Book Review.
Webber, Robert E. Journey To Jesus. The worship, evangelism, and nurture mission of the church. Abingdon Press. 2001.
R.W.- former director of the Institute for Worship Studies- Wheaton. Author of several worship-related resources.
Comment. Henry.
Webber has taken a close look at “The Apostolic Tradition”, written by Hippolytus in 215, to learn about the practice of evangelism in the early church. Because of the similarities between the culture of Rome in which the early church functioned and our postmodern culture, he believes we need to take the model of the early church to develop the worship, evangelism and nurture mission of the church today. Webber identifies four phases and four passage rites of this model. They are: “Phase I- Evangelism of the seeker and the passage rite is Welcome. Phase II- Discipleship of the hearer and the passage rite is Enrollment of Names. Phase III- Spiritual formation of the kneeler with the passage rite of Baptism. Phase IV-Nurturing of the faithful into full membership and the passage rite is the Eucharist.” (12)
Robert’s research has added an interesting, helpful resource to the information about the early church.
The early church was in conflict with the Roman state government and the Roman religion. Christianity was defended by the “Apologists”. (31) The eschatological vision of the early church was “a perfect society in the future”. (33) To proclaim Christ as Lord and not Caesar put a Christian’s life in jeopardy. The church became the nurturer (mother) of its children. Conversion was sometimes an event, e.g. Paul, but always a process. Baptism for the early church was a powerful, public symbol of involvement in the Christian community.
The Constantinian model of the church and the Christendom that developed around that model are now history. Today’s culture is similar to pre-Constantinian times and the church must be relevant in that culture. Therefore the model of the early church needs to become today’s model for the church in evangelism, worship, and nurture.
The evangelism message of the early church was seeker focused. It stressed repentance and baptism, Acts 2:37-38. It was communicated wherever disciples (believers) went. It was a one on one approach and the results were phenomenal. The impact of the church was personal and communal. For those brought up in the Hebrew faith conversion was followed (shortly) by baptism. For Gentiles, there was a process of instruction after conversion and then baptism.
The evangelism model of the early church that today’s church needs to follow, includes rites and passages. Conversion comes with the rite of welcome as a “performative symbol”. (82) “The passage rite of conversion separates a person from his or her former life. It’s a rite of transition to a new way of life and incorporation into a new community.” (82) Discipleship is part of the conversion process. The final step of preparation for baptism is the “rite of covenant”. (116)
A person who is in the third phase of evangelism is called a “kneeler” (138). The passage rite is baptism. This rite is marked by and recognized by “spiritual warfare”. (140) The early church treated this rite as a spiritual birth that prepared a participant as a member of the church.
The final phase of evangelism was the receiving of the new members into the church and nurturing of those members. They were affirmed in their giftedness and empowered in their service. “The rite of Eucharist is the rite of fellowship with God and with each other.” (182)
Webber gives some practical suggestions to help those who would respond to his challenge to do worship, evangelism, and nurture according to the early church model.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Solid Footholds for The Leader
Book Review.
Schlitt, Ron. Solid Footholds for The Leader. A view from those below. Trafford Publishing. 2007.
R.S.- President and CEO of RDJ Management Corporation. He has spent over twenty years working almost every demographic of the working population in developing and leading individuals to successful corporate life. He lives in Kelowna, B.C.
Comment. Henry.
Ron’s primary resource for the content of his book comes from his personal experience in the ‘marketplace’. His use of anonymous contributors adds a practical focus on how associates and employees are impacted by corporate leadership. Ron places a very high value on relationships in the workplace. His approach is somewhat simplistic but that is by design. He speaks a language that is uncomplicated and seeks to call issues by their very simplest terms, e.g. “No News Is Not Good News”.
The process that leaders undertake to solicit ‘feed-back’ from those they are leading must be done correctly. The request(s) must be seen as genuine and trustworthy. There is a danger that requests might be viewed as simply gauging loyalty and identifying opposition. There is a danger that some would view requests as masked hidden agendas.
A warning is sounded about waste and inefficiency that can become a part of a workplace environment. Ron calls this problem “feeding the hog”, (referring to a practice in the sawmill industry where waste (hog-fuel) is sent to a burner to get rid of it). “The biggest single hog-feeding strategy is the resignation of key personnel.” (36)
“Under-communication” (44) is always damaging to the workplace environment. Giving employees (associates) genuine recognition is fundamental to good morale. Having to make major decisions (“pulling the trigger” (94) comes with the responsibility of knowing all the facts surrounding those decisions.
Leaders must maintain a high level of level of transparency and accountability with their workers. “Even your personal life outside of work is measured.” (70) There is no substitute for sound modelling. Positive feed-back, from below, is a valid barometer of good leadership.
Ron divides leaders into three groups. There are those who seek followers that are similar “in appearance, emotions and thinking”. (101) He calls them “Clones”. (101) Leaders who want followers that are robots he calls “Drones”. (104) Then there are those leaders who look for employees who “have their own unique set of skills, abilities, interests and creative minds”. (108) Such leaders are “Bones”. (108) “Flames, ashes and embers” (113) is another analogy that Ron uses to differentiate between poor, bad and good leaders. A good leader has the courage and wisdom to be able to genuinely say “I am sorry”. (125) “Gamesmanship leads to paranoia and mistrust for both the leader and the follower.” (159) (159) “Leadership is action, not position.” (167)
henrydirksen.blogspot.com
Schlitt, Ron. Solid Footholds for The Leader. A view from those below. Trafford Publishing. 2007.
R.S.- President and CEO of RDJ Management Corporation. He has spent over twenty years working almost every demographic of the working population in developing and leading individuals to successful corporate life. He lives in Kelowna, B.C.
Comment. Henry.
Ron’s primary resource for the content of his book comes from his personal experience in the ‘marketplace’. His use of anonymous contributors adds a practical focus on how associates and employees are impacted by corporate leadership. Ron places a very high value on relationships in the workplace. His approach is somewhat simplistic but that is by design. He speaks a language that is uncomplicated and seeks to call issues by their very simplest terms, e.g. “No News Is Not Good News”.
The process that leaders undertake to solicit ‘feed-back’ from those they are leading must be done correctly. The request(s) must be seen as genuine and trustworthy. There is a danger that requests might be viewed as simply gauging loyalty and identifying opposition. There is a danger that some would view requests as masked hidden agendas.
A warning is sounded about waste and inefficiency that can become a part of a workplace environment. Ron calls this problem “feeding the hog”, (referring to a practice in the sawmill industry where waste (hog-fuel) is sent to a burner to get rid of it). “The biggest single hog-feeding strategy is the resignation of key personnel.” (36)
“Under-communication” (44) is always damaging to the workplace environment. Giving employees (associates) genuine recognition is fundamental to good morale. Having to make major decisions (“pulling the trigger” (94) comes with the responsibility of knowing all the facts surrounding those decisions.
Leaders must maintain a high level of level of transparency and accountability with their workers. “Even your personal life outside of work is measured.” (70) There is no substitute for sound modelling. Positive feed-back, from below, is a valid barometer of good leadership.
Ron divides leaders into three groups. There are those who seek followers that are similar “in appearance, emotions and thinking”. (101) He calls them “Clones”. (101) Leaders who want followers that are robots he calls “Drones”. (104) Then there are those leaders who look for employees who “have their own unique set of skills, abilities, interests and creative minds”. (108) Such leaders are “Bones”. (108) “Flames, ashes and embers” (113) is another analogy that Ron uses to differentiate between poor, bad and good leaders. A good leader has the courage and wisdom to be able to genuinely say “I am sorry”. (125) “Gamesmanship leads to paranoia and mistrust for both the leader and the follower.” (159) (159) “Leadership is action, not position.” (167)
henrydirksen.blogspot.com
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