9:16-17; Matt. 26:28; Rev. 5:1-10).  Sentiments also mean more if they are put into writing too. “I love you” said to my wife is one thing. “I love you” written down for her in a letter or card and given means something slightly different, perhaps even more. Another way of looking at the Bible is as a love letter – God has put his love for us in writing.
  4. Writing gives time to think, structure, craft and REVISE. This is one of the great advantages of written communication. Once my words are out of my mouth they are gone. Once they are on paper I can screw up the paper and try again, or today just tap a few keys to delete a sentence, substitute a word, change the order and flow. I can read and check it. I can leave it overnight and read it again in the morning and find that it is far too harsh. Even better I can ask my wife to read it before I hit send! When you read the Bible you see huge amounts of careful crafting. Think of Lamentations – the way the poetry is so carefully organised with each verse starting with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. That wasn’t something that someone came out with spontaneously. Or think of the New Testament letters, crammed with theology, where every word counts. When it comes to a carefully nuanced, precisely weighted communication, often writing is best.
  5. Writing develops clear, focussed thinking & communication. Harrison has reminded us of this a number of times. Prayer letters and reports have as much value for the writer as for the recipient. It is a way to discipline your thoughts. Walter Chen again: “Writing out full sentences enforces clear thinking.” Jeff Bezos of Amazon: “There is no way to write a six-page, narratively structured memo and not have clear thinking” (RT Chen). There is a vagueness and sloppiness and incoherence that you can might get away with in verbal communication that gets ‘found out’ very quickly when you are forced to put your thoughts on paper. As someone once said, when your thinking is confused, “Write yourself clear.” And – old advice – write something out in old fashioned pen and ink and paper before you hit the computer – that will get you even clearer.
  6. Writing can be re-read multiple times. This is a major advantage of written over oral communication. Isn’t it great to get a letter from a friend or fiancée and be able to read it over and over? My daughter loves to read her favourite books again and again. And for understanding: when I’m reading J I Packer or John Owen I often have to stop and read a paragraph again, maybe two or three times to get the full impact. Paul tells Timothy to think over what he is saying (2 Tim. 2:7) and he can do that because he has it in writing. He can read the words about the good soldier and the athlete and the hard-working farmer because he has the letter in his hands. He can pore over it, read it slowly again and again. And we can do that with the whole Bible (thank God for Bible translators).
  7. Writing gives opportunity to develop complex arguments and accurately cite sources. Oral communication can communicate quite complex ideas – think of a science lecture or a Puritan sermon – but there comes a point where a book is a better form. You cannot convey 20 points in a sermon and you certainly can’t show all the interconnections and implications and look at the issues from different perspectives and address all the counter-arguments. This is why book writing and book reading is so important. Think how impoverished our thinking and theology would be if there had never been an Augustine or Calvin or Edwards or Dostoyevsky writing serious, long books. And particularly when it comes to scholarship and the academic exercise, writing allows you the format not only to structure complex ideas but also to give credit and evidence by citing very precisely the words and work of others, something that is essential not only to integrity but also to being able to check the truthfulness of our words.

So let’s long for face-to-face but let’s also keep writing…

 

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What sort of books do we need?

Posted in Bible interpretation, Writing on 09/06/2013| Leave a Comment »

christian bookshop

This endorsement in the front of a book I read recently really caught my eye:

Fair, keenly observant, startlingly honest, this book is replete with careful exegetical work. Verses are not merely cited; they are considered in context… The result is a book that is nuanced an clear, useful and enjoyable to read, and that is no small gift… Open this book and you’ll want to open your Bible and open your mind…

It doesn’t really matter which book this was endorsing or how well it matched up. It was the endorsement that made me think – that’s it! That is exactly what we need and what is so lacking on the bursting bookshelves of our Christian bookshops.

Just as we desperately need preaching that goes through passages and books of the Bible rather than giving us a preacher’s idea supported with a scattering of Bible verses, so we need books that don’t just throw around verses but carefully treat whole passages in context, letting them set the agenda, letting them speak into our context.

Just as with a good sermon, a good book should make me more hungry to open my Bible, more hungry for Christ. Just as with a good sermon, I should go away not saying, “Wasn’t that book and it’s 10 points great” but, “Isn’t the gospel great”.

What I’m concerned about is not just the clearly terrible, prosperity gospel, self-help motivational ‘Christian’ books. I’m thinking of the books that are written from a good godly perspective, teaching good wholesome things. It’s just that they’re not modelling careful handling of the Bible. They’re just citing verses. They may even be using them rightly (though often there’s a reason why the context is not quoted) but even then they are not showing me how they are handling them rightly. They are not taking me with them through the hard (but rewarding) work of exegesis.

The danger, apart from the obvious one of error, is that a topical sermon and an exegesis-light book will both make me dependent on the preacher/author. They are the authority. They are the one who has conjured something out of the Scriptures I’d never have found. I’ll have to come back to them for my next fix,  the next 10 steps, the sequel. A good Christian book will point out wonderful things I could have seen for myself if I’d only read the Bible carefully and then set me free to explore the Scriptures for myself.

More of those books please…

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Write yourself clear

Posted in Discipleship, Research, Writing on 02/21/2013| Leave a Comment »

Writing

Even in the hitech corporate world, companies like Amazon are realising the value of writing – long hand, pen and ink and dead trees – particularly in getting your thinking clear.

“There is no way to write a six-page, narratively structured memo and not have clear thinking.”

You could delude yourself into imagining you understood Chaucer or organic chemistry until the exact moment you tried to sit down and write a paper on the topic.

(see article here)

That’s partly why writing a research paper on a theological or biblical or pastoral issue is part of the iServe Africa apprenticeship year. Below is something we shared recently with the apprentices on “Research as discipleship” – or to put it in other words: writing a research paper is (or should be) an expression of the fruit of the Spirit…

  1. Humility 
    • Research should be a humbling exercise in itself as we start to glimpse how much we do not know or understand.  Realise that these questions may have been discussed for thousands of years and thousands have spent lifetimes researching them.
    • Once you’ve done a fair bit of work it requires a lot of humility to accept direction and criticism and to cut stuff out (‘kill your babies’).
  2. Love
    • When interviewing or interacting with people don’t manipulate; get permission to use names, quotes, responses.
    • When writing about other people or arguing with an author you disagree with, imagine they are sitting there beside you and love them.
    • When writing, think about your reader – how can you make it as easy and clear as possible – i.e. clear structure, explaining technical terms, proof reading, not just getting it all out of your head but communicating clearly to someone else for their benefit.
  3. Peace
    • Respect those you engage with – ‘Honour everyone’ (1 Pet. 2:17), ‘bless those who persecute you… so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all’ (Rom. 12:16-18), write with generosity.
    • But ‘have no fear of them’ (1 Pet. 3:14) – ‘do not fear what they fear’ (Isa. 8:12) – don’t agree with a big name because he is a big name or with the ‘scholarly consensus’ just because it is the scholarly consensus.
  4. Patience and perseverance
    • Haraka haraka haina baraka.  Data collection, reading and writing can’t be rushed.  “The real task is much harder than to be intelligent. It is to unlearn all that, to relax and to slow down.”[1]
    • Better is the end of a thing than its beginning (Ecc. 7:8) – write down anything, keep writing, revise, revise, keep going, finish.
  5. Faithfulness and honesty
    • Don’t use fallacious arguments e.g. a ‘straw man’ or a false dichotomy.
    • Don’t make an assertion without evidence.
    • Don’t cut corners or pretend to have more evidence than you have.
    • Don’t just look for evidence that supports your argument – look just as diligently for counter-evidence and be willing to change to fit the truth.
    • Don’t steal words (Jer. 23:30) – When using sources (whether books, internet or spoken) reference properly with the author, the title, date of publication and the page number whether you are paraphrasing or quoting their words with speech marks.
  6. Joy – Research as enjoying Jesus. Never divorce mind and heart, doctrine and praise. It’s normal to use the third person rather than the first person and there must be evidence for what you say but never forget what and who you are writing about.
There’s some more on research papers to download here (especially for the current apprentices but may be of help to others).

[1] George Watson, Writing a Thesis: a guide to long essays and dissertations, Harlow: 1987, p. 11.

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