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Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

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Valuing Conflict

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On October 20, 2016

In Team Formation, Character, Confrontation, Insider Movements

I have just finished reading the latest edition of the Missio Nexus Anthology, an issue solely devoted to talking about conflict in the Christian community. It includes a few articles particularly focused on resolving cross-cultural conflict, and a couple of articles about dealing with differences between mission agencies. But the idea that most struck me was that conflict is important, even necessary for our development in our Christian life.

Ted Esler, in his closing article in the Anthology, talks about “Loving Conflict.”  Conflict, he says, deepens relationships, is necessary for good decisions and shapes our character.  He concludes,

Do you want to have strong relationships, good decisions, and a deeper character? Then learn to embrace and love conflict.

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Tanks and Training for Missions

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On September 28, 2016

In Books, Hardship, Training, Book Reviews, Pre-field Training

God can transform the most painful experiences of our childhood into preparation to bless others.  Joseph told his brothers many years after they sold him into slavery, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen 50:20).

I just finished listening to a similar story. In The Tank Man’s Son: A Memoir, Mark Bouman shares his gut-wrenching account of pain and misery, while growing up in rural Michigan. He was the son of an abusive man who owned a tank and ran a gun range near his home where military weapons of various kinds were regularly (and illegally) fired. His memories are terrifying – and at times comical – but always highly unusual.

As a young boy, he suffered shrapnel wounds while helping his dad with the shooting range.  He found a huge tree root sticking through the roof of their home when their father used too much dynamite to blow up a stump.  He watched his father and his friends play war games in his backyard at night. His parents’ home was unfinished, marked by holes in the floors and broken fixtures, and situated on 11 acres of garbage and various items crushed by the tank or left to rust. But above all else, Mark’s childhood was ruled by fear of his father’s totally unpredictable outbursts of anger and regular physical abuse.

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Who Are the Best Students When God is the Teacher?

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On December 17, 2015

In Character, Lifelong Learning, Spiritual Formation, Christ

In the past month, I have been meditating on the idea of awe and reverence.   A spiritual audit I took in early November asked the question, “Have I maintained a genuine awe of God?”   I realized that this was a weak area of mine, and I decided to take a month to reflect on different Bible verses that spoke about awe of God. One of my last meditations was on the passage from Hebrews 5:7-10 which speaks of Jesus’ reverence for his Heavenly Father. Yes, Jesus, though he was God Himself, had a deep reverence for his Father in heaven, a reverence that enabled him to be a great student.

 Hebrews 5:7–10 (NIV)

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

In an earlier post on the value of crucible experiences, I noted how the suffering that Jesus endured, probably referring to his crucible experience in the Garden of Gethsemane, was used by God to perfect him (Heb 2:10).   Although Jesus was not disobedient before his suffering, he learned about the cost of obedience from his suffering.   In a later chapter, the writer of Hebrews goes on to talk about “the joy set before him” that motivated Jesus to persevere through his suffering (Heb 12:1-2).   Jesus learned that submitting to the Father’s will and pleasing Him is worth it all, even to the point of suffering excruciating pain and rejection.

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Crucibles Develop Our Capacity

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On July 9, 2015

In Training, Growth Plans

These days, I am following a training plan to prepare for a half marathon that I would like to run in September.  The training plan is progressive.  You start with running 4.8 km, then after a few weeks, you move up to 6.4 km.  When running 6.4 km is no longer a big challenge, then the training plan asks you to run 8 km.   A few weeks later, when 8 km becomes relatively easy, then you are asked to run 10 km, and so on.

There are no shortcuts. This is a 20-week plan and slowly builds capacity up to 21.1 km as you faithfully follow the plan.   Other training plans for half marathons may be shorter, but they all follow the same principle. You run longer and longer distances as your capacity increases over time.

I have also been reading the book of James these days and reflecting on the relationship between crucible experiences (trials) and our personal growth. James 1:3-4 reminds us that “the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

James clearly says testing produces perseverance. But then just a few verses later, he seems to contradict himself by saying that perseverance is required to stand firm in a time of testing.

 

 

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12)

So, which comes first – the perseverance or the trials?    Do we need trials to develop perseverance, or do we need perseverance to withstand trials?

The answer is “yes!”. I believe that the biblical pattern is that trials develop our capacity to withstand harder trials in the future.  What was overwhelming for me as a young man (preparing a message, leading a ministry) is no longer as intimidating. But God has other challenges before me, stretching me and building my capacity.   Just as in physical training, we experience the training effect in our spiritual lives as we follow God and his personal training program of problems, challenges, opportunities and suffering, carefully and uniquely designed for us. The program, if we follow it, will bring us to an ever-higher level of maturity and fruitfulness.

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