i
!
I
t
!
j
j
!
Reproduced with
A
T17
THE INTEGRAL RELATION OF PREACHING AND TEACHING
A Dissertation
Presented to
the Faculty of the
SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AT CLAREMONT
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF RELIGION
by
James Robert Jacobson
Ml
June 1966
< V T _> 1/
* / ■ n f t
Dermission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.
This dissertation , written by
_ James R. Jacobson _
under the direction of——Faculty Committee,
and approved by its members, has been presented
to and accepted by the Faculty of the School of
Theology at Claremont in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF RELIGION
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
PREFACE
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and
healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease
among the people. Matt. 4:23.
So naturally, we proclaim Christ! We warn everyone we
meet, and we teach everyone we can all we know about Him, so
that if possible, we may bring every man up to full maturity in
Christ. Col. 1:20.
It is our task in this dissertation to show the integral
relation of preaching and teaching in the life and work of the church.
We hold that preaching and teaching are inseparable. This balance
has been vital in the life of the church since the time of the writing
of the New Testament. What is new today is the cultural context in
which we proclaim Christ and to which we speak. Without some
awareness of the new situation in preaching and teaching in our day,
we will miss the questions being asked by our age.
We face the difficult task of ministering in an age when
guide lines are blurred both inside the church and in the world.
There are so many ways in which we minister today that it is time
to stop and look at some of the presuppositions for our ministry.
The church has accepted many of the cultural ways of specialization
in areas of Evangelism, Finance, and Administration. This change
compels us to rethink the meaning of the Gospel and also our methods
of proclamation.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
11
I
j
; The specialization of the ministry invites us to look again
j at the matter of balance. Specialization may be a good thing, but if
i
j we operate on one set of presuppositions concerning God, man and
i
the work of Christ in preaching, and then use a different set of
presuppositions in our teaching or finance training, we are working
against wholeness. Programs which are at cross purposes within
J
the Christian community segment, fragment and split persons
rather than bring healing, wholeness or salvation.
When we move from goals to methods the picture becomes
even more confused. We need to look again at the total ministry as
a ministry to people, with a view to bring them to maturity in
Christ. People, not programs, methods or organization are pri¬
mary. Preaching and teaching which is sensitive to the spiritual
dimension of all life is called for. Programs are not eliminated,
but they grow out of the need and are seen as carriers of the
message rather than as being important in and of themselves.
We'll not enter into the debate on whether we must
abandon the present form of the institutional church or work through
the church. It seems that this debate is a side issue. Any attempt
to find a balance starts from where we are, and we happen to be in
an institutional church. We speak out of a tradition. This is part
of the given as we face our task. One can no more change this than
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Ill
| jump out of his skin. No matter what we do we will always have to
face the fact that we see our ministry for the prospectus in which we
i
were born and schooled.
We look for the Methodist Church to change in the future
just as it has in the past. The image of the church will continue to
change. We also look for a greater variety of ministries within the
Methodist Church in the next thirty years just as there are changes
in the situations in which we are called to minister. We do not in¬
tend to outline a program for perfect balance between preaching and
teaching since the balance which we are talking about is dynamic in
nature. All we hope to do is point to ways in which we feel the
church today can fulfill Christ's command to "Teach all nations. "
Although we are not unaware of the theological, biblical
and ecumenical cross currents in our day, our concern is primarily
the dynamic nature of the local parish ministry. We are happy for
the efforts being put forth by the experts in other areas, but we will
try to work on the matter of balance between preaching and teaching
at the parish level.
We attempt to define sin and salvation in terms of actual
involvement of life with life as individuals confront the task of living
in today's world. The balance which we seek is not a balance free
from tension where persons look for easy and anonymous
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
iv
involvement in a society which is already conditioned to anonymous
existence. We hope to point to ways in which persons will be called
into relationship with Christ and with others. This is a search for
the vitality of individual integrity in a multidimensional society. We
believe this balance is achieved finally, not in programs, but in
persons. This is summarized in the words of the late T. S. Eliot:
Lord, shall we not bring these gifts to Your Service?
Shall we not bring to Your service all our powers
For life, for dignity, grace and order.
And intellectual pleasures of the senses?
The Lord who created must wish us to create
And employ our creation again in His service
Which is already His service in creating.
For Man is joined spirit and body.
And therefore must serve as spirit and body.
Visible and invisible, two worlds meet in Man;
Visible and invisible must meet in His Temple;
You must not deny the body.
(Collected Poems 1909-1935)
I express my appreciation to Dr. K. Morgan Edwards,
Professor of Preaching, for the help and guidance I have received
from him. He awakened me to the possibility of a new balance be¬
tween preaching and teaching in the local church by bringing to my
attention such works as A Theology of Proclamation by Dietrich
Ritschl and The Ecology of Faith by Joseph Sittler. Dr. Edwards
has a special gift for analyzing the content and general tone of
sermons in relation to their relevance to the solid theological con¬
tent which is presupposed in any sermon. His inspiration has been
G
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
i
V
j both professional and personal.
j
! I thank my second reader. Dr. Paul Irwin, Professor of
i
;
Education, for his guidance and suggestions throughout this entire
| writing. He has suggested guide lines for developing the unity of
this work. Many of the concepts found in this work were sharpened
and clarified through my work with Dr. Irwin in Christian Education.
i
He has continued to encourage this balanced approach to the
ministry.
i
I thank my third reader. Dr. Harvey Seifert, Professor of
Christian Ethics, for his suggestions concerning the range of this
study. He pointed out the dangers of this subject becoming to broad,
and encouraged me to set up careful guidelines for limiting the sub¬
ject matter. I express my appreciation to him for showing the need
for negative as well as positive evaluation of the preaching project
contained in the appendix.
Finally, I express my sincere thanks to the entire insti¬
tution which has taken on the task of preparing ministers for service
today. I owe a personal debt to every member of the staff which
cannot be expressed in words, but will have to be lived out in terms
of a ministry to people in today's world.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
[
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE . i
Chapter
I. TODAY'S WORLD. 1
An Age of Change. 4
Mobility . 7
Secularization. 9
Pluralism and Cultural Religion. 14
Man's Dilemma . 18
Disintegration. 19
Dehumanization.. . 23
Non-involvement. 27
The Protestant Challenge. 31
The Lost Kingdom. 31
Loss of Authority. 34
Loss of Values. 35
II. THE CHURCH. 40
God's Presence as Spirit. 43
Spiritual Presence in the Old Testament . . 43
The Spirit in the New Testament .... 48
The Power of the Spirit in the Church ... 51
The Dynamic Nature of Life. 59
Wholeness Vs Disintegration. 62
Freedom Vs Dehumanization. 71
Being for Others Vs Noninvolvement ... 78
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission
i
j
j
i
i
i
|
j
!
vii
III. PREACHING.89
A Preaching Mission.93
A Balance in the Preaching-teaching Ministry . . 99
The Gospel.99
The Situation.101
The Preacher's Personality.102
IV. TEACHING .108
The Teaching Function of the Church.109
Historic Significance.Ill
Relation of Teaching to the Bible.112
The Minister as Teacher.115
A Non-religious Teacher.117
A Theological Question.118
The Church as the Spirit Incarnate.122
Groups in the Church.125
Respect for Others.128
Arouse Interest .130
Clarify Thinking.131
The Growing Edge.134
Involvement.134
Humanization.135
Integration.135
The Dynamics of Becoming.136
Course Overview.138
Lesson 1. "Being and Becoming".142
Analysis.145
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
viii
V. A MATTER OF BALANCE.
Summary and Conclusions ....
Practical Considerations for the Life of
i the Church .
|
I
I APPENDIX.
i
I. YOU AND YOUR BIBLE .
1
I
| n. A PREACHING PROJECT.
| Methodology .
Studies in Ephesians.
Sermon Preparation.
Evaluation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
151
151
159
162
162
164
167
172
178
180
185
i
i
!
i
t
I
|
i
i
I
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
CHAPTER I
TODAY'S WORLD
Change doth unknit the tranquil strength of men
—Matthew Arnold
Megalopolis, technopolis, metropolis, secular city,
secularism, suburbia, disturbia and many other old and new terms
are coming into use today in an effort to define today's world. Most
writers agree that the primary cause of this new configuration of life
together is our scientific advances in the area of technological
development and productive capacity. Industrial nations become
nations of large cities surrounded with budding suburbs. The total
process is called urbanization, and although this process has been
going on for years, it has taken on new proportions in the last
twenty-five years.
The rise of an urban society changes the way men live
together. As a result of the technological changes and the movement
to urban centers, there has been an increase in the secularization of
the world. This secularization is a change in the way men view life.
Harvey Cox, in his recent book, The Secular City says, "in our day
the secular metropolis stands as both the pattern of our life together
and the symbol of our view of the world. We experience the universe
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
2
i
I
!
i
i
f
i
as the city of man. It is a field of human exploration and endeavor
from which the gods have fled. The world has become man's task
and man's responsibility.
The dramatic changes which have taken place in our world
today calls for a new look at Evangelism. There is current today an
increasing concern for a re-examination of the program and mission
of the church. Although church attendance and membership is at an
all time high, there are growing signs of uneasiness on the part of
many as they look at the religious situation in America today. The
church has made little impact on the heart of the city and there are
those who feel that the "Successful" suburban church is superficial
and powerless. Men like Peter Berger^ feel that the church is living
in a world apart, speaking a language which is not understood by the
secular world. Berger feels that the program of "business" in the
church is often irrelevant to the needs of men today and thus falls
short. It fails to speak to the condition of man. He feels that the
* Harvey Cox, The Secular City (New York: Macmillan,
1965), p. 1.
o
. Peter L. Berger, The Noise of Solemn Assemblies
(Garden City, N. Y. : Doubleday, 1961).
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
3
parents are really not too interested in the church but go or send
their children as a preventive for "what ails the parents.
In the light of the sociological changes in our society,
thoughtful churchmen are becoming increasingly sensitive to the need
for a new look at the central task of the church--that of Evangelism.
It is my thesis that this new look will involve one in a study of the
traditional place of preaching, and teaching in the life of the church.
This study will include a look at the purpose, program and function
of the church, not so much as an organization, but more as an
organism in which the Spirit of the Christ as the dominant force in
the life of the church again becomes real.
In the midst of the ferment and uncertainty of today's
world, the church is called upon to rediscover its own soul. It is
being called to examine its heritage in relation to the Spirit of Christ
whom we claim to serve and then to have the courage of faith to do
whatever is necessary to be open to His Spirit. It is only as the
church does this that it can become an open channel for God's
revelation of Himself in a troubled world.
3
Ibid., p. 96.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
4
There are three problems which our study will attempt to
penetrate: (1) The problem of man in his environment. (2) The
nature of the church; which includes the meaning of the Christian
Gospel, its content, and relevance as a timeless and eternal value in
a specific time and space which we called "today's world. " (3) The
way in which we relate this Gospel to man through preaching and
teaching.
I. AN AGE OF CHANGE
The years from 1945 to 1965 have been called, "The Great
Age of Change" by the writers of The Life History of the United
States .
Between 1945 and 1960 the gross national product more
than doubled. Big government, big industry, and big labor—
all struggled to cope with the problems of an economy be¬
wildered by this vast, impersonal society. Americans moved
about their own country, went abroad for business and
pleasure, but the anxiety of the age persisted. They sought
reassurance in church going, release in watching television,
and answers to the perplexing problems through education. ^
Paul Tillich argues that every cultural expression contains
certain "ultimate concerns. " A serious study of contemporary
culture will yield religious meanings. He insists that we must listen
^William E. Leuchtenburg (ed.), The Great Age of Change
(New York: Life, Time, 1964), p. 112.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
5
to what our culture is asking. In his book. Theology of Culture he
says that the first special character of contemporary culture is the
concentration of man's activities upon the methodical investigation
and technical transformation of his world, including himself.
The universe has become self-sufficient. It is calculable
and manageable and can be improved from the point of view of
man's needs and desires. 5
Harvey Cox in his book. The Secular City calls today's
city the cultural expression of our technological society. ° For the
sake of emphasis upon the relationship between the development of
technology and the rise of the city he uses the contrived word,
"technopolis" to signify the fusion of the technological and political
components of the new cultural style. ^ Although "technopolis" is a
contrived term it reminds us that contemporary cities were not
possible before modern technology. "There comes a point at which
quantitative development releases qualitative change. However,
technology has come and with it has come the city and the suburbs
with all the cross currents of influence upon people which a pro¬
duction orientated technical society has. Technique has become the
hope and the savior of man in today's world.
^Paul Tillich, Theology of Culture (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1959), p. 43.
6 7 8
Cox, op. cit., p. 1. Ibid., p. 5. Ibid .
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
6
I
In a technological society "work" takes on special meaning.
Our day is divided into "work" and everything else. This is
especially true for the labor forces, middle management and small
business men. All things are subordinated to the daily task. Local
life, conversation, singing and dancing, playing with the children
and making love all must be, "worked in" to the work schedule. The
importance of our work can be seen by sitting at the counter in a
coffee shop and listening to the conversation between a group of men.
Their work is the primary subject. This technique or that technique
is the subject of discussion. The other day a young couple came to
the church for a wedding. They said that they had to get married at
10:00 a. m. on Saturday because the groom, "has to be back to work
at noon. " When a man sleeps, when he eats, when he plays and when
he spends time with his family as well as whether he tends to his
religious life is all secondary to "work. "
Not only is the day ordered around work, but life itself is
so ordered. Youth is a period of preparation for "useful work. "
Education has meaning in so far as it gets one ready for this "useful"
period of life. Other things which children do are considered,
"something to do. " In addition to the affect of this work orientation
on children and workers, it has a devastating effect on retired people
who are considered merely washed out workers. We try to find them
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
7
"something to do" to keep them out of the way of the productive
workers in society. We search for artificial ways of giving meaning
to the retired for we are sure that their meaning was lost when they
retired from their work. We isolate them in retirement ghettos so
that we don't have to see their isolation.
Work not only dominates our time and describes our life in
terms of the useful and non-productive years, but it also dominates
our place of residence. Mobility of persons and families has become
a way of life for our modern business world.
Sociologists study two kinds of movement in society: (1)
geographic mobility and (2) upward mobility. It is necessary to look
at this mobility if we are going to understand man in his environment.
We will also look at the problems of secularization and pluralism.
Mobility
The nature and extent of geographical mobility in America
can be expressed by the fact that one out of five Americans will
probably be living in a different home next year. Martin's study of
the rural fringe areas adjacent to Eugene and Springfield, Oregon,
disclosed that seventy-six per cent of the families had moved into
the territory during the previous five years. Moreover, the last
previous residential location for eighty-eight point four per cent of
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
(
the families was in cities or rural nonfarm areas. Only one family
in eight came directly from the farm. ^
A minister need not study the above mentioned suburbs in
i
I
order to appreciate the geographic mobility in a community. All he
needs to do is study the membership roles of his own church. One of
the ministers in a suburban community in California said, "It is not
necessary for the Bishop to move ministers every five years because
the congregation moves all the time so I have a different congregation
every five years. " There is evidence that this situation will con¬
tinue to exist for years to come. Evangelism today needs to be
understood in terms of reaching a mobile society. j
In addition to the geographic mobility we have socio¬
economic mobility. This upward mobility has been popularized by
Vance Packard's books. Status Seekers , and Pyramid Climbers .
This theme is also in the work of Richard and Katherine Gordon and
Max Gunther in. The Split Level Trap , and in the one time best
seller. The Organization Man by William H. Whyte, Jr. These
writers see the typical suburban family as a "climber" family. The J
efforts to climb the socioeconomic ladder usually involves a job j
1
i
. i
- }
j
^Frederick A. Shippey, Protestantism in Suburban Life j
(New York: Abingdon Press, 1965), p. 124. j
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
(
9
transfer and thus a geographic transfer. Generally the movement
includes a bigger house in a higher-priced neighborhood with higher
monthly payments. It is usually necessary to move up economically
before one can climb socially. The single-family dwelling becomes
the symbol of success for the "climbers. " A family has not arrived
until, "it owns its own home. " The ideal place to own is in the
suburbs and these are classified according to the level of success.
For example, in order to "have arrived" in the Minneapolis area one
must live in Edina, the status suburb of this large metropolitan area.
Although apartments are becoming more popular the desire
for home ownership is still strong in our society. This desire in¬
dicates the starved nature of persons who strive so hard to get ahead
in the material realm. The home is the way in which a person
demonstrates the symbols of success in this realm. The accent on
promotions, salary increases and ascent of the success ladder has a
profound influence on men. It forces many into stressful situations
beyond what is good for them and this becomes the cause of one of
today's human dilemmas. We have called the dilemma caused by
mobility, disintegration.
Secularization
The technological changes in economic life, the high
mobility of persons, together with the development of mass
■
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
10
communications have drawn all of American life into the web of large
urban centers.
Urbanization brings diversity and disintegration of tra¬
dition. It brings a type of impersonality in which functional relation¬
ships multiply but become more superficial. Religion is still in
evidence but it is not considered necessary in the technological
metropolis. Decisions are made apart from religious considerations.
The style of life is secular.
A secular style of life has its own character which colors
all aspects of life. Men in a secular society share in an unspoken
perspective of the world. This style of life is seen today in our
intellectual projects, our art and our technical accomplishments.
The showplace of this style is the New York World's Pair, with its
celebration of our technical accomplishments. However, the day to
day expression of this style of life is seen in today's city.
In the book. The Secular City , Harvey Cox defines
secularization as, "The liberation of man from religious and meta¬
physical tutelage, the turning of his attention away from other worlds
and toward this one. "10 Secularization frees man from his bondage
to worldly absolutism and opens him to new possibilities. However,
*^Cox, op. cit., p. 17.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
11
| this new openness makes man responsible for his future and involves
him in his own history. Cox takes a positive view toward this pro¬
cess and sees no conflict between this new freedom and the Christian
faith. We will expand this view under our consideration of the church.
Secularization as defined above must not be confused with
secularism which seems to be the religion of our day. "Secularism
is a denial of the secularization of the world. It denies the creature-
ly and changing character of all historical reality. Secularism in
religion is the substitution of religious structures and authorities for
the Gospel. A finite structure of human endeavor is elevated to an
infinite position. Cox is saying that there is a need for man to
recognize the human sphere as the place where the decisions of faith
are made.
Historically, Thomas Jefferson was influential in the
secularization of religion in America. He said in his Notes on
Religion ,
The magistrate has no power but what is given by the
people and they have not given him the care of souls because
they could not: they could not because no man has the right to
abandon the care of his salvation to another. Each man must
^Gibson Winter, The New Creation as Metropolis (New
York: Macmillan, 1963), p. 43.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
12
do his own thinking and believing, as he must do his own
dying. 12
This "voluntary" nature of the church in America opened the way for
secularization. There have been attempts from time to time to
establish an official protestant religion, but all such attempts have
failed and the disestablishment of religion in America remains.
Secularization becomes secularism when the historical
structures, whether religious, political or economic are elevated to
an ultimate status. This can be done in terms of, "the American
way" or in terms of a state church. Each is a denial of man's
responsibility to search for the right answers to the historical
situations. Man is most human in his power to decide on his own
future. When this power to decide is replaced by a system of
thought, or any other structural form imposed from outside of man,
man is dehumanized. History is the sphere of man's free action.
Gibson Winter points out that secularism in our day is the
domination of life by means; "the rule of technique over human
good. 1,12 This is the secularism which infects the city. This same
12
Sidney E. Mead, The Lively Experiment (New York:
Harper & Row, 1963), p. 58.
13
Winter, op. cit., p. 51.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
13
theme is found in the book. The Technological Society by Jacques
Ellul.
All the technical devices of education, propaganda, amuse¬
ment, sport, and religion are mobilized to persuade the human
being to be satisfied with his condition of mechanical, mind¬
less, 'mass man', and ruthlessly to exterminate the deviant
and idiosyncratic. ^
We see then, man in our day freed from history and
turning to his technique, and inventiveness in order to build a future.
The economic and political groups controlling the technical develop¬
ment monopolize the power and shape the future. Man is made into
a part of the machine or a part of the "organized system. " In this
situation one is reminded of the many stories found in comic books,
seen on television and written up in fiction where the "Mad Scientist"
invents the ultimate machine to control the power and production of
the earth, only to have the machine turn on the scientist and destroy
him. This captivity of man by the machines and techniques of his
own invention is the theme of writers like, Jacques Ellul mentioned
above, Thorstein Veblen in The Engineers and the Price System ,
Oswald Spengler's Man and Technics and Jules Henry's book
Culture Against Man.
^Jacques Ellul, The Technological Society (New York:
Knopf, 1964), p. XVII.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
14
The technical, production orientated society is the setting
for Paul Goodman's book. Growing Up Absurd where the lack of use¬
fulness, honor and community are given as expression of man's
dilemma. ^ In our present social structure, secularization tends to
become secularism and thus technology is being elevated to an ulti¬
mate status. In man's attempt to gain the world he faces the danger
of losing his own soul. We have used the word, dehumanization to
refer to this dilemma.
Pluralism and Cultural Religion
Change is the order of the day in a mobile and secular
society. The mobility of our society has brought persons of various
religious backgrounds into contact with each other. Many denomi¬
nations exist together side by side in a "pluralistic society. " Each
tolerates the other with considerable generosity. Tolerance becomes
a central part of the cultural religion of the day. This not only
means that everyone has the right to his own religious views but also
that he should keep quiet about any strong views.
In the book, The Lively Experiment by Sidney Mead, we
are reminded that Protestants have had fuzzy and amorphous thinking
1 ^
J Paul Goodman, Growing Up Absurd (New York: Random
House, 1960), p. 12.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
15
on the matter of the separation of church and state. This thinking
has left us open for the uncritical adoption of whatever standards
prevail in society. American denominations have successively lent
themselves to the sancitification of current existing expressions of
the "American way of life. Mead goes on to quote John Herman
Randall, Jr. who writes,
Protestantism left the way open for the assimilation of any
pattern of values that might seem good in the light of men's
actual social experience--and has thus tended to become
largely an emotional force in support of the reigning secular
social ideal. * 7
This same idea is expressed in the book. From State Church To
Pluralism in these very blunt words, "integral parts of 'the
American way of life' are--instant coffee, homogenized milk, TV,
hamburgers, and church. "18 The church is part of our way of life
along with coffee, tea, and all the rest of our cultural ways. Our
society has a high degree of cohesion and consistency in terms of its
values, but these are unexamined values. We have a "non-sectarian
l^Mead, op. cit ., p. 141.
17 Ibid.
l^Franklin Hamlin Littell, From State Church to Plural ¬
ism (Garden City, N. Y. : Doubleday, 1962), p. 162.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
16
religion which some have called "confessionless Christianity, "
Perhaps the classical account of this consensus is seen in the study
of "Middletown" by Robert and Helen Lund. They refer to those
values of the community about which consensus is strong as, "Of
course" values. ^ The Lunds also have defined the relationship of
the religious institution to consensus. They feel that the religious
institution does not generate its own values; instead it ratifies and
sanctifies the values prevalent in the general community. There is
little difference between the values propagated by the religious in¬
stitution and those of any other group. This idea is presented by
Will Herberg*^ in his work on the religious situation in America
today and is described by Martin Marty with the term, "Religion-in¬
general. "21
Diversity of belief and outlook is a conspicuous character
of Protestantism today. The interrelation of people in our society
1 Q
Berger, op. cit., p. 30.
^Will Herberg, Protestant--Catholic--Jew (Garden City,
N. Y. : Doubleday, 1955).
21
Martin Marty, The New Shape of American Religion
(New York: Harper & Bros., 1959), p. 31.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
17
has had the effect of blunting the beliefs which persons once took
seriously. We find church members do not think of the church in the
same way as the ministers do. There is a general vagueness about
the unique qualities of the Christian faith. Again quoting from The
Lively Experiment we are reminded of the lack of theological dis¬
cussion in the life of the church today.
The voluntary principle causes Christianity to be con¬
ceived primarily as an activity, a movement, which the grou£>
is engaged in promoting. A threat to the internal unity and
group effectiveness cannot be tolerated. In this context,
theology as an attempt to define and clarify intellectual
positions, inspires discussion, difference of opinion, even
controversy. This in turn helps to account for the surprising
lack of interdenominational theological homework if they are
going to confront other religions in a pluralistic society filled
with a variety of religions and near-religions. ^
There are indications that the church is starting to look at its role in
society, but much more needs to be done. In our kind of pluralistic
religious setting the dimension of depth is lost. This loss of depth
leads to superficial living which we speak of as noninvolvement.
We can summarize by saying that our technological society
creates a concentration of persons in urban centers and leads to the
secularization of man. These two movements have brought on two
further developments which we defined as secularism and pluralism.
^Mead, op. cit., p. 142.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
! 18
!
| Altogether, these changes confront man with a dilemma and present
| the church with a challenge. We now turn to the dilemma of man in
an age of change and then consider the challenge for the church.
H. MAN'S DILEMMA
Man does not live in a vacuum, but in a field of relation¬
ships from which he cannot escape. When these relationships under¬
cut man's feeling of worth, civilization itself is weakened. While the
demands of society are greater today than in former years, there are
many who believe that our society is producing persons who are
deficient in the character and maturity demanded by the very forces
of society in which man is called to live. Paul Goodman writes in
his book. Growing Up Absurd ,
It is hard to grow up when there isn't enough man's work.
Most manual jobs do not lend themselves to knowing the fact s
of what is going on. This situation brings indifference. 23
The disparity between the demands on human character
caused by our changing world, and the sufficiency of character seems
to be widening each year as we advance into the last half of this
century. One of the most dangerous signs of moral and spiritual
breakdown-in our century is the breakdown of family patterns.
23
Goodman, op. cit., p. 14.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
19
Dr. Richard E. Gordon speaks about the "Disintegrated People" in
our society in the book. The Split Level Trap .
If Alice's troubles could be summed up in a few words
they would be these: she lived in a socially disintegrated town.
Social disintegration, in all its many manifestations all over
the world, has been the ugly sister of industrialization, urban¬
ization, prosperity and mobility. It is the key factor of the
modern disturbed suburb. ^4
Disintegration
For our purposes in understanding what has happened to
man in this age of change, it is important to find out whether life in
the modern city is in fact disintegrated. We want to look at some of
the factors which indicate that disintegration is on the increase. The
broken home is one factor which can be measured. In the United
States the divorce rate has more than tripled since 1900 and several
times as many marriages end in separation as are terminated by
divorce. ^5
A second factor often presented as a sign of disintegration
is the problem of delinquency. A survey of the relevant literature
leaves little doubt about the unwelcome consequences of "absentee"
24
• Richard E. Gordon, The Split Level Trap (New York:
Dell, 1962), p. 43.
25
Ibid., p. 97.
i
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
20
I fathers which we spoke about under the problem of mobility. A boy
deprived of his father's presence and adequate involvement is at a
i
| real disadvantage in growing up. Shippey refers to Richard McCann's
I
j book. Delinquency: Sickness or Sin? in dealing with the ramifications
of the unsolved problem of the wayward child. McCann refers vividly
to this phenomenon in our society as, "The stain of juvenile delin-
! quency.
The problem of fathers who work in plants thirty miles
away from the home or are on the road all week forces women into
what was formerly a man's role. Paul Goodman feels that the om¬
nipotence of mother in a society where one lacks enough of man's
| work makes it difficult for young men to find any meaning in life.
A man has only one life, and if during it he has no great
environment, no community, he has been irreparably robbed of
a human right. This loss is damaging especially to the one who
is growing up. 2 7
j Goodman relates delinquency to the prevailing patterns of respect-
I ■
| ability and shows how the juvenile criminal and the organization man,
I
| the rebel and the conformist are equally symptomatic of the deep
j disturbance and disintegration of personality in culture today.
i
!
| *9fi
Shippey, op. cit ., p. 104.
27
Goodman, op. cit., p. 97.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
I
21
j The recent riots in Los Angeles were dramatic examples
! of the cultural disintegration which results from a loss of meaning
I
| among one segment of society. The loss of hope on the part of the
!
\
t
young male Negro is not a race problem, but an economic problem
with vast social overtones. The vicious circle of desire for material
goods, of fear and despair monopolizes the minds of persons in this
kind of situation. The responsibility for shaping the future of the
city is not there when they see no future in their own situation. Local
interests as seen in the political fighting in the aftermath of the riots
in Los Angeles seems to demonstrate that those who are supposed to
be responsible are more interested in their own political future than
i in people. I wish to make no judgment on who is right or who is
j
! wrong (I have a feeling we have all sinned) in the charges and counter
charges following the rioting. I present this as a dramatic example
of cultural disintegration in the midst of a world of plenty. It is hard
I
| for the leadership of any community to see and feel responsible for
| this situation, because all of us are involved in this disintegration.
j
! However, broken homes, delinquency and even riots are
I
j not the only costs we pay for our technological developments. In the
j
| chapter called, "The Movers" in the book. The Split Level Trap , the
Gordons sight statistics concerning psychosomatic illnesses and
mental disorders as a part of the cost of our, "better life. " High
3
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
22
blood pressure, peptic ulcers, coronary thrombosis, are all
demonstrated to be significantly higher among the residents of the
suburban community, Bergen, a suburban community, was compared
with a rural community. These are the findings. Of all patients ad¬
mitted to each hospital during a two year period there was a differ¬
ence between the reason for coming in as shown by the following
percentages:
Rural Community Suburban
Heart Attack 2.4% 11.7%
High blood pressure 6.7% 14.3%
Duodenal Ulcers 2.8% 9.6%
Figures were also given for psychiatric disorders and
again the suburban community won hands down. 28 We do not give
this as conclusive evidence that suburban communities have more
disintegration of personality than rural areas, but it points to some¬
thing which is present in the new suburban communities which is not
found as often in rural areas. These statistics can be validated by
the hospital calls and counseling files of any suburban pastor
especially in California where mobility has become a way of life.
The mobile home has become a very apt symbol for our age. With
this mobility has come the high cost in terms of social and personal
28
Gordon, op. cit ., p. 3 Iff.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
23
disintegration. A new sense of balance and a new center of integra-
I tion is called for in our day. The loss of community cannot be
overlooked in our search for a theology in a world of change. The
one common element found among the displaced and disintegrated is
loneliness. The words of the song from South Pacific speak to this
loneliness.
j
Most people live on a lonely Island
Lost in the middle of a foggy sea.
Most people long for another Island
One where they know they want to be. ^9
This song expresses the mood of our day in poetic language. This
mood of loneliness and disintegration needs to be understood by the
church in its ministry to people. We minister as strangers to
strangers in a society which pulls people apart.
Dehumanization
In a technological society disintegration is accompanied by
the depersonalization of workers. People are looked upon as a
means to an end--namely production or consumption. Most
Americans have learned to put a constantly rising standard of living
in place of self-realization. According to Jules Henry in his book.
^Richard Rogers, Oscar Hammerstein, II and Joshua
Logan. "Bali Hai" from South Pacific . Record (Radio Corporation
of Am., 1958).
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
24
Culture Against Man ,
Only the elites--the professionals, the corporation
executives, and the successful businessmen--have a real
chance to express the most highly rewarded cultural drives or
to try in their occupational lives some kind of self realization
not comprehended within the retail price index. ^
Persons are willing to sacrifice peace and comfort for
prosperity. They will abandon a house in which they have labored
for years, they will neglect wife and children for this one god,
success. In the book, The Organization Man, by William H. Whyte,
Jr. we have the following quote from a young executive who says,
'i'll be glad when my children grow up, then I won't have such a
guilty conscience about neglecting them. The possibility of
neglecting his job in place of his children, or of climbing more
slowly just did not cross his mind. The job was more important
than the children.
In the retelling of the fable of Procrustes, Magnus Pyke
directs our attention to what our society does to people. Procrustes
tells of a robber who compelled those of the public coming within his
reach to conform to an average. His method was simple--he put
SOjules Henry, Culture Against Man (New York: Random
House, 1963), p. 37.
^^William H. Whyte, Jr., The Organization Ma n (Garden
City, N.Y. : Doubleday, 1957), p. 162.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
1
I
l
25
each person coming to him in a bed--the same bed for all. Those
who were too tall were cut down to size, those who were too short
were forcibly extended. "Only those who fit exactly were allowed to
go scott free. "32
This old myth describes the dehumanization which is so
much a part of our society. The rigid structure of life in our modern
industrial society brings discomfort or injury to those who deviate
from the average. The rigid structure of life in business is carried
over into education. It is out of the question for a teacher to give
attention to each case. Children are classified very early into bright,
average, or dull and all are systematically retarded in one way or
another. Individual differences are discussed but the teachers hands
are tied in our mass educational program. Education is job orien-
t
tated and motivated and although there are a great number of children
who do not fit the average, we cannot devote time to these since we
have to get the majority ready for our productive system. We make
all fit the average like the robber in the myth of Procrustes.
Our production oriented society, with its emphasis on the
average condemns the non-average before he has done anything.
This aspect of the riots in Los Angeles, the school drop out problem
QO
Magnus Pyke, The Science Myth (New York: Macmillan,
1962), pp. 1, 2.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
26
and of the general ferment in our society has not been faced by our
political institutions or by our educational system. The non¬
producer, the non-achiever and the non-integrated in our society are
judged as guilty before they do anything. The judgment which is felt
is projected on others, and on the symbols of production--Television,
radios, new clothing, liquor stores, and food stores are burned,
destroyed and looted. The symbols of authority; the police, church
leaders, political and community leaders are hated or ignored.
Regardless of other factors which will be found as causes of riots or
school drop outs, we are blind to the basic problem if we do not see
this as a part of the price we pay for a production oriented society
where things, not people are considered important.
The wasted human resources, the boredom, the pain a
person feels when he is doing nothing important in place of some¬
thing he feels is worth while cannot be overlooked in the secular city.
The loss of the neighborhood, and separation of residence from work
go together to make up a depersonalized type of living. Finding
satisfying and useful work, enjoying meaningful play and recreation
and living in a productive human society are all important in finding
meaning in life. However, the economic forces of our society make
this kind of living difficult in our day. The church needs to
understand how society dehumanizes persons today if it is to
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
27
minister in today's world. The message of Jesus, "neither do I
condemn you" is needed today.
Secularism--the selling out of the human quality of
decision to "the system" leads to dehumanization. Whenever "the
plan" and the successful completion of the plan becomes the goal,
persons are sacrificed to the system. On a recent trip with the
family, we had made a plan for meals at a certain town. One of my
boys got a new idea, and expressed it to his mother, but his mother
said, "Don't buck the plan! "
Although the words, "Don't buck the plan, " were spoken in
fun on our family outing, they express a deep feeling in our culture
today. Children learn very early that you don't "buck" the plan, but
in learning this they can lose the most human quality in life, the
responsibility one has to decide on his own future. When man is
controlled by forces outside himself he is dehumanized whether these
forces are economic, political, religious, or educational.
Noninvolvement
While mobility confronts man with disintegration, and
secularism squeezes man into an impersonal system, a pluralistic
society causes a loss of depth. This loss of the depth dimension in .
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
28
religion has been noted by Paul Tillich. 33 Man's essential nature is
such that the ambiguous nature of a pluralistic society makes depth
of religious feelings difficult. This leads to superficial relationships
or noninvolvement. In discussing the American religious situation,
Boorstin quotes a passage from Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the
Homan Empire, Peter Berger uses this quote in his book. The Noise
of Solemn Assemblies to show its similarity to the religious situation
in America today.
The various modes of worship which prevailed in the
Roman World were all considered by the people as equally
true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magis¬
trate as equally useful, and thus toleration produced not only
mutual indulgence, but even religious concord. 34
This analogy is striking in America with its many
denominations existing together in a society where it is necessary
for each to tolerate the other with considerable generosity.
Tolerance is important in America. It becomes more than a prin¬
ciple of pragmatic accommodations, it becomes the central part of
all religion in a pluralistic society.
The principle of "Established Religious Freedom" is lost
in our society when tolerance replaces all contention for truth. This
33
Tillich, op. cit ., p. 9.
O A
Berger, op. cit ., p. 68.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
29
j
!
concept leads to a flabby relativitistic view which says that since one
opinion is just as good as another, "it really doesn't matter what you
believe, as long as you believe. " It is a faith in faith but not in¬
volvement in faith. For example, there is a feeling among most
persons that Sunday School is good for children, but it has nothing of
depth or meaning to offer adults. The religious establishment is
well defended in society, "it certainly does not do any harm, " but a
depth of commitment to the Christian faith is hard to find.
Secular man's religious values have been deconsecrated--
that is they have been shorn of any claim to the ultimate. ^ Like
nature and politics, the religion of man has been exposed to diversity
and therefore he can not claim that his views have an ultimate
meaning. Today we know that the symbols by which we view our
world are limited and partial. Diversity of belief and outlook is a
conspicuous characteristic of our day. Protestantism in America is
the story of individuals and groups who have taken their own under¬
standing of the gospel so seriously that they have been willing to
create new forms of the church, and so we have many denominations.
However, these new forms were able to be established in communi¬
ties which were more or less stable in the past generation. Today
35
Cox, op. cit., p. 30.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
30
all these forms come up against a changing society. In moving from
place to place one realizes that the rules which guide the ethical life
of one person seem strange and out of date to others in the new
community. Simple ethical certainty, of the sort once available to
man will never again be possible.
How is it possible in a pluralistic society to avoid a dizzy
descent into relativism? This is the dilemma of man in a pluralistic
society where the belief of one is held on equal status with the belief
of another. Faith becomes a casual matter. For the most part
members of the church are content to come to church Sunday morn¬
ings, sit in the pew, listen to the choir, hear a sermon, and do no
more. The problem of noninvolvement seems to relate to the lack of
depth in religious life.
Our changing world confronts man with a dilemma. He is
faced with forces outside himself which cause disintegration, de¬
humanization and noninvolvement right at the time when the need for
integration of personality, human responsibility and depth of involve¬
ment are important for the future of civilization. It is man con¬
fronted by these forces to which the church is called to bring its
message.
36 Ibid., p. 31.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
31
III. THE PROTESTANT CHALLENGE
"Religion opens up the depth of man's spiritual life which
is usually covered by the dust of our daily living and the noise of our
secular work. Our secular society and our daily work have been
the subject of this paper so far. We now want to look at what these
cultural conditions do to the church and particularly to the Protestant
Church since we believe Protestantism is the primary cultural
expression of religion in America. We will point to three challenges
to the institutional church which grow out of the cultural situation we
have discussed: first, the loss of "place" or "space" for the church;
secondly, the loss of the power of dogma or law; and finally the loss
of values.
The Lost Kingdom
"Christianity is an imperial power, a counter-kingdom
which occupies ground"—so thought John Cardinal Newman the great
Christian of the nineteenth century. This "ground-occupying"
Christianity which claimed a place in the world is today faced with
a world of displacement. The assumption that the church must have
37
Tillich, op. cit., p. 9.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
32
a place from which ambassadors could go out is being challenged
today by our cultural changes. Mobility, mass communications, (a
man's home is no longer free from invasion of T. V., radio, maga¬
zines, etc.) urbanization with modern population crowding, and
secularization all have jarred the church from the fixed place it once
occupied in the community.
As one might expect, the problem of "the pressure of time"
becomes great in a mobile society. Families become ensnared in a
multitude of activities all deemed as good, but together they spell
chaos for the family. "The weary comes home to the weary--the
careworn meets the careworn. " Not only is the work week used to
advance a man in business, but his leisure is also used to, "meet the
right people. " Church is pushed aside for the sake of "getting ahead
in the world. " We discussed this problem under the place of "work"
in our society and we indicated that "work" comes first. The church
is today pushed aside for the sake of business, or God is used as a
means of advancing oneself in business.
In addition to the press of business there is the lure of the
community activities. There is a club, society, or brotherhood for
just about every imaginable interest a person can have. In this kind
of a society the people look upon the church as just one activity among
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
33
many. Parents find it difficult to determine which of the activities
are of prime importance and which must take a secondary place.
Many parents feel that the church helps bring tension rather than give
meaning, direction and purpose to life. They feel the tension of
"another thing to have to go to" and feel the guilt of not going for they
are sure that "Religion doesn't hurt anyone. "
A second problem which is related to the first centers
around the interpersonal relationships of the family. This is defined
as "doing things together. " The church has lost its place in a culture
where the family is "curved in upon itself. " The greater family of
humanity and the Protestant ideal of brotherhood of all men are just
not considered in most families. Fairchild and John C. Wynn, in
their book Families in the Church , found that it was a small minority
of parents who wanted their children to remember most the Christian
faith and living of this faith. ^8 Their interviews seemed to indicate
that the Protestant parents were having trouble with their own beliefs
and their own vocations and as a result the children were not at all
clear of their goals in life. The parents had done little reflective
thinking about their role as parents and their relationship to the
family.
3^Ray w. Fairchild and John C. Wynn, Families in the
Church (New York: Association Press, 1961).
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission
34
Pluralism is displacing Protestantism in America. This
loss of place disturbs many church leaders as they see the forces of
secularization take over larger and larger areas of life. This new
situation calls for a redefinition of the church and a new course of
action for our ministry in accord with the new situation. The old idea
of a church occupying place, time and allegiance is changing. All
efforts to return to the past will fail. The real question says Harvey
Cox, is "How can the fund of resources for personal living be chan¬
neled into a ministry in the city in our day? "39 We cannot roll back
time to a condition when the church had a place in the community and
time in the life of people.
Loss of Authority
The second loss we find in the church today is the loss of
authority due to the changes of our society. "The difficulty of our
time is that we are confronted with too many faiths, none of which is
strong enough to energize a dominant portion of humanity. This
quote is from the Catholic point of view, but it expresses the
^^Cox, op. cit ., p. 158.
^Gustave Weigel, The Modern God (New York: Macmillan,
1962), p. Iff.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
35
Protestant challenge as well. Any effort to desecularize or deurban-
ize persons today is doomed to failure for it wrongly presupposes that
man must first become "religious" before he can become a Christian.
A religious interpretation of the Gospel is an interpretation based
upon law and authority, rather than grace and faith, but in a prag¬
matic society authority is placed in the self and in the association of
persons who search for their own answers rather than look for
answers from the church or from the Bible. It isn't that secular man
is anticleric, he simply feels that the issue he is concerned with re¬
lates to a different field and the church has nothing to say in this area
of life. Comments which express this are heard every day. For
example we often hear, "we must keep religion out of politics. " The
assumption is that each operates under a different set of rules, and
these should not be mixed.
Loss of Values
Finally, we are challenged with a loss of values in our
society. This loss of values is seen in what some have called a
"gallop pole morality. " The residents of the secular city find tradi¬
tional values eroded by their new way of life. Many of the persons
who move into the city find their ethical outlook and their religious
standards in the way of becoming successful. The standard is, "What
everyone else does, " This process erodes man's tested norms and
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
36
adapts man to a series of successive contemporary fads and fashions.
In describing the suburban community Shippey says, "An inordinate
emphasis is placed upon the erection of public relations facade rather
than upon the building of character. " 41 Intense cultivation of the
"personality crafts" through a variety of courses from charm schools
to Dale Carnagie courses are popular. There is an over eagerness to
conform, to please, and to keep in step with the modern pattern of
life. Getting into the "swing" of things is the theme. "You're in the
Pepsi generation now, " so be like everyone else, drink Pepsi.
Dr. Iago Galdston writes in an article, "The American
Family in Crises, "
Our young at times do not know their duties and preroga¬
tives at the cognitive or informational level, because they have
not been informed (the ignorance of parents is often appalling)
or knowing of them their knowledge is not supported or
activated by the affective change of an ego ideal. They are
without a conscience, super-ego, ideal ego or ego ideal.
Freud taught the importance of an incorporated father image. In
families today there is often no such image either because the father
is not in the home due to divorce, or because he works away from
home and is only a part time father. He is not present in the give
41
Shippey, op. cit ., p. 102.
^Iago Galdston, "The American Family in Crises, "
Pastoral Psychology , XIII:124 (May, 1962), 38.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
37
and take of life and therefore has not become a part of the structure
of the young male's life. There is not enough of a man's influence or
of man's work for growing boys. This is the reason social psychol¬
ogists give for the rise of delinquency among boys. Erick Erickson
defines youth as the age when "identify" becomes most important.
There is a need to find one's own image. In the book. The Death of a
Salesman , Biff says, "I don't know what the future is. "43 Here Biff
is expressing the problem of youth today. There is a need to finish
the work of the super-ego during adolescence. This is difficult in a
society without a strong male image.
We have emphasized the technological influences, and what
these do to people. Man is a creature that lives by values as well as
by goods. Jesus said, "Man does not live by bread alone. "44 When
traditional values are cast into doubt in the upheavals of our day, man
is set adrift. We do not call for a return to the faiths and ways of our
forefathers, for these will not suffice in our day. We seek new ways
for an effective reconciliation of the abiding needs of man with the
new ways of our changing world. We seek them in the light of the
understanding of the nature of the crises in morality facing the
43
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (New York: Drama¬
tist's Play Service, 1953), p. 22.
44
Matt. 4:4.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
38
American family today. A church which does not face up to the
changing value structure of our day, cannot bring Good News to
people because it will not speak to the problems faced by people.
This is the challenge of the Protestant Church today.
The changes in our society caused by the development of
science and technology have caused dramatic changes in the way
people live, work, and relate to God and neighbor. The individual
worker-consumer becomes a cog in a mighty machine. In this pro¬
duction-consumer orientated culture the individual is managed and
manipulated by forces over which he has little control. He is en¬
couraged to "have much and to use much" for his own comfort and
happiness, but there is little encouragement to be much. The goal of
life is having rather than being.
Man's dilemma comes in terms of his loss of being through
disintegration caused by the mobility in society and by rapid change.
It comes through the dehumanization of a machine dominated culture
where the beat and rhythm of the machine becomes primary and the
beat and rhythm of life is secondary. Both life and health are in¬
fluenced by the production system to which man often sells his soul.
Finally, the pluralism of today's world causes a loss of depth in
man's religious life. All these human dilemmas challenge the church
which is set in the midst of a changing order. This challenge comes
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
39
!
at a time when the church has lost its place and power in the life of
the secular city. The church has lost its authority in the central
decisions of political and economic life and it is no longer sure of the
values it once held to be absolute.
There are other sociological and cultural factors which
could be considered in an analysis of today's world, however, any
i
selection would of necessity be arbitrary and incomplete. We have
tried to point to the central problems which relate to the new situation
in preaching and teaching in our day. We have tried to show that
these "given" conditions create tensions in the lives of men. Unless
man has resources within or beyond himself upon which he can depend
he will remain lost in the forces of his own creation. He will indeed
"have gained the whole world, but have lost his own soul. " We are
suggesting that man is in search of his own soul--that is his own in- i
tegrity, meaning and being in the world. We see the church as an
instrument of God through which man is brought together "healed, " or
receives salvation. In order to round out the ecology of preaching and
teaching in our day we must look at the church as an instrument
through which men can gain the purpose and strength needed to fulfill
God's purposes in today's world. We will see in the next chapter that
j
God's purpose and man's true purpose are not strangers to each 1
j
i
other. '
I
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
CHAPTER H
THE CHURCH
... I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
--John 10:10.
We have looked briefly at the world and at some of the
problems of men in the world. We now turn to the nature of the
church. H. Richard Neibuhr said in an article in the Christian
Century , "I am haunted by the phrase, 'the hungry sheep look up and
are not fed'.the old phrases are worn out; they have become
cliches by means of which we can no longer communicate the reality
of our existence before God.
In this same article he called for a re-symbolization in
meaningful words and deeds which would do for our day what the
Reformation, Great Awakening, and the Social Gospel did for their
time. This calls us to study our own understanding of the church, of
man's predicament and of his need for salvation from his predica¬
ment. In theological terms it calls for a serious look at the meaning
of sin and salvation in our day. In the introduction to the book. The
*H, Richard Neibuhr, "Reformation: Continuing Impera¬
tive]' Christian Century, LXXXVII:9 (March 2, 1960), 251.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
41
Undiscovered Self , Carl Jung says, "Salvation consists in the salva-
i tion of the soul, but only when the individual discovers his true inner
I
I 1,0
nature can he accept religion's gift of a meaningful life form.
In the last chapter we outlined the conditions in today's
world. The Gospel is an invitation to participate in a new life form
in this kind of a world. It is an invitation to live one's life in the
light of the eternal as seen in the life of Jesus as the Christ. This
invitation is always given in correlation with life's questions as to
the wholeness and meaning of life. The nature of today's world and
i
of man's dilemma makes an imperialistic or authoritarian approach
to evangelism worse than useless. The loss of the church's place
and authority call for a different kind of ministry. If man is to re¬
main free and continue to have meaning he needs confidence in the
future. This is pointed out by Gibson Winter when he writes, "Men
cannot have history without faith. "3
It becomes the task of the church to proclaim openness to
the future in the Spirit of the Christ. The church calls men to faith
in Christ, and although the church has often clouded rather than
^Carl G. Jung, The Undiscovered Self (New York: Mentor,
1958), Introduction.
3
Gibson Winter, The New Creation as Metropolis (New
York: Macmillan, 1963), p. 52.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
42
clarified the meaning of life, it still exists to help men get a clear
picture of the infinite resources of God in the midst of life. This
kind of call is needed as much in our day as it was in Jesus' day.
The work of the church in today's world is to witness to the
one who will be present with man in life today, just as he has been in
the past. We take the view that God is active through His Spirit in all
history. This means that we will attempt to correct the onesided view
of the social forces of mobility, secularization and pluralism which
one may get from reading the first chapter. We will attempt to show
how God works through the social and cultural forms of history. This
view is consistent with our view of God as active in both the Old and
New Testaments and in history. Our view of the church will be con¬
sistent with this understanding of God's operation in the world, in
Christ, and in man today.
We believe God is present as Spirit in all life. We will
look at some of the manifestations of God's Spirit in the writings of
the prophets, in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and in life both inside
and outside the church today. It is important to understand the
dynamic nature of God's presence as Spirit in ail life, if one is to
understand the demand of a balance between preaching and teaching
in the life of the church. In preaching we seek to announce what God
has done. In teaching we seek to analyze God's action in history and
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
43
! come to understand how this affects man. We do not witness to alien
i
| sources of an other-worldly power, but stand in the power of the
i
I Spirit which created the world. The power of the Spirit brings us
|
| through all the dilemmas of life and unites us in our true nature,
I
giving us the courage for involvement with others in terms of "being
for others. "
I. GOD'S PRESENCE AS SPIRIT
Spiritual Presence in The Old Testament
The Hebrew word "ruah" signifies Spirit. It is literally
"air-in-motion, " either wind or breath or the gentle, not less
mysterious animating breath which indwells the living body. 4 The
most primitive form is the extraordinary phenomena of all kinds,
especially those marked by power. These were all attributed to the
operation of the Spirit which empowered. It had no moral character.
It empowered for evil as well as for good. Gideon, Samson, David,
and Elisha were all empowered by the Spirit. There were no
ethical connections with this power. It is simply the power whereby
a man is made capable of unusual action without any regard to the
4 E. Andrews, "Spirit, " The Interpreter's Dictionary of
the Bible, IV, 432. " ' “~
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
44
moral value of what he does. ® This power of the Spirit is neither
male nor female, neither good or bad, but neutral. Man is em¬
powered for ethical discernment within himself. Moral decisions
are human decisions. This early understanding of the Spirit per¬
sisted down to the time of the writing prophets of the eighth century
B. C.
The prophets ideas stand out as immediate pictures,
rather than forms of analyzed abstract concepts. This does not
mean that they saw God's action as something which was beyond
man's involvement. The prophet was not the "Creator of truth, " for
he was a part of the experience to which he was called to witness.
The prophet saw intuitively the meaning of relations between man and
man, and expressed the actions of God in terms of these meanings
rather than in terms of abstract concepts.
We use the word "intuitively" to mean a "Wisdom" which
is not the result of analytic thought but a "wholistic" wisdom of the
real nature of things. The prophet had become aware of his own
experience and relates this awareness to what was happening in
society. He gave witness to any who would listen, that as far as he
I was concerned, this is the way he saw God, and "Thus said the Lord."
5 Ibid., p. 433.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
45
This was not an other-wordly message, but a command concerning
the present situation. For example, Amos speaks of the conquest of
a society corroded by injustice. These men were men of inner author¬
ity which we will see later on in this dissertation, was found in Jesus
and Paul. It is the kind of authority demanded by mature Christians
today.
The prophets were examples of men in a sensitive rela¬
tionship with God as Spirit, but because of this spiritual perspective
they had to speak about the historical situation of their day. They had
to expose the blindness of their contemporaries in terms of justice
and mercy. They were appreciated by those who followed them and
those who later read them largely because of their emphasis of
justice rather than because of their sensitivity to the Spirit or of
God's presence in life. The latter emphasis of justice rather than the
Spiritual presence became the stuff out of which legalism was
developed. This was the very thing that put Jesus on the cross. We
believe that it was Jesus insight into this loss of an awareness of
God's presence as Spirit which caused Him to weep over Jerusalem
as, "Killer of the Prophets. " Paul Tillich says, "the fragile nature
of Spiritual religion and humanism is such that it cannot long exist."®
6
Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1960), HI, 157.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
46
i
Spiritual religion tends to harden into doctrine, dogma and finally
legalism.
The right answer to the problem of the abuse of Spirit in I
the life of man is not the excommunication of the Spirit from man,
but the rejection of the need for a demonstration of its crude potency.
Prophetic history anticipates the higher development of Spirit life
found in Jesus and in the life of the church. The dimension of Spirit
in the life of man was too powerful for it to suffer eternal banishment
as a result of its crude expressions. The final solution of the pro¬
phet's struggle with this dimension in his own life was not the denial
of the Spirit but its moralization into conformity with their highest
thoughts concerning God. :
From Amos on, we have men who spoke words that bore
the mark of divine authority. They had no need for the aid of magical j
powers. "The signs for these prophets were the natural events of
history because the natural order was for them the scene of Yahweh's
activity.
I
In spite of the universalism found in the writings of the
prophets, the Spirit usually becomes the special possession of Israel. j
!
--
J
]
^Scott, R. B. Y., The Relevance of the Prophets (New j
York: Macmillan, 1963), p. 56ff. *
: . |
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
47
This same thing happens in the life of the church. Following the
death of Christ, the Spirit of the Christ was not active in the world
long before it became fully incorporated into a doctrine of the church.
Spirit became imprisoned in a self-designed corporate body which
could then claim special insight and could exercise control over men
because of this claim. Part of the panic in the church today is
caused by the liberation of man from this claim. In our pluralistic
society the loss of the special authority of the church as an institution
ought not cause us alarm. A degree of relativism is necessary to
provide the basis for the constructive aspects of pluralism and free
men from dogmatism and authoritarianism.
We see in the development of the concept of the Spirit in the
Old Testament the importance of the experience of the prophets. The
development of the idea of a Spiritual Presence is summarized by
Henry P. Van Dusen in his book Spirit, Son and Father . ® We believe
with Tillich that one can have no thought of Divine Spirit without an
understanding of spirit as a dimension of all life. ® The question of
the relation between God's Spirit and man's spirit is usually answered
^Henry P. Van Dusen, Spirit, Son and Father (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1958), p. 45.
9 Tillich, op. cit., III, 111.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
48
by the metaphorical statement that the Divine Spirit dwells and works
in the human spirit. We want to look at the implications of this as we
consider the realm of the Spirit in the New Testament.
The Spirit In The New Testament
We cannot discuss the relation of God and man without
discussing the concept of man as spirit. Only when God and man are
fully differentiated from one another can God come near to man with¬
out limiting and oppressing him. This may have been what Bonhoeffer
meant when he wrote.
We must not gloss over the ungodliness of the world, but
expose it in a new light. Now that it has come of age, the world
is more godless, and perhaps it is for that very reason nearer
to God than ever before.
Although Barth worked out his theology of God, rather completely, he
has not worked out a theology of man. Perhaps his view of God as
"Wholly other" blocked him from developing a view of man as spirit,
and thus as a responsible partner in creation. Cox points out in the
book The Secular City , "if the partner is also the one who is created
in God's image, then although the original initiative is God's,
derivative initiatives from man should find a larger place in theology j
I
j
I
^Harvey Cox, The Secular City (New York: Macmillan, j
1965), p. 82. j
1
J
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
49
and life. "*•*•
Paul, the first of the New Testament writers, attempts to
show this relationship between God and man. He shows it as a re¬
lation of one integrity to another. In Rom. 8:16 we read, "The Spirit
Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of
God. " In this verse we are presented with the two inner voices, the
Holy Spirit's and our own spirit's. There is every indication that the
spirit of man is the echo of the Spirit of God within man, but man
recognizes himself to be a free subject, a person made free by a
covenant partnership with God. Man is self-determined.
Most men most of the time are not aware of the spiritual
dimension of life. This is perhaps due to the fact that the possibili¬
ties of any situation are covered over by the necessities of life.
"Whitehead held that the dim awareness of the ideal possibility in j
j
tension with human actualization provides the contest in which men
everywhere grope for salvation.
Perhaps the best commentary on the unity which is des¬
cribed in Romans 8:16 is the prayer of Jesus in John 17:11... "That
1 ^Ibid., p. 83.
l^John Cobb, Jr., "A Personal Christology" (A Paper
read at the School of Theology at Claremont, California, July, 1963), j
p. 10. !
j
; _ )
\
j
l
i
f
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
50
they may be one, as we are one. " This meaning could be expressed
in the words, "Keep them with the power of the spirit which you have
given me, and bind their spirits in unity, with ours. " Here the spirit
of man with a small "s" is the human dimension of man as a spiritual
being; namely, man's idiosyncratic individuality. The unity of this
kind of spirit of man is in tension with the Spirit of God and so there
is disunity between man and God. Here we see the dimension of the
spirit of man most dramatically. We see the possibility of unity and
also the possibility of disunity. The unity which goes beyond this
unity and disunity comes to man when he steps into "Dialogue" with
another human being. It is then that individuals as well as a group of
persons becomes one with "The Spirit of God. " Jesus said, "Where
two or three are gathered in my name "Spirit" there I am in the
midst of them. " In this new unity with the Spirit we enter a new
reality which is a means of participation in the transcendent union of
life with life. And, although this participation in the unambiguous life
is always fragmentary, because man is finite, we must give some
attention to this possibility or Spirit will always remain outside the
realm of human experience.
^Tillich, op. cit., III, 111-114.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
51
As indicated earlier there is a need for us to understand
the human spirit in order to understand the basic witness of Spirit
with spirit. If man's life is to have dignity, serenity, and security it
must draw meaning from something greater than itself. In the book
of Romans the Apostle Paul attempts to show how human life is re¬
lated to the creative power who is its source and who gives it mean¬
ing. However, there are two presuppositions concerning man
necessary if one is to speak of a relationship between God and man:
first, we are forced to consider man's dependence upon God, and
second, man's separateness from God. Man as a spiritual being has
an integrity all his own. This is shown most clearly by man's ability
to go his own way with no thought of God.
The Power of the Spirit in The Church
The early church believed that the Holy Spirit creates a
new condition of living in relationship. The Spirit brings unity. The
writer of the book of Ephesians calls for this early congregation to,
"be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that -
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph. 3:16-17). The
expression of the love which brought the early Christians into unity
was shown in terms of reconciling the unreconciled relationships of
existence. The Holy Spirit for Paul and for the early Christian
writers was not a spirit which brings information about God, but was
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
52
the meaning bearer concerning the life men lived together. This
Spirit was manifested uniquely in Christ on the Cross, but it is seen
today wherever this same spirit is demonstrated "in an entirely
different mode of living in relationship in the world. "14
An expression of this spirit outside the church today can be
found in the writing of men like James Baldwin. Although Baldwin
does not believe in the God he once confessed, he surely reveals the
spirit and power of what we have called the Spiritual Presence in his
writing. He points to the place of the spirit of man in relation to the
Spiritual Presence when he writes:
I suggest that the role of the Negro in American life has
something to do with our concept of what God is, and from my
point of view, this concept is not big enough. It has got to be
made much bigger than it is because God is after all, not any¬
body's toy. To be with God is really to be involved with
enormous overwhelming desire, and joy, and power which you
cannot control, which controls you. I conceive of my life as a
journey toward something I do not understand, which in going
toward makes me better. I conceive of God, in fact, as a
means of liberation and not a means to control others. Love is
a battle, love is a way, love is growing up.
The church as a Christian community exists, not to pro¬
mote a new religion, but simply to be the embodiment of a community
■^John A. T. Robinson, Honest to God (Philadelphia:
Westminister, 1963), p. 74.
James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name (New York:
Dell, 1961), p. 147.
I !
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
53
of love. The function of the church in society is seen in the demands
of the society which require immediate action and remedy. In terms
of what we have said in chapter one, this involves working toward the
integration of those aspects of life which have been dehumanized
through social change. It involves calling persons into intimacy so
they become involved once again in the decisions of life. The church
which takes seriously the idea of being, "the people of God" will
direct its efforts towards the life men live together. It will seek to
become a community where all the members are ruled by what Buber
calls,
honesty without compulsion, kindness without hypocrisy,
and brotherliness of those who are passionately devoted to their
divine meaning. When social inequality, distinction between
t he free and the unfree, the haves and the have nots splits the
community and creates chasms between its members there can
be no true people of God.
I believe the prophets knew this when they wrote of justice, mercy
and truth. They spoke out for the recognition of God in all areas of
life.
If we take the view that each person becomes more defined
in his own life through his relationships with others, our critical
demand must be directed toward every one upon whom we depend and
■^Martin Buber, Pointing The Way (New York: Harper &
Row, 1957), p. 93.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
54
upon our relationships with those who depend upon us. If each has a
hand in shaping the destiny of others, a demand is placed upon every
one of us. Here the demand is not for the justice which we talk about
in the courts, but the justice of relationships of one person to another.
Jesus and the prophets are clear on this concept of justice, but they
were not popular with the legalists.
The task of Christian community becomes one of creating
and keeping the unity of the Spirit without destroying human integrity.
It is important for our understanding of Spirit that we do not think of
unity as living without tension. The desire for "Tension free living"
which is so much a part of our society today is not a sign of health,
but of sickness. The kind of health or wholeness and unity which we
look for is not a lack of divergent trends in our bodily, mental or
spiritual life, but the power to keep these tensions in unity. All
healing says Paul Tillich, is an act of reunity disrupted unity. "Heal
the sick means--help them to regain their lost unity without depriving
them of their abundance, without throwing them into a poverty of life
to escape the tensions of life. This is an important concept in our
society where diversity and abundance both abound.
^Paul Tillich, The Eternal Now (New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1963), p. 61.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
55
The reduction of the power of life to escape the tensions of
life is not healing. If in the life of the Christian community we at¬
tempt to escape tensions by cutting off that which produces disunity
we may find we have also cut off that which can produce greatness in
the life of the church. A church which has ceased to risk disunity and
even the demonic influences has little power to bring about unity.
What is called for is a new relationship in the midst of the ambiguous
life. The church is called to serve the "new covenant" (IlCor. 3:5-6)
that is a new relationship of unity between God and man and through
this new relationship between man and his fellow men.
When the Spirit is present in the church each member be¬
comes a significant part of an important enterprise. Each will come
to feel that he is called into the fellowship for the purpose of ministry
or witnessing. As a witness, each feels that he is participating in
the destiny of all the others. This takes the courage of involvement.
Participation stands over against the desire for non-involvement
found in our culture. Awareness of the mutual destiny of members of
the church will be discussed in more detail under the next section of
this paper where we consider the dynamic nature of our life together.
We have attempted to examine the nature of the elements
found in the experience of the prophets, in Jesus, in the Apostle
Paul, and in the life of the church that give a clue to the general
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
56
texture of the nature of the Spiritual Presence in all life. We have
tried to see "God's signature" in the life and teaching of the prophets.
We have followed the development of the concept of the Spiritual
Presence from the early non-ethical manifestations to the highest
ideal as expressed in Jesus as the Christ. We now feel it is neces¬
sary for us to try to relate this to our own existence or we too will
be guilty of religating the Spiritual Presence to something that is past
or future and escape our involvement with the present.
In this chapter we attempt to show the Spiritual Presence
as a dimension of all life. It is most radically expressed in the life
we live together. The manifestations of the Spirit as developed in the
later prophets are in terms of justice, mercy and obedience. In the
life of Jesus grace and love dominate. Any act which goes against
justice, mercy, love and grace are not of God's Spirit no matter how
religious the activity may be.
We have tried to show how the idea of the Spiritual Pres¬
ence comes to us as Christians from the development of this idea in
the Old Testament. When we claim that the Spirit which was found in
Jesus was of the same nature or essence as that found in the prophets
we are faced with two implications of this statement.
First, if the Spirit which is said to have been in Jesus
without measure is the same as the Spirit which inspired the prophets.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
then it is not the spirit of the man Jesus of Nazareth that made Jesus
the Christ, but the Spiritual Presence, the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit
of God which was made manifest through Him made Jesus the Christ.
| The drama of the Cross is not the power of the Spirit of Jesus over
life, but the power of Jesus' surrender to the Spiritual Presence
which He felt. For Christians the man on the Cross represents this
dimension of life. It is a dimension in which the weakest is the
strongest, the most humiliated is the most victorious. We will try
to spell this out more clearly in the section on freedom vs. dehuman¬
ization. For Christians, the historical human order is overcome
by the suffering servant, the crucified Saviour. The church becomes
the servant church as it enters into the Spirit of the Christ, and
comes to man as "one who serves. " Before we move on to another
point we must say as Christians that this Spirit which was found in
Jesus is not the exclusive property of Jesus or of the Christian
Church, it is found everywhere, but is made concrete in Christ and
in the church.
i
i
| Secondly, Jesus as the Christ is the keystone in a long
I
j
j history of Spiritual manifestations. He is not in our view an isolated
event in the history of the life of Spirit. His coming was an event
I
which pointed back to the past as it was expressed in the prophets
and forward to the present as found in the world, including our
secular society. __
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
58
b
From the above two statements, we can finally say that the
Spiritual Presence is an ever present witness to the never-failing
availability of God's power in love. It affirms that "God-is-near--"
"with-in, " "among--in relationship" to us and to the world. This is
i an affirmation of the intimacy and the power of God which is seen in
the character of Jesus, and witnessed to by His disciples. We be¬
lieve this spirit can be seen in persons today. We believe that the
great Artist of all creation has expressed Himself and is expressing
Himself through His Spirit. The qualities of justice, mercy, obedi¬
ence, grace and love run through all His work. Those who have an
awareness of these qualities can feel His presence in the midst of an
ambiguous finite existence. Estrangement is healed, disunity is
overcome when man's spirit finds union with the Divine Spirit. This
insight was captured for me by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in the
words:
Earth's crammed with heaven.
And every common bush a fire with God;
But only he who sees,
Takes off his shoes.
The rest sit 'round it and pluck blackberries.
^Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Poetical Works (New York:
Dodd, Mead, 1892), V, 295.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
59
H. THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF LIFE
We have said that the word Spirit links the nature of God
and man. When the word Spirit is applied to God it relates to the
activity of God's self disclosure through creation and is uniquely seen
in His Son, Jesus Christ. When the word spirit is applied to man it
denotes the whole person responding in personal relationships. God
continues the activity of Christ in and through personal relationships.
As Christians we see in history the self-disclosure of Christ. Dis¬
integration, dehumanization and isolation are overcome as one finds
his identity "in Christ. " The church as a Christian community is the
place where each person can become aware of his own lack of integ¬
rity. It is a place where he finds a new meaning in life, and it is a
place where the fear of intimacy can be overcome in a trusting com¬
munity. The church expresses the Spirit of Christ when it helps each
person become that integral individual which he is created to be.
This concept of the church suggests a dynamic concept of religion
where the Spirit is functionally and dynamically present, leading
members into an ever-enlarging awareness of their own meaning
and value.
The above view rejects a dogmatic, legalistic or authori¬
tarian view of the church. It is based upon a historic approach to
the Bible where the discovery of God becomes a progressive
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
60
revelation of Him which embraces all of life. This view leads to an
understanding of preaching as the announcement of God's presence in
all life and to a view of teaching as the unblocking of minds to receive
truth in any discipline. A deep appreciation of the dignity and worth
of every human being as a child of God becomes an important part of
this view of the church. A sincere effort to free persons from those
social forces which injure personality grows out of this understanding.
Finally, a centering of faith in Jesus who lived within history while
maintaining his wholeness, or oneness with God, His freedom and
His involvement in life gives us the norm of this kind of a dynamic
faith.
The dynamic aspects of faith in Christ are perhaps best
expressed in the Gospel of John. We have taken the liberty of trans¬
lating John 1:12 into our own words in order to understand this faith.
"When I am confronted by Christ's Spirit and come to terms with
myself in the light of His life, I receive the power to change into a
different kind of person. "
The individual who discovers in Jesus of Nazareth the
power to be what he ought to be is experiencing the Spirit of the
Christ. We believe a person grows increasingly sensitive to the
power of this spirit in the "Secular" world. We see in this verse
from John 1, the idea of meeting and changing. Here is the inter-
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
61
action of Christ with a follower and we see a change in the follower.
We understand this change in terms of a new inner reality rather
i
than a change in the rules by which one lives. Life becomes a quest
* toward being and meaning. There is a new autonomy or inner author-
j
i ity in life which is liberating and decisive. We believe it is the same
kind of inner authority which was found in Jesus' disciples which
caused their contemporaries to say, "They took note of them that
they had been with Jesus. " The question of authority is settled once
and for all by placing the God of creation in the center of all life as
Jesus did. This includes the "Secular" life. This way of speaking
is close to what we understand Tillich to mean by being related to
one's "ultimate concern. " This "ultimate concern" is to be under-
i
stood as the ground of our true being. In Jung's terms it is "our
inner nature. " j
In the next few pages we will attempt to relate the dynamics
of the religious experience which we understand in Biblical terms to
what we have learned about the dynamics of personality development
as described in secular terms. We will attempt to answer the follow¬
ing questions concerning the mission of the church. (1) What kind of
personality development brings integration? (2) How is the concept
of human freedom, or just being human related to the concept of "The
i
New Being"? (3) How can the Christian Community contribute to a !
|
i
j
I
j
.... I
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
62
| person's becoming a "New Being" with a greater awareness of God in
i
all life? These are serious questions for us to ask if we are going to
| understand the dynamic nature of our mission today and relate our
j efforts of preaching and teaching to this great task.
\
f
t
j
j Wholeness vs. Disintegration
l
I
| Of special interest in our attempt to answer the question of
I
j
personality development and integration is the work of Erik Erikson
in the books. The Young Man Luther and Childhood and Society . In
these psychoanalytic studies Erikson applies the concept of "identity"
as his technique of personality interpretation. He suggests the
problem of identity as crucial for young Luther. He believes this
is crucial for all youth and young adults struggling for personal
maturity and integration.
Erikson expresses an interpersonal understanding of
reality. He sees each stage of development beginning with infancy
as having a central problem to be solved. An understanding of growth
begins with an understanding of the epigenetic principle derived from
the observation of the growth of the organism in the uterus. This
principle can be generalized by saying that each organism has a
^Erik Erikson, The Young Man Luther (New York:
Norton, 1958).
}
. - * - - ,
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
63
| "Ground plan" out of which all parts arise. Each part has its own
I order of ascendency. The development of the brain, the heart, the
! arm buds and finally the fully developed fetus has been carefully
studied in biology. The functioning whole depends upon the develop-
I
ment of the parts. Each organ has its time of origin. Injury during
I
I time of ascendency will cause an organ to remain underdeveloped and
j
I can affect the doom of the whole organism.
Erickson applies the epigenetic principle of biology to
personality development. Personality is more than the organism. It
is the organism socialized in and through the interaction of the
cultural environment and the person's own idiosyncratic experiences.
Each person has a different "Ground plan" which includes his talents,
capacities and potentialities. The uniqueness of the person--his
constitution of temperament is cast and molded in the cultural milieu
of our time. The personality development will follow a pattern
regulated by two forces; (1) the organism's readiness to interact with
i
the environment, (2) the opportunities offered in the environment.
f
| The first interaction which has a profound influence upon
i
! the child is the child's relation with his mother in the routine of
i
I
{
holding, feeding and training. The importance of this early training
| is spelled out well in the book Love Against Hate by Carl
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
64
j Menninger. 20 a dynamic understanding of the activity of the Spirit
in all life would include the activity of the Spirit working through the
mother as she opens the way for personality growth in the infant.
Using the epigenetic principle as a guide we may say that
i
personality development evolves according to steps predetermined by
the organism's readiness to interact with a widening social radius
beginning with the first dim image of the mother and ending with all
i
t
j mankind or at least that segment of mankind which matters to that
i
individual.
Before we attempt to relate personality development more
specifically to the Christian Experience of Christ's presence we want
to make sure that these stages of development are not understood as
j being unrelated. The stages are not unrelated or clearly defined.
i
I
j There is a gradualness about development which makes the successful
j
j negotiation of each stage an accomplishment in time. However, there
1 comes a time in each organism when it is ready for another step.
There is a call to move on to the next stage. Ross Snyder calls this
a time when there is, "An urgent invitation to partake of a new life
20
Carl Menninger, Love Against Hate (New York:
Harcourt, Brace, 1942), p. 105.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
65
power and to enter onto a new level of existence, "21 From the re-
i
ligious point of view this invitation can be acknowledged as an offer
of participation in the new birth. The New Testament calls this
i "being born again, " "Created anew, " or receiving the power to be¬
come a "Child of God. "
We see then that Erikson presents human growth in terms
of the conflicts, both inner and outer, which a person weathers
emerging with an increasing sense of inner unity or disunity accord¬
ing to the standards of those who are significant to him. ^2 With this
kind of an understanding of development we are confronted with the
impact of society on personality development.
From the above statement of the epigenetic principle as
applied to personality development, we see that basic health or whole¬
ness depends upon successive stages of existence that are integrally
related. These stages of health achievement may be called, "part
functions" or "partneeds. " The total health of an individual depends
on the proper development of each stage "at the time of ascendency. "
^*Ross Snyder, "Ethical Living is Actualization of Life
World" (Mimeographed).
^Erik H, Erikson, Identity and the Life Cycle (New York:
International Universities Press, 1959), p. 51.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
66
j This is not to say that each stage exists independently of all other
i
stages. While a sense of basic trust is primary during the first
1 ii M
year, something like autonomy is evidenced from birth in the
| infant's attempt to wriggle free when tightly held. We also notice
|
| that once a stage is passed the influence of the experiences in coming
to terms with this task does not stop. In summary, we may say
j there is an interrelatedness of all the stages throughout the entire
life of the person.
We now ask what may be inferred from our discussion of
personality development as it relates to the task of the church. How
does preaching and teaching in the church bring about this wholeness
or maturity which we have tried to express. We believe the idea is
i
expressed in Col. 1:28 where we read, "Him we proclaim, warning
!
every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may
l
I!
present every man mature in Christ.
I We have stated our religious outlook as one where the
t
I
j Spirit is functionally and dynamically operative in the individual's
I *
S experience leading him into an ever-enlarging experience of his own
personal meaning and value. We see the meaning of the above verse
in terms of the discovery of man's full potential under God. In terms
of interpersonal relationships, "To teach everyone all we can about
i
Christ, " is to teach the integrity of the family of God. Opening the
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
67
J eyes of men to this basic integrity is the mission of the church as a
|
| learning community. It is accomplished through every phase of the
j
life of the church and it is the responsibility of every member in the
t
| church. Our task is to show how this is best accomplished when
preaching and teaching are held in an integral relationship.
i
i
I Here we are faced with a challenge of "Honest communica-
|
tion"--bare soul to bare soul. This happens so seldom in human
experience, but its healing value is well known and highly recom-
| pensed whenever it does occur in human relationships. To bring
i
i every man to maturity in Christ involves a relationship with Christ
i
and with one's neighbor where the spiritual bond or communion be¬
tween each is in union with the integrity of the other. At this point
each takes his place as a person who knows and feels within himself
the meaning cf the words, "We are members one of another. " (See
I
Rom. 12:5 and also Rom. Chapter 8).
As we look at the dynamics of this experience we see that
it comes about as each person is addressed by another and responds
to this address. Caring deeply about each other, coupled with honest
communication between members of the community calls the new
relationship into being. It comes as a shock to many of us to realize
that we are called to have the same unity with others as Jesus had
with God. This is to lay a burden on us which we do not readily
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
68
I accept. Here we see the individual responsibility for actually ex¬
pressing God in ourselves as we move toward maturity in Christ.
The return of the responsibility to be one with God puts the healing
j ministry of the church back in the hands of the members of the church
j
instead of specialists. ^3 The intensity of feeling about each other
j
calls the Christian community into being, just as the intensity of
(
{
i feeling of a couple in love calls the family into being. This kind of
community stands in contrast to the many superficial relations in our
society.
As the church seeks to bring persons to maturity in Christ,
it seeks to call people to their individual potential according to the
above mentioned epigenetic principle and the idiosyncratic nature of
i
I
each person. When we sincerely attempt to minister in this way we
see the ministry in a new light. If maturity or individual integrity
comes through meeting Christ and neighbor we can not be content to
"Minister in general. " Pastors and teachers will need to encounter
personally those whom they seek to call. Buber has said,
|
What is demanded is that the healer, (minister) draw the
person out of the correct methodological objectification and
the person himself step forth out of the role of the professional
and meet this man as a person, ^4
^ ^Tillich, op. cit ., pp. 58-65.
24
Buber, op. cit., p. 94. I
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
69
! This same idea is also summarized by Dr. Carl Rogers in the book,
I
I
Contemporary Psychotherapies , where Rogers writes, "The degree
to which I can create relationships which facilitate the growth of
i
I others as separate persons is a measure of the growth I have
I
j achieved in myself. Here the slogan for the person who teaches
|
may be, "Do not teach the truth, but be the truth. " To be sure what
I
i
I success we have in the ministry is in direct relation to any expres-
j
! sion we are able to give to these experiences.
i
Functionally this means talking with each person in class
and out, in church and out, in the official board meeting, the com¬
mission meetings, in the homes and in the class until each person
stands out as a revealed person in all the intensity of his feelings.
i
When this happens, we are in a position to help persons become more
self-defined with more "Courage to be. "
We have said that the church is a community where persons
!
I
care deeply about each other and where there is honest communica¬
tion between members. However, there is another dimension which
i
is present in every relationship. There is a call to fulfillment
j
i present in each relationship. Each member enters into a relation-
j
ship where someone is counting on him and him alone. Like the
^^Morris I. Stein, Contemporary Psychotherapies (New
York: Free Press, 1963), p. 110.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
70
i
| marriage relationship, the new relationship within the church calls
each person to become something which neither could become alone.
Each meets the holy in the depth of the common--the nearest other.
Here the function of membership is not in terms of a relationship
i
where one can escape the secular into a different world, but rather
i
i one becomes more sensitive to the depth of the holy in the common
life lived together. In this kind of a relationship, we sharpen and
deepen our response to the world and to others beyond the tangential
concern of common interests as expressed in a lodge or service club,
to where we have the courage to face another person as a whole
person. In worship and through Christian Education we come together
to purify and correct our love in the light of Christ's love. We find
in Him the grace and power to become the redeemed and the redeem¬
ing community. All activities which move persons toward this goal
bring the church into being. That which blocks this kind of meeting
no matter how religious the activity may seem, is not of Christ's
Spirit.
The above view calls for a dynamic approach to salvation,
where the integrity of the individual is not lost, but created in the
process of finding his true being in Christ. This growth toward
wholeness is not unrelated to a person's own history and the condi¬
tions of society. Relationships which build unity are relationships
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
71
j which have depth and meaning for each person involved. The church
i
| is a place where these relationships can grow and develop. Preach¬
ing and teaching unite in directing men to "Maturity in Christ. "
i Freedom vs. Dehumanization
|
i
j In our discussion of dehumanization by the forces of
i
! secular society we did not for one moment imply that man has lost
i
his ability to decide among the many alternatives. There is no
question about the fact that we are determined by our past, but we
are also free. What we have been in the past--that is our past per- j
sonal history, and the world today has indeed narrowed the field of
choice for all of us. For example, I am not free to become the first
| child in my family since I was the fifth. This choice is not open to
! '
me. I cannot choose to live in the past century since I live in this
one. However, within the limits of life it is still my decision to
determine what I do in the next moment. I can continue to type this
i
paper, I can go have a cup of coffee, or I can stop this work and turn
! to some other work.
|
We see then that while man is the object of natural and
i 'I
! social forces which rule him, he is at the same time not only the
object of his own circumstances, but he is also free. Man has the
i
| will, the capacity and the freedom to transform and change the world.
What we want to stress is not the scope of man's will and freedom, j
j
j
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
72
i
i
but the fact that man is free.
We now wish to relate man's freedom to the dynamics of
change in the life of Christ and that of a follower. It is important
that we understand the relation of self-determination and self¬
surrender in the life of Jesus and in the life of a follower if we are
i
to understand the Gospel as God's grace. We said earlier in this
chapter that, "The drama of the cross is not the power of the Spirit
of Jesus over life, but the power of Jesus' surrender to the Spiritual
Presence which made Him the Christ. " The self-determination--
self-surrender which made Jesus transparent to the power of God is
seen in the entire New Testament. It is most clearly expressed in
the Gospel of John.
Paul Tillich expresses the self-determination, self¬
surrender of Jesus life as the criteria for the Christian claim that
Jesus is the final revelation of God.
He who is the bearer of the final revelation must surrender
his finitude... not only his life but also his finite power and
knowledge and perfection. In doing this he becomes the bearer
of final revelation. He becomes transparent to the mystery he
reveals... But in order to surrender himself completely, he
must possess himself completely. Only he can possess and
therefore surrender himself completely who is united with the
ground of his being and meaning without separation and dis¬
ruption.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
73
The ultimate surrender of self, in love as seen in the cross
makes Jesus the bearer of final revelation. ^6
Here we see that Jesus emptied himself of thirsting for God .
and He became transparent through self-surrender revealing to
others the God who sent him. It was then correctly the message of
"Christ Crucified" that became the dynamic element in the early
church. This 'Kenotic' theory of Christology, based on Christ's
self-emptying is basic for our understanding of the meaning of "being
in Christ. " It involves a self-surrender in the same spirit and in¬
cludes living in the Spirit of the Christ who was one with God. Here j
in the cross we see the relationship of this perfectly revealing Son of
God to all the sons of God who for all time have looked for such a
revelation. Every true artist, seeking for the ground of being in the ,
moment of his experience, the Zen philosopher trying to purify un¬
selfconsciousness, the scientist searching for truth, all are looking :
for what we find in Jesus as the Christ. Here in the act of Jesus we
see self-emptying--the ultimate in foolishness, to squander oneself
on God, but it was in this "foolishness" that we see God and find
salvation. Here we see the power of Christ in his self-determined,
self-surrender. Nothing can tempt or shatter one who craves or
claims nothing.
i
|
|
^Tillich, Systematic Theology, II, 115. !
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
A
74
We believe the above discussion of the relationship of the
Cross of Christ to freedom in terms of a self-determined self¬
surrender is the point of contact between the understanding of the
dynamics of salvation in Christological and psychological terms. We
believe we need to cut through all the fuss in the Honest To God debate
and look at what John A. T. Robinson has to say on this issue. We
cannot understand this relationship of a follower to his Christ in
supranaturalistic terms but rather in terms of the Spirit of Christ
expressed in His total life and death.
It represents Christ stripping Himself not of His Godhead,
but of Himself. He empties Himself of all craving to be on an
equality with God that he may reveal God to man. In utter
self-surrender to others in love He discloses and lays bare the
ground of man's being as love. ^
Faith is participation in the life and being of Christ.
Participation in the life, death and resurrection or in the incarnation,
cross and resurrection becomes more than a doctrine or dogma--it
becomes one's mode of acting toward others. Our relationship is not
that of a religious person to a transcendent God, but one of, "A new
life for others" through participation in the Spirit of the Christ.
Here Jesus' self-determination and self-surrender is involved.
First of all, if nothing of Jesus' self-determination was at stake in
2 7
Robinson, op. cit., p. 74ff.
!
!
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
75
! His surrender then there could be nothing to surrender. Jesus had a
i
j mind and will of his own. We do not understand the 'kenotic' theory
1
j
i as the surrender of the power of Jesus' life, but as the surrender of
| the selfish use of this power. In traditional language, the message of
»
| the church is that the "principalities and powers" were defeated by
i
i
Jesus who was tempted to use this power of his being "His Spirit" for
j his own benefit, but rejected this temptation and as a self-determined
j
person, decided to surrender this benefit for self becoming "The Man
! for Others. " This surrender is dramatically pictured in Matt., Mark
and Luke in the temptation stories of Jesus where He is tempted to
!
( use the power of His being for His own benefit. ^8 All three of the
Gospel writers relate this temptation of Jesus to His baptism ex-
!
perience and His inner struggle to understand the meaning of this
"Spirit baptism. " We believe the New Testament is clear in showing
that this was not only a once in a lifetime struggle, but a continual
struggle as shown by Jesus rebuke of Peter in Mark 9 where Jesus
says to one of his own, "Get thee behind me Satan. "
i
i
! Here we see that the forces which usually restrict and de-
J
humanize others did not do so to Jesus. What is meant by the
t
j kerygmatic assertion that Jesus has defeated the "principalities and
1
t
i
i
f
1 o o
j °Matt. 4:11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13.
j
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
76
i
t
I
i
i
i
I
powers" is not that we no longer have them in the world, but that His
life was not determined by these forces. These forces and pressures
still exist in history and in the lives of men, but Jesus demonstrated
that man has the power and the responsibility to rule over them and
use them in a responsible way to fulfill God's purposes. In freedom
man encounters dehumanization which comes at the point where man's
self determination is at its greatest. Man's freedom is so complete
that he can elevate the forces of creation to ultimate status as we
saw in our discussion of modern technology. Paul talks about this
freedom and dehumanization in Romans 1:24 where he writes, "men
worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator. " Here
man fell captive to the forces of dehumanization which he was given
to control. The things which man was meant to control controlled
him. It is man in this condition in Paul's day, and in our day to
which the Gospel comes and says, "You can be free! " "You can be
human! " "You can decide! "
In the book The Secular City Harvey Cox says, "God's
action, which goes on all the time but was made known in Jesus of
Nazareth, is to call men to freedom from the powers and principali¬
ties, and to summon him at the same time to responsibility over and
for them. "29
*^Cox, op. cit., p. 75.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
77
i The above mentioned task is always the task of the church.
i
God is ever at work making freedom and personhood actual. To be-
!
j lieve in the kerygma is to believe that man should and can have
t
[
| dominion over the earth. This dominion was given man from the
i
beginning. ^0 For the Christian there should be no powers which
cannot be humanized. To deny this is to deny the power of God and
nature of man which God has created and given dominion over these
i
j powers.
i
From the individual's point of view the above discussion
is just that, discussion. The kerygma does not free until it is ac¬
cepted by a person who wants to become free. This comes to the
individual when he can stop blaming things on fate and forces and
pressures and accept his own involvement in the situation. The free
person lives in the here and now, not in the past or the future.
Freedom comes as man takes responsibility for his life and acts
with his own inner authority. He becomes free from dehumanizing
powers as he accepts the freedom and responsibility for his own
future within the limits of freedom set by present circumstances.
30 Gen. 1:28.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
78
! Being for Others vs. Noninvolvement
| We have said that freedom comes when man takes respon¬
sibility for his life and acts on his own inner authority. Man becomes
; free from the dehumanizing forces when he accepts responsibility
I
I
| for his own future. This freedom is man's glory and his burden. It
is his glory because man becomes like God, self-determined. It is
man's burden because man now becomes responsible for his future.
We have attempted to show that it is God's will that man¬
kind be one with Him and that man demonstrate this oneness in the
I
j community which we call the church. We have said that this oneness
i
or integrity which man can have with others is the same integrity
which is built into the very fabric of creation, but man is different
from other animals in that he can reflect upon his relationships.
Man's uniqueness comes in terms of his freedom as a spiritual
dimension of life. As a spiritual being, man is concerned about the
meaning of his relationships. "Experientially, the unrelenting in-
| herent demand for a man to know himself as an integrity in an
| „ 1
i incomprehensible world of relationships makes him anxious. ,,,3i
i
I Man's anxiety causes him to strive for power over those aspects of
i
j
^David Eitzen, "The Predicament of Man and His
Salvation From it--Experientially Speaking. " (A paper read at the
School of Theology, Claremont, California, December 10, 1963),
j ; P- 1.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
79
I his environment which make him anxious. He strives for self-
!
sufficiency through achievement. Self-awareness here includes an
i
awareness of one's capacities and potentialities, but it also includes
|
\ an awareness of one's limitations. The haunting question, "Will
i
| others love me with my limitations? " causes one to seek to work to
earn acceptance. The feeling, "if I just had money, or power, then
others would accept me. " The characteristic religious striving is
i
in terms of "legalism" whereby one gains acceptance by being worthy.
However, in attempting to be worthy and win acceptance and love,
one's self-determination leads to self-righteousness. One becomes
worthy by being better than others and thanking God for this as the
pharisee did in the story of Jesus. This striving leads to rejection
by others rather than acceptance and one's best efforts lead into
isolation.
Man is caught in the tension between his self-determina-
| tion and self-surrender. He wants to control his world and be self-
|
determined, but at the same time he wants to be loved by others. In
his attempt to control his world he centers all things in himself. He
seeks to become his own God and denies the very ground of his
existence. He denies his finiteness because to surrender to this
would be to admit that he is less than adequate. This negative cycle
of self-determination becomes expressed in one of two ways:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
80
(1) Man fights the world actively and aggressively and seeks to kill
i
; that which makes him feel inadequate. This aggression is seen in
minority groups and in juvenile behavior. (2) The second reaction
i
I
| to the tension between self determination and desire for acceptance
j
i
is seen in the "early resigned" who trades his freedom for security.
He becomes dependent and seeks to turn back to modes of behavior
i
!
which served him in the past. He expresses what Fromm calls,
"Man's escape from freedom. "
i
What has the Gospel to say to man in this condition? In
Romans 7:24 we read these words, "Wretched man that I am!" Here
we have the cry of man in his human situation. From this wretched
condition man seeks for something to break the negative cycle. The
| words of Jesus, "Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy
i
laden.... For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" is the Gospel
for man in this struggle between self-determination and self-sur-
{ render. The yoke of Jesus is easy because it is different from the
!
legalistic way. It is a yoke which is above the law and replaces the
t
i
; toiling and laboring with rest in our souls. This is not a new demand,
but a new acceptance of reality. The power of compulsion to be
!
i accepted and loved is broken when we accept the fact that we are
acce pted by God.
j
i
{
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
81
j Once we experience the grace of God's acceptance, we
I
| receive the power of grace in our relationships to others. We ex-
i
| perience the grace of being able to look honestly into our own hearts
j
| and also the grace to look into the eyes of another. The miracle of
i
i
| grace is the reunion of life with life. We experience the grace of
i
j understanding the words of another. As Paul Tillich has written,
|
| We understand not only the literal meaning of the words,
but also that which is behind them even when they are harsh
or angry. We see in the deeper relationship a longing to break
through the walls of separation and meet another. We ex¬
perience the grace of being able to accept the life of the other,
even if it be hostile and may harm us, for through grace, we
know that he belongs to the same ground to which we belong,
and by which we have been accepted. 32
It is through this experience of grace that we are able to overcome
the tragic separation of life. The separation of the sexes, of races,
!
of nations and of generations are overcome in this grace, for these
separations are reunited through grace and we come to have fellow¬
ship with those to whom we belong, for life belongs to life.
From our discussion of the Spirit we are now ready to
state that the new life found in grace is not a life which is more
religious, but becoming like Christ, "The man for others. " The
love which has brought us into unity with the ground of our being
32 Paul Tillich, The Shaking of the Foundations (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948), p. 164,
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
82
| manifests itself in terms of reconciling the unreconciled relation-
j
ships of life. This love gives us the courage of involvement. It was
manifested uniquely in Christ on the cross, but it is seen today
; wherever this same Spirit is present and recognized in an entirely
j
different mode of living-in-relationship in the world. The person
who experiences this answer to the problem of self-determination and
self-surrender is indeed, "A new creature in Christ. " He is living
in a new relationship with the world--a relationship like that which
Christ had in his self-determined self-surrender. When man knows
himself as an integrity who belongs to, and participates in the ground
of all being, he is able to affirm his own being and his own unique¬
ness. He is willing to accept the responsibility of self-determination.
not in order to win acceptance, or have power over another, but in
order to enter into relationship with another self. In meeting
another, in the Spirit of Christ, one must use his own self-determina¬
tion to surrender all craving to use, manipulate or ignore that other.
We seek rather in utter self-surrender to be open to the other and to
love him for what he is. This is an act of strength and of courage
which is a part of faith.
The condition in today's world and the Christian Gospel are
both calling men to frame a new common life together. The world
which has been united through technology must now be united in
I
I
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
83
j Spirit. Man is called to leave behind familiar patterns of life that no
t
j longer fit our new setting, and to invent new ones. The invention of
new patterns of life together calls for an imaginative Spirit. It calls
i
|
j for self-determined persons who have the courage of participation in
I
: life. It calls for the maturity of persons to accept provisionally
certain forms of life together. This is the dynamic nature of our life
together.
In the Christian community each person is important
(Eph. 6:5). Each has a ministry. Each has a contribution which he
and he alone can make. The church is not primarily an institution,
j
! but a people--"people of God. " It is a people whose institutions
should help them become a part of God's action in the world--
j
liberating men and bringing them to freedom and responsibility.
|
There will be a variety of gifts and many ministries as each member
seeks his task in the fellowship. Each member is to be a personal
incarnation--full of grace and truth. He is called to be a "habitation
i
I
i of God through the Spirit. "
i
| The ministry of the church is expressed in its concern for
I people--that is in its "being for others. " We think of this concern
not so much in terms of old clothing, or even new clothing, but in
terms of things which money cannot buy. Our Church, our society,
and our world are filled with people who need to feel worthwhile in
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
84 I
their own eyes and in the eyes of God. A Gospel of surrender to
outside authority will not help bring dignity to man. A church which
I
helps others find personal worth through helping persons gain self¬
esteem, recognition of human worth and respect is doing the same
! type of work which Christ did when He was here on earth. It is this
i
j spirit of being for others and involvement in the life that men live
i
i
together which becomes the living expression of the Gospel.
In being for others, a person becomes a potential resur-
i rection center. As one meets another he realizes that he too is
primarily concerned about his own affairs. The other is primarily
self determined and self-seeking just as I am. However, as I listen
to the other openly I find he too seeks meaning while avoiding in-
i
i ;
volvement. Once I have the courage to step into an honest relation¬
ship with the other, I am able to transcend the self-defeating self- (
i
determinism which binds me. As I open my life to another in free-
i dom and responsibility, my horizons are broadened, my self-
i
| centeredness is lost as I begin to give myself to another in honest
] communication. As this kind of honest interpersonal relationship
develops in the church, the church itself becomes a resurrection
i center where the unity of the Spirit, the same Spirit which was in
Christ, brings wholeness, helpfulness, and healing to its members.
:
| j
| This kind of a fellowship becomes a church where being for others
i is more important than saving itself. j
: i
i . !
i i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
85
It seems from our discussion and the study of the work of
j
the Spirit in the world that the function of the church is one of being
| the expression of the Spirit of Christ, who in all things expressed the
i
i
Spirit of God. This involves acquiring a new style of life for individ¬
uals in the world and demonstrating this new life in the church. I do
not mean that the church has a readymade plan for rebuilding the
world, but it does have the Spirit of the One who frees and summons
man to his task in the world. The Spirit of the Christ becomes the
new center of integration for all life. This integration refers to a
healing and reconciling ministry in the midst of a fragmented life.
It becomes the function of the church to effect what Gibson Winter
has called a "ministry of comm uni cation" which calls persons into
communion. Healing means making whole, restoring the integrity
and unity of the parts. The church itself does not heal, but accepts
and demonstrates in its fellowship the healing forces of God. It is
the task of the church to set these forces loose in the world. Finally,
the task of the church would be to call men to involvement in the
concrete task of life. In the words of Frankl, "we take the respon¬
sibility to find the right answer to the problem which faces us. "33
OO
Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search For Meaning (New
York: Washington Square Press, 1963), p. 152.
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
86
A church which seeks to bring wholeness, freedom and
express its being for others would attempt to find balance in its total
ministry. It would include these common concerns:
1. A concern for the meanings by which men live in today's
world. This would include efforts to seek for the "Spirit
of our age. " It would include our efforts to see God at
work in the world.
2. A concern that the spiritual dimension of life is not lost.
3. A concern that the dynamic nature of our life together
is expressed.
4. A concern for honest communication of one's own integrity
and a willingness to discover the basic integrity in others.
5. A concern for the meanings which are alive in the church.
This includes a search for the Spirit by which the church
lives.
6. A concern for the meaning of history. This includes our
understanding of our own place in history and our in¬
volvement in the present.
7. Finally, we would have a deep concern for the critical
evaluation of our own relationships with others and with
the society of which we are a part. We would be con¬
cerned about the questions which society and today's
cultural expressions of our society are asking. We would
ask how we are expressing the Spirit of the Christ in
today's world.
The above concerns seem to be calling for a new kind of
Spirit in the church today. New forms of life together will emerge
as we seek to fulfill our task of calling men to wholeness, freedom,
and being for others in a world which is often devoid of Spiritual
evidences. I am not going to outline any special forms of the church.
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
87
but rather give examples on how the dynamic nature of our life
together can be demonstrated if we do not separate preaching and
| teaching in the church.
!
j
I will try to show ways in which the laity can become
i
involved in both the proclamation of the Word and in the teaching
j ministry if these are not separated radically as they often have been
i
in the past. I will attempt to point to the ministry as a total ministry
rather than one ministry for the "Clergy" and another for the laity.
In this approach the minister will attempt to step out of his role as a
professional and seek to meet people in their need. He will teach
while preaching, and preach while teaching. He will live in the
midst of the changing world with persons whose work, and world are
constantly challenging them. In terms of the world of sports, he
will be a "player-coach. " It will be here, that he, like the master
he served, will call persons to face up to their task. He will attempt
to point to the hidden presence of Christ in all spheres of life.
Preaching, and teaching will be real for such a minister for he will
i
I have lived with his people, looking and listening with the eyes and
ears of faith at all persons until they stand out as revealed individ¬
uals. In this spirit preaching and teaching are united as the minister
accepts God's spirit as functionally and dynamically operative.
i
l
i
i
!
\
I
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
88
I The effective minister will have a proper proportion be-
j
i
tween preaching and teaching. He will recognize that these functions
i
can be related more realistically than they have been in the past as
j
we take a serious look at each of these important ministries in an
i
i
effort to bring greater integration of these functions in the life of the
I
| church.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
i CHAPTER III
PREACHING
1
t
Woe to me if I preach not the Gospel. --I Cor. 9:16
i
t
i
j Change is the chief characteristic of life in today's world,
j Some changes have made life better, and others have made it worse.
The church like other institutions in a changing world faces a new
j situation. We face the question of preaching and teaching within the
framework of the present posture of the church in the world,
j When one understands that the good things done in the past
were also the result of change, one is more optimistic about the
| present and can have hope for the future. The kind of ministry which
|
| was carried on in the past is not being criticized simply because we
[
I
j call for a new approach. We are simply made aware of a new
| situation in preaching due to cultural changes. To continue to
j
' operate as if nothing new has been learned in twenty centuries of
church history is indeed tragic. We are trying to present an ap-
i
)
proach which is sensitive to our knowledge of personality develop¬
ment and to our biblical heritage. We consider the Spirit to be
functionally operative in the life of men today just as it has been in
the past. It is now time to relate this understanding of the world
and the church to our task as ministers. We have stated that
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
90
i
i
i
preaching and teaching are integrally related. This analysis of
preaching will attempt to show how the radical separation of preach¬
ing and teaching tends to fragment, the already fragmented life of a
person rather than bring wholeness, integration and healing. We
will show how separation of preaching and teaching dehumanizes
rather than gives persons freedom in Christ. And we will attempt
to show how this separation leads to avoidance of involvement both
on the part of the preacher and the listener.
Following this analysis we will report on a preaching pro¬
ject in which we make a serious attempt to make evangelism a
matter of balance. In this project we attempted to conceive of
evangelism as a dialogue in which the epigenetic principle of per-
i
| sonality development and the uniqueness of individual integrity are
not violated. At the same time we are not unmindful of the biblical
and historical qualities of Christianity. The quality of new life in
j Christ, is made central in this study. Our understanding of the
j church as a ministering or witnessing community forms the back-
I
!
| ground for our concept of preaching and teaching. We seek to com-
i
j bine an understanding of individual motivation with the rich resources
i
]
of the Christian faith. The challenge in this kind of evangelism is to
relate the concrete experience of each person to the call of God in
i Christ. We believe that this can be done best when preaching and
| te achin g are integrated f un ction s._
!
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Evangelism as a matter of balance includes a recognition
of conversion as a "process in time. " God's time (kairos) rather
than the preacher's time becomes the central issue. Kairos refers
to a qualitatively different and unique moment in the time process. *
Perhaps the closest thing we have to the meaning of kairos in English
is our word "timing. " Right timing is important in many areas of
life. In sports, timing is of the utmost importance. If a baseball
player says "his timing is off, " he is either swinging too soon or too
late. He must meet the ball, "at the right time. " In business timing
is also important. The salesman who calls "at the right time" in¬
creases his chances for a sale.
Timing is important in evangelism, which takes seriously
the epigenetic principle of personality development. Sherrill takes
this element seriously in his book The Struggle of the Soul , when he
speaks about, "an inward propulsion to grow. "2 Our approach to
evangelism takes seriously this inward propulsion to grow and cannot
be thought of in terms of telling persons, "grow up now. " This
kairos, or call to grow, may come at any time. It may come in a
^Mackenzie D. Brown, Ultimate Concern (New York:
Harper & Row, 1965), p. 125ff.
2 Lewis Sherrill, The Struggle of The Soul (New York:
Macmillan, 1951), p. 8.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
92
myriad combination of outward and inward events when one is com¬
pelled to face up to the new situation in life. Preaching without
listening to the other person in this moment of kairos may repel
rather than attract. It may bring bondage rather than freedom.
Those who patiently wait for God will find that they can listen with
sensitive concern and become a spiritual attendant to God's gift of
salvation. We can do nothing more. We have no right to use methods
of manipulation, argument or pressure in evangelism, for evange¬
lism is not a matter of establishing a new set of beliefs in the mind
of the other, it is not winning an argument, but is a matter of es¬
tablishing a new relation with the other. This new relationship has a
new quality in it which is of the quality of the relation which Christ
had with God. This relationship is established through faith and in
love.
In the above approach we come to realize that action is
more important than words. Our real relation to the other is more
important than what we say about this relation. Evangelism has to
do with the whole church and especially with how the church loves the
world. We have said that to be a Christian means to be a mature
man and to live in reconciliation with others. The task of evangelism
calls us to confront every other person in a way which affirms the
other and at the same time calls him to a new way of life as seen in
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
93
Jesus as the Christ. Evangelism which approaches others in this
way comes with acceptance, and calls the other to remember what he
is essentially, a child of God (John 1:12).
The question which we face at this point is a serious one.
Are we free enough from self to be open to the other? Can we accept
and affirm another? Are we ready to look upon our total life as
evangelistic work, and make life itself a proclamation? Here
evangelism is following Christ in His openness to others as each
faces his own question in life.
I. A PREACHING MISSION
We have raised some questions about evangelism. These
questions point to the need for a unity between preaching and teaching.
The need to listen to the other person stands out as one of the first
requirements of evangelism. In the book. Pastoral Evangelism ,
Samuel Southard says, "Evangelism requires careful and reverent
attention to the background of a person and his relationship to the
.,q
pastor and to other persons. ° We are not suggesting that we equate
evangelism with modern psychological techniques, but we are
3
Samuel Southard, Pastoral Evangelism (Nashville:
Broadman Press, 1962), p. 56.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
suggesting that the truth of the gospel is not out of harmony with the
reality of personal growth and development. The work of William
James, Gordon Alport and Wayne Oates demonstrates this harmony.
Evangelism is an attempt to move individuals to a place where they
are confronted by the person of Christ. This is accomplished
through the incarnation of God's Spirit in human personality. The
life and attitudes of the minister and the total membership of the
church come into play here. We listen and lead. We help clarify
problems and identify attitudes. The goal is to bring the other to
"full maturity in Christ. " It is an authentic call for the other to be
authentic.
In chapter II, we have analyzed the dynamics by which
commitment to Christ is established and nourished. We pointed to
the importance of personal relationships in the establishment and
nourishing of the other. The redemptive work of God is related to
the attitudes, hopes, fears, and background of the individual. The
appeal of the gospel is made through its human representatives
(II Cor. 5:20, 6:10). We imitate the love of God in our love for one
another (Eph. 5:1-2). We are His witnesses (Acts 1:8).
Against this approach where preaching or proclamation of
the Word and teaching are held in balance we have the approach of
the radical separation of preaching and teaching as exemplified in
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
95
"Evangelistic Campaigns. " We are thinking especially of campaigns
where "instant conversion" is the goal, these stand over against the
thesis that evangelism is a matter of balance. We believe the
relevance of any sermon given by an outside evangelist is limited
by the visiting preachers lack of knowledge, and awareness of the
individuals in a congregation. A revivalistic type of Evangelism
emphasizes the present decision and gives little attention to past
and future development of the persons involved. This lack of
sensitivity to the development of the persons involved. This lack of
sensitivity to the developmental work of the Holy Spirit in the life of
a person limits the effectiveness of an Evangelist, and may even
hinder the growth and development of the spiritual side of a person's
life. Dr. Samuel Southard gives us an exceptional example of this
in his book. Pastoral Evangelism, where the case of Mary Bell is
presented.
Immediately after the benediction the visiting preacher
begins to go down the line of girls, asking each one is she
saved. All answer yes except Mary. The preacher asks that
the pastor of the church join him in witnessing to this girl.
As the three of them talk in the sight of everyone, Mary begins
to cry. The preacher asks her to sit down and says:
"Are you a sinner and do you want to be saved? "
"Yes, " answers Mary.
The preacher opens his Bible, reads Scripture passages
on God's plan for men's salvation, and pauses. The book is
placed so that she can see all the pages.
"Do you understand these, Mary? " she nods.
"Do you believe you are a sinner? " she nods. "Do you
believe that God is ready and willing to save you? "
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
96
"Yes. "
"Will you repent and ask the Lord to save you right now? "
Mary puts her face in her hands and begins to cry again.
The preacher continues: "Now Mary, say after me, "O
Lord, be merciful to me a sinner. " Hesitatingly she does.
"Now say, "I am now trusting Jesus as my Savior. Amen. "
Mary slowly repeats the words.
The visiting preacher immediately rises from his knees
and says, "Now, sister, you are saved because the Bible says
that "whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. "
Mary wanders out of the church. 4
The pastor of the church mentioned above reports that
"Mary Bell went home that night and neither she or her parents
(both members of the church) had been back since.
To win a person like Mary one must understand Mary. The
visiting preacher failed to do this. The great challenge in witnessing
is to relate the everyday experience of each person to the call of God
in Christ. This call is both personal and situational.
It should be reaffirmed that the answers cannot be derived
from the questions, that the substance of the answers--the
revelatory experience--is independent of the questions. But
the form of the theological answer is not independent from the
existential question. ®
Simply to say Jesus is the answer to all questions does not
give a person assurance. The person in conversation with the seeker
4 Ibid., p. 1. 5 Ibid., p. 2.
6paul Tillich, Systematic Theology (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1960), I, 61.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
97
must enter into his world. It means entering into the other's life as
Christ entered with love and compassion. It is the opposite of
judging. It comes in the spirit of the Christ and says, "Neither do I
condemn you. " In this way the witness of the evangelist becomes a
symbol of the acceptance of God for the person involved. The power
of sin is broken when we look fully into the eyes of the other--when
life is rejoined to life. What success we have as ministers is in
direct relation to any expression we are able to give to these exper¬
iences. The lack of sensitivity on the part of the evangelist in the
case of Mary is a violation of Mary's integrity. A so called success¬
ful conversion under the conditions described above would in all
probability lead to a submission of Mary's will to the will of the
Evangelist, this would be self-surrender, but it would not be self-
determined so the self is violated. The assumption by the evangelist
that he could overcome resistance was again a demonstration of the
lack of respect for the personal integrity and worth of Mary.
Preaching which is not aware of the personality of others cuts persons
off from fellowship as it did in Mary's case. The idea of kairos
expressed earlier in this paper is absent, and the decision of the
present moment is made dominant over every other decision both of
the past and the future. The importance of listening to the other and
of continuing to witness is lost in "instant evangelism. " The most
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
98
elementary principles of learning are violated in a way in which the
humanity of the listener is disregarded. To diminish the freedom
of the individual is to diminish his personhood. We will try to show
in our presentation of a preaching mission where persons studied
together before the sermon, that these weaknesses may be overcome.
They will be overcome as the preaching of the Word and instruction
in the Word are held to be inseparable.
In summary we can say that the weakness of preaching
missions are seen in their violation of the developmental nature of
human growth. There is lack of respect for the person's own level
of understanding. There is little effort to take the meaning the other
brings to the situation seriously. A violation of these principles is a
sin against the Holy Spirit. Any approach which violates the basic
integrity, humanity and freedom of another is not of the Spirit, for
the Spirit calls persons to wholeness, freedom and involvement with
others.
Our analysis of preaching missions does not imply that
these be excluded from the church, but rather that the emphasis on
any evangelistic mission be on the matter of balance. Missions
which are conducted without any knowledge of the dynamics of per¬
sonality are likely to be abortive. We believe that an approach which
takes seriously the epigenetic principle of personality development
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
99
and the idiosyncratic nature of each individual will also have the aid
of the Holy Spirit, for this Spirit was operative in the life of persons
before the mission begins, and it will be operative long after the
evangelists leaves. However, since this matter of preaching mis¬
sions is not the primary concern of this paper we do not wish to out¬
line the problems or measures necessary to overcome the limitations
of such a mission. We used preaching missions here simply to point
up the need for a balance between preaching and teaching in any
evangelistic program whether we call it a preaching mission, visita¬
tion evangelism, or something else. No campaign or program gives
one the right to violate the kairos of God or the integrity of the other.
But by the same token, no Christian can escape his obligation to be a
bearer of God's Spirit in all the circumstances of life.
II. BALANCE IN THE PREACHING-TEACHING MINISTRY
For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and
teacher. --H Tim. 1:11.
The Gospel
All true preaching is approached within the frame of the
gospel reference. The sermon aims at getting the listener to come
to terms with himself in the light of God's revelation in Christ.
Secondly, the sermon refers the listener to God and asks him to see
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
100
how he appears in the light of God's call in Christ. Third, if things
are not as they should be, there is a remedy. There is hope for a
new life through Christ. This is what makes the Gospel good news.
You don't have to be what you are. You can be, of all things, a child
of God.
There are many places to which man can turn for an
answer to his problems in our secular world. Medical problems are
referred to a medical doctor. Financial problems are taken to a
banker or financial expert. Legal problems are taken to a lawyer.
But the man who turns to the church and its minister has a right to
expect another dimension in the answer to his problems--the dimen¬
sion of the eternal. Because of this the preacher can teach, but he
can never afford to cease preaching. He announces to the listeners
that God is present as Spirit in the world. It is the preacher's task
to point to the characteristics which identify this presence. The
marks of the Spiritual presence are seen in the Spiritual community
which we call the church. From our discussion of this community
in the last chapter we believe we can use the marks of this com¬
munity as outlined by Paul Tillich.
Latent or manifest, the Spiritual Community is the com¬
munity of the New Being. It is created by the divine spirit as
manifest in the New Being in Jesus as the Christ. The origin
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
101
determines its character; it is the community of faith and
love. 7
The Situation
We have said that the first aspect of balance between
preaching and teaching concerns the announcement of the Good News
of the presence of the "New Being. " This breaks into the life of the
individual and brings a new kind of life. However, no truth can be im¬
parted unless it is related to the listener. Good news is situational.
It is the eternal work of God for the moment. We saw this in the
preaching of the prophets. We see this in the preaching of Jesus. He
speaks to the problem at hand. To the rich young ruler he speaks to
his problem of money. To the woman at the well Jesus speaks about
her sequential polygamy. The false dicotomy between "Biblical
Preaching" and "life-situation preaching" is overcome when we follow
the example of Jesus and speak the word in relation to contemporary life.
Ministers are often being accused of answering questions
people never ask. If one is going to speak to our situation today, we
must come to terms with our culture. We need to listen to the
questions which are being asked. We need to listen to the neglected
and hostile groups in our society to learn why we can have a Watts
riot. We need to find out why this kind of area is untouched by the
7 Tillich, op. cit., III, 155.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
102
church. The need for a teaching approach is important here for a
good teacher will always determine where the student is, before he
points to a new direction.
The Preacher's Personality
Proper balance is not achieved apart from balance in the
minister himself. Everyone knows the adage: "What you are speaks
more loudly than what you say. " Christian preaching does not fail in
its validity by a failure of persuasion, but by a failure of person,
namely the person of the minister. Preaching is the confrontation of
men by God through the person of the preacher or as Phillips Brooks
said "bringing the truth through personality. "® In the book Proclaim¬
ing the Word, by Ronald E. Sleeth, we have this direct statement
concerning the relation of the Christian preacher and his personality.
He says concerning the Christian pastor, "He may be a Christian
orator, and neglect his people, but he cannot do so and be a
Christian preacher. The preacher has a right to take his place in
the pulpit as a function related to his other functions. In the life of
^Gerald Kennedy, His Word Through Preaching (New York:
Harper & Bros., 1947), p. 5.
^Ronald E. Sleeth, Proclaiming the Word (New York:
Abingdon Press, 1965), p. 101.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
103
i the preacher the message and the messenger are combined into a
!
I
j total ministry. The best example in any sermon is the daily living
i
I
| of the minister and his family as he lives a manner of life which
l
[
illustrates what is taught. Much more could be said about the per-
I
j sonality of the minister, but this analysis is outside the scope of our
| paper. We relate it here to show its place in achieving balance be¬
tween preaching and teaching. Finally, the task of bringing balance
to preaching and teaching involves placing the faith of our fathers in
the present reference. This means the preacher-teacher must stand
in the line of the Prophets and Jesus and apply the truth of God to
the changing scene of daily life. The minister is called to point to
and teach "what God is doing in history. " He speaks in terms of
| God's action today in a secularized and urbanized society, and he
calls man to this task in today's world. This task is nothing less
1 than taking upon himself the responsibility for his world. In the
words of Harvey Cox, "Man must take responsibility in and for the
j
j : city of man, or become once again slave to dehumanizing powers."^
i
I
| These are functions of the preacher-teacher. No sharp line of dis-
!
j tinction can be drawn between the two functions. The minister
j
| :
i
I ^Harvey Cox, The Secular City (New York: Macmillan,
j 1965), p. 130.
j
I
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
104
proves his effectiveness by his own sense of proportion between these
two functions. In using the phrase "sense of proportion between
these two" we imply that the two functions can not be separated in
practice. An attempt to relate preaching to a Bible study group is
reported in the appendix under a project called, "Communal Preach¬
ing. " In this project we used the group process in our study and the
minister formed his sermon from this shared experience. Our
conclusions on this project are summarized on the next few pages.
We have tried to present a view of evangelism in which
individual and subjective decision is related to personality develop¬
ment and the life of the Christian community. We have taken the
Christian community as the context of preaching and teaching. We
test the authenticity of both preaching and teaching by the vitality of
the church's life--that is by the life men live together. There is no
attempt to separate the preaching and teaching function within this
context. The ministry of the ordained member or members of the
Christian community can not be separated from the ministry of the
total church as a witnessing community. The ministry of the clergy
has the ministry of the laymen as its context.
We would insist that preaching is a cooperative function
within the Christian Community. In terms of the balance in the
preaching-teaching ministry we see that the questions to which the
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
105
minister addresses his message grow out of the relationships within
the community. Listening as well as preaching becomes important
in this context. There is a serious attempt to relate the Gospel to
contemporary life. The old idea of the preacher as one who knows
the Gospel and simply tells others how "to be saved" is not equal to
the task today. The preacher who pulls the truth of the gospel out of
the context of life does not help contemporary man find his meaning
in life.
The language of relationship is taken seriously in this
study. The minister has a responsibility to study and know his sub¬
ject. He is responsible for knowledge of the meanings in the
scriptures and he must have skills in communicating this meaning to
others. However, the minister who takes seriously the language of
relationship described in Chapter II, will be alert to the meanings
that are found in the group. Our report on the project in communal
preaching showed how a preacher could listen to each individual and
also listen to the meanings alive in the group. Here preaching grew
out of the shared experience.
Communal preaching described in the appendix is an
attempt to take seriously the above considerations in a program of
evangelism. This approach gives a sense of community involvement.
There was a personal sense of freedom in the pulpit because
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
106
something had happened in the group. This approach does not re¬
lieve one of the burden of preparation, but it gave one an opportunity
to test his preparation before it was placed before the entire congre¬
gation. This was an attempt to discover the truth of God in the
company of others. Private interpretation was subjected to the
meanings and valuations of others.
We recommend this approach for a period of four to six
weeks at some time during the year. This method of study together
and preaching from the shared experience brought the task of the
church into clearer focus. It is a way in which both minister and
members can rediscover the meaning of the church as a witnessing
community. Through this approach evangelism becomes a balance
between preaching and teaching. The ministry of the clergy and that
of the laymen is related. Evangelism seen in this context is more
clearly understood as the task of the total church. This experiment
in preaching brought out two important observations in addition to
the evaluation at the close of the project.
1. We did not solve the problem of an effective way to reach
persons through preaching,
2. We found it difficult to relate the specific human dilemmas
of disintegration, dehumanization and noninvolvement in this project.
The only aspect of our cultural dilemma which was related directly
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
*
| 107
to this project was that of noninvolvement. There was an increased
awareness of the involvement of the laymen in the total task of
preaching, but this did not necessarily lead to an increased aware¬
ness of his involvement in both the sickness and the healing of our
society.
From these observations we again look for a balance be¬
tween preaching and teaching which will relate more directly to the
problems men face in today's world. We look for a balance which
will help persons in their unique cultural situation. We are suggest¬
ing that this project, which gave help and a better understanding of
the Bible to Christians, pointed to a new direction in the relation
between preaching and teaching. The project analysis seems to
point to the conclusion that Christians receive more help from
preaching than do outsiders. We are now suggesting that those out¬
side the church can be approached through teaching. Preaching be¬
comes the central act of worship for Christians, but not the arm of
evangelism which it was in the days of the American frontier. We
believe teaching which opens the mind man today in so many areas of
life can also open his mind to the reality of God's presence in all
life. This calls for a new place of the minister as teacher in the
life of the church today.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
CHAPTER IV
TEACHING
For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and
teacher. --II Tim. 1:11.
In this chapter, we are calling for a recovery of the teach¬
ing role of the minister. We are suggesting that teaching is a con¬
temporary way of reaching those inside and outside the church. We
are suggesting that the sharpness of distinction between teaching and
preaching should not blur the complex relationship between the two.
The separation of preaching and teaching fails to do justice to the
unity which we find between them in the Bible and in church tradition.
The idea of Dodd which we mentioned earlier in our dis¬
cussion seems to have captured the interest of most preachers who
then go beyond what was intended and present preaching or procla¬
mation of the word to unbelievers before teaching. Teaching from
this point of view follows preaching, and is separate from it.
Preaching was intended primarily to be used to evangelize those out¬
side the church while teaching was intended for the edification of
believers. We are not attempting to turn this process around and
have teaching preceed preaching as one may surmise from the order
in our report in chapter three, but we are attempting to show the
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
109
inseparable nature of both. As we saw in the last chapter, preaching
i
f
I is the task of the whole church. It is a task in which the members
i
ministered to one another, and where the minister speaks from and
i to the church. We hope to show that teaching also is a task of the
! entire church where we both learn from and minister to one another.
i
j
j I. THE TEACHING FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH
In the book. The Recovery of the Teaching Ministry by
J. Stanley Glenn we read, "The divorce between homiletics and
Christian education is an unnatural divorce. nl Judaism, from which
Christianity has come emphasized the teaching responsibility of the
religious leader. It was the duty of the Rabbi to teach of God. Jesus
accepted this role gladly as seen in his sermon on the mount and in
the story of the rich young ruler who came to Him and said, "We
know you are a teacher come from God. " (John 3:2).
We have suggested at the conclusion of the last chapter,
that teaching is especially adapted to the mediation of the offense of
the Gospel. To put it as briefly and specifically as possible, the
claim is that the teaching ministry is a more likely method of
*J. Stanley Glenn, The Recovery of The Teaching Ministry
(Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960), p. 21.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
110
mediating the offense of the gospel because of its capacity to stimu¬
late thinking. This does not mean that we don't stimulate thinking
through preaching, but how often does one sit in a service and think,
"Hold on preacher, I would like you to clarify that point. " or one
thinks, "How does what the minister is saying now relate to my
problem? " Teaching is especially adapted in the manner which
exercises the full vigor of the mind and the full integrity of the per¬
son as he relates to a specific problem.
In the minister's role as a teacher, he is less likely to be
regarded as one set apart from the people as someone different. In
this role he has to ask and answer questions, point to specific dis¬
tinct ions and directions, and call things by what they really are.
It was difficult for the people of Jesus home town to believe that he
could be the Christ, (Mark 6) because he was one of them. The
questions of ultimate concern come in teaching. "Who am I?"
"What is my purpose? " "Am I a machine?" "Am I a part of an
organization? " "Do I have freedom to determine my own future? "
In this process of confronting God, as the ultimate, we come face to
face with the beginning of the redemptive experience. When man
begins to see himself in a field of relationships, pulled apart by a
changing society, determined by a machine age culture, and seeking
to escape involvement through all sorts of diversions, he has taken
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission
Ill
the first step toward redemption. He has done what the prodigal did,
"He has come to himself. "
Through teaching a minister obligates learners. For those
who wish to have religion without any obligations, a class becomes a
threat. A teacher with integrity demands that he ask questions of
ultimate concern. He confronts persons with the realities of con¬
temporary life. The teacher does what the artist attempts to do,
that is, he attempts to express reality, and call his students to face
up to that reality in his own life. The primary purpose of teaching
is to help each person find his own reason for living. The way of
Christ is presented as rough and painful, but liberating. These
dimensions are made actual in the classroom, in the home, or in
the counseling session as the minister seeks to call each person to
i
face up to his own unique self, and be that person God intended he
should be.
Historic Significance
J. Stanley Glenn points out that the role of Jesus as a
teacher has not been significantly recognized as that role that, per¬
haps more than any other, contributed to his death. As a teacher he j
stood in the succession of the prophets whom Jerusalem had stoned
i
j
and put to death because they spoke the truth so specifically and
5
i
*
j
I
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
112 !
i
i
i
relevantly that guilty men knew what he was talking about. 2 Even
Jesus'enemies knew of his power as a teacher and of the uncompro¬
mising way in which he taught on important matters. This is evident
j
in the satirical praise of the Pharisees: "Teacher, we know that you
are true, and teach the way of God truthfully and care for no man;
for you do not regard the position of men" (Matt. 22:16) and also in
the words of the high priest who questioned Him about His disciples
and His teaching (John 18:19). We see that Jesus’ teaching ministry
led him to the cross. Teachers who penetrate what is real, who re¬
examine our present positions and call us to a new life are dangerous
to the status quo, but they are also the mediators of new life, of
hope, and of salvation.
Relation Of Teaching To The Bible
Too often Protestants look at the Bible just as the
Catholics look at the church. They see the Bible as a symbol of
security, whose truth is safe and which, because it is not permitted
to impinge upon real life to challenge it, tends to be regarded as
sanctioning the status quo. In a recent survey among high school
students we found that, students who grow up in the church, believe j
l
|
i
2 I
^Ibid., pp. 32-41. j
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
113
the Bible to be true, but they do not understand it. They believe it
can give help in living, but they never read it. They believe all
people have a right to their own understanding of the Bible. However
they claim no understanding other than a general one about the truth
of the Bible and its importance for teaching one how to live. ^
We have pointed out in the forward that the purpose of the
ministry for Paul was to fit people for the work of service and to
bring every man to maturity in Christ (Col. 1:28). This role of
fitting persons for a ministry includes a teaching role. Historically,
Bible teaching is didactic by nature. Not only was Jesus a teacher
as mentioned above, but there was a teaching function in the early
church as witnessed to in (Acts 13:1, Eph. 4:11, II Tim. 1:11, and
James 3:1). Also in the early church Polycarp is called "The
teacher of all Asia.
Bible interpretation is didactic by nature. In the Acts of
the Apostles, teaching preceeds preaching. By this we mean that
the historical interpretation is the ideological matrix of the sermons
of the Apostles, "it is impossible to separate the sermonic material
out of the historical interpretation without losing something in the
^See Appendix I.
^Pierson Parker, "Teaching, " The Interpreter's Diction¬
ary of the Bible , IV, 523.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
114
process. Interpretation is really an indirect form of the kerygma.
I The bare word cannot be extracted from the Bible without losing its
i
power as the Word. The misunderstanding of C. H. Dodd which
seems to have captured the interest of preachers in our day presents
preaching to the unbelievers before teaching to believers. This
radical separation has three weaknesses in it. First, it does not
recognize that the believer is often the one who has to struggle
against unbelief (Mark 9:24) more often than the unbeliever, there¬
fore he needs to hear the gospel repeatedly. Secondly, from a pure¬
ly practical point of view, the Christian receives more from the
sermon than the non-Christian, and finally, the unbeliever is often
the one who is attracted by the desire to find a solution to his human
i
I
dilemma through a penetrating interpretation of life in depth. Un¬
believers as well as believers are searching for the meaning to life
through education, medicine, drugs and psychiatry outside the
church. There is little to offer these searchers in the church until
after they have made a commitment to the church. We believe this
should be changed.
The sharp distinction between kerygma (gospel) and
didache (teaching) tends to make a separation between revelation and
5
Glenn, op. cit,, p. 55.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
115
reason, grace and truth, religious experience and teaching content.
As a result of this separation we operate on a kind of double standard.
We hold up revelation as something which exists apart from reason,
we separate grace from situational truth, and make a religious ex¬
perience something other than the content of every day experience.
Much as Christ emphasized the essential mystery of revelation which
no amount of didactic skill can ever compel, he never ignored the
humanity of the hearer by assuming that revelation could occur in any
context other than real life. ® If the incarnation means anything, it
means that God was present in Jesus, "in real life. " Teaching
mediates this presence uniquely, for it helps the minister get along¬
side those both inside and outside the church as he calls them to a
relationship with God through his teaching.
II. THE MINISTER AS TEACHER
The minister in his task as teacher, enters into a class as
a fellow learner, for the teacher can not teach without himself being
taught. He enters not as a religious authority, or as a representative
of any power block in our society. He has no system of values to
impose upon the learners. He will not presume to have access to a
6 Ibid., p. 87.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
116 i
i
form of direct revelation from God, nor has he a program for the
solution of man's dilemma. He comes with no criteria of revelation
n
other than the self-validating Lord himself.
The minister as teacher comes as a humble servant.
Humble because the only validation for his being there is the suffer¬
ing, dying and risen Lord. Humble because he is a sinner as are all
the rest. He cannot say, I am the saved, and I have come to save
you. Neither the disciples nor any of us can ever say this. Only
He who would believe himself least fit to teach others can teach. He
does not separate himself off from those with whom he works. He is
aware that he is caught in the same human predicament in which all
l
men live.
As a teacher the minister will seek the best interpretation
of the Bible that is possible. He will do his homework, because he
is speaking to man, however, he will start where man is. He will
recognize that to speak of God, means to speak in particular terms,
not general terms, for he knows that a generalized concept of God is
meaningless. The word of God must be a word about the lives of the
people. He cannot know in advance what to say in this situation or
in that. This means that evangelism is contextual and that salvation
is personal. j
-7— i
Ibid ,, p. 89. |
i
!
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
117
A Non-religious Teacher
The minister as teacher is not to be thought of as a teacher
of religion. He does not attempt to make persons become religious
before becoming Christian. He recognizes that in our society
authority is placed in the self, rather than in the Bible. He will
avoid the tendency of attributing to the facts and events of the Bible
greater purity and authority than is warranted by the evidence. He
will not appeal to the desire which persons have in a fluid society to
have a fixed system which will stand scientific investigation. He will
not simply present an organized body of knowledge, but will attempt
to open persons to the Spirit of the Christ (Col. 1:28). His goal is
not to teach persons a new religion, but lead them into a new rela¬
tionship with Christ, with God and with others. He will understand
the dynamics of the group process.
Secondly, the minister as teacher will not assume greater
wisdom as a minister than one can possess. He will avoid being,
"The religious authority" in the sense that he tells others what to
believe. He will avoid the temptation to take the problem away from
the person by giving him an answer to his problem. The judgment
inherent in the teaching situation is not the judgment of the teacher
as an authority, but the self judgment of the individual as he is made
aware of his own condition.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
118
(
i
i
i
i
A Theological Question
Although the minister is not to be considered a religious
teacher, the central question in his teaching is theological in nature.
The question, "How does the Bible understand man's existence?"
will be seriously asked. The answer to this question cannot be in
terms of dogma, or doctrine, for this again makes teaching "reli¬
gious, " but in terms of a shared experience. The question concern¬
ing the Biblical understanding of man's existence is a theological
question. It is basic to the church's understanding of itself as a
Christian community. There will be a re-emphasis of theology in
the church for without a theology, Christians have no intellectual
tools by which they can articulate the Gospel. Without these tools,
the Christian community is left to drift. With these tools the com¬
munity can constantly re-examine itself, not for the purpose of
gaining its lost kingdom, nor for the purpose of regaining its lost
authority, but for a learner's self-understanding as it seeks to
incarnate the spirit of the Christ.
A recent issue of the Christian Advocate had an article,
entitled, "The Gap Between Pulpit and Pew, " in which the author
quoted Paul Tillich as saying, "For the past 200 years pastors have
done the church the gravest injustice imaginable by not informing
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission
119
parishoners of the developments in Christian theology during that
period.
A part of this problem can be attributed to the minister's
understanding of his role as primarily a preacher and pastor, and
not a theologian or scholar. Dean Trotter writing in the School Of
Theology Perspective calls for ministers to be, "General Practition¬
ers" much like the general practitioner in medicine. He says,
"Serious and disciplined attention to the history, traditions and
theoretical study of the world, and serious and disciplined attention
to the correlation of theory and practice are both required in medi¬
cine, law and theology. " He goes on to say, "To the church layman
who says, 'We don't want a scholar, we want someone who can
preach, ' I am inclined to suggest, "Why not a scholar who can
preach.
In this same article mentioned above. Dean Trotter re¬
flects on his experience as a Theological educator. "Theological
Educators" he says, "are puzzled when pastors continue to call upon
8 Andrew Pate, Jr., "The Gap Between Pulpit and Pew"
Christian Advocate , IX:23 (December 2, 1965), 10.
8 F. Thomas Trotter, "The Minister As General Practi¬
tioner, " Perspective, III:3 (July 1965), 2.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
!
120 |
them for teaching in local lay schools of religion. Professors do
have knowledge and recent scientific reflections that may be helpful
to a congregation, but it seems that the teaching of these facts and
the relation of these new discoveries to the congregation is both the
responsibility and the challenge of the ministry. If ministers insist
on going outside for their teachers of theology, they will continue to
create an image of themselves as primarily a preacher. The answer
to the primary question, "How does the Bible understand man's
existence?" will not come in one, two or three simple lessons. It is
a part of the total task of the teaching ministry of the church. We
believe that the church and the ministers cannot continue to dodge
this issue. Through a consideration of theology the church can again
gain a criteria by which it can judge the world.
In our understanding of theology, we need to recognize that
our theology itself is shaped by secular society. To feel that theol¬
ogy exists somewhere in pure form is unrealistic. This is again to
fall into the trap of separation of revelation and reason, grace and
truth, religious experience and personal existence. It follows then
that historical and exegetical study should not be practiced without
10 Ibid., pp. 2-3. j
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
121
reflection upon a philosophic approach. H
Here again we must point out that we are not suggesting
any "Right" system of philosophy as the only way to interpret the
existence of man as found in the Bible. What we are calling for is an
awareness of the assumptions that are used. In the preface of his
book, A Christian Natural Theology, John B. Cobb, Jr., says, "I
argue the need for a Christian natural theology primarily by analysis
of the basis on which major recent theologies have sought to justify
their affirmations. " Cobb goes on to say, "even those theologies
which repudiate natural theology have had assumptions or develop
implications that should, in face, be recognized as belonging to the
11 1 o
sphere of natural theology.
If we are to follow the suggestion of Bultmann and Cobb,
we must attempt to identify the philosophy out of which our theology
is judged, and through which we attempt to judge our theology. This
being the case, we need to specifically identify our theological
orientation as existential in nature without falling into the trap of
^Rudolf Bultmann, Jesus Christ and Mythology (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1958), p. 55.
12
John B. Cobb, Jr., A Christian Natural Theology
(Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1965), p. 11.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
122
being classified as an Existentialist.
Our theology is existential in nature in that it calls for man
to examine his existence in the light of that existence recorded in the
Bible. More specifically, we as Christians call for man to examine
his existence in the light of that existence which we understand to
have been in Jesus as the Christ. This truth needs to be discovered,
not as a package of facts which when applied to a particular situation
will be useful today, but as a living, creative process which is valid
for all time. This is the theological task of the minister as teacher.
This task is not isolated in his teaching alone, but is a question
which must be taken with seriousness in both teaching and preaching,
for the two cannot be separated.
HI. THE CHURCH AS THE SPIRIT INCARNATE
We have said, that the church has no religion to teach, nor
has it authority to speak in behalf of God. It has no program or
blueprint for the salvation of the world. But it is called to be the
incarnation of the Spirit of the master whom we claim to serve. The
teaching, the authority, and the salvation, grow out of what the
church is as it seeks to become like the Christ we claim to serve.
Now having said this, we are ready to make the second
observation, that just as the Christ we serve was incarnate in human
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
I
123
flesh, so the church is always embedded in the specific cultural
situations of its day. We do not see the Spirit of God in pure form
today so we can say, "lo here, or lo there is the kingdom of God. "
The hiddenness of God is as real, or perhaps more real today than
it was in the days of the prophets. In writing about the hiddenness of
God in our day Harvey Cox says, that "God discloses himself at those
places and in those ways he chooses and not as man would want. • lo
He goes on to say that God always discloses himself as one who is at
once different from man, unconditionally for man and entirely un¬
available for coercion and manipulation by man. ^
Non-Christians need to be taken seriously because we
share with them the same human condition. We need to meet those
outside the church as they are, for only then can true dialogue begin.
We need to recognize that they meet the same reality in life which we
meet. We do not call men to go back with us to a former time, when
God was not hidden, but rather point to the reality where the trans¬
cendent is present today.
1 *3
Harvey Cox, The Secular City (New York: Macmillan,
1965), p. 258.
^Ibid., p. 259.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
124
We have already pointed out that the church as a Christian
i
| community exists, not to promote a new religion, but to be the em-
j bodiment of a community of love. We also said that the function of
f
the church in society is seen in the demands of the society which re¬
quire remedy. ^ The events of every day life are those which call
for change. The relationship between two people never can be the
same for any two successive moments. God meets us here, in the
i
i
relation, in time. It is here that men grope for salvation. God
frees us by supplying the limitation within which alone freedom has
any meaning. He calls us to decide. He calls us to a new relation-
j ship within the ambiguous nature of life. The church is called to
|
| serve a new covenant (H Cor. 3:5-6) that is a new relationship be-
t
| tween man and his fellow man.
i
I
In the incarnation of the Spirit of God in Jesus of Nazareth,
we see that God was willing to take man's side in the unfulfilled
covenant. Cox says.
It is not demeaning to suggest that the notions of teamwork
J and partnership need to be explored much more in our concep-
i tualization of God. He who is 'high and lifted up' suggests in
S the life of Jesus that he is willing to put himself in a position of
j working with men--of washing his disciples feet, and of carry-
l ing his cross. ^
16 Ibid., p. 264.
I
I 15 Ibid., p. 47.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
125
It seems that this understanding is close to the idea of the church as
j a servant church, which is called to respond to the world around us
i
I
1 by our deeds and not by words alone.
i
j
i The church as the incarnation of the Spirit of Christ calls for
i
ministerial leadership which is aware of the potential of an educa¬
tional approach to the ministry of the whole church. Within such a
|
view the pastor-teacher guides the whole community. Each member
i
shares in the life, in the teaching and service of the Christian
community.
The function of the church is to teach and preach the Gospel.
The minister has a teaching function which is as integral to the life
of the church as his preaching. The church exists as the incarnation
of the Spirit of Christ who was the Word of God incarnate. These
ideas are guidelines to a total ministry in the church today if it is
going to face our cultural situation. We now want to see if we can
incorporate these guidelines into an actual teaching approach. We
will relate it directly to groups in the church.
IV. GROUPS IN THE CHURCH
That their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together
in love. --Col. 2:2.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
126
j In this chapter we have stressed the relation between preaching
! and teaching. We have done this in order to show the teaching func-
!
;
tion of the minister. A minister in a church of any size functions as
j
j a teacher in many of the church groups. Without some understanding
of the group process, the creative aspect of the group life in the
church is lost. Group leadership is an art which can be mastered.
There is little opportunity to learn this art in seminary, but a
minister does get at least some understanding of people and of group
dynamics through his seminary work. He will have to quickly learn
the art of group leadership when he gets into a church.
There are many kinds of groups in the church. We will classi¬
fy these groups according to their primary purpose. This classifi¬
cation must not be considered as being rigid since many groups
1 7
combine two or more of these functions. 1
1. Decision making groups: the official board, board of
trustees, commissions and committees in the church.
2. Study groups: Bible study, teachers study groups, Sunday
School classes, special studies in Missions, economics,
world affairs or any other area of concern.
3. Inspirational groups: worship, camp groups, musical
groups, drama, and speakers.
17 HowardJ. Clinebell, Jr., Mental Health Through
Christian Community (New York: Abingdon Press, 1965), p. 157.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
127
4. Growth groups: Problem centered groups such as pre¬
married, marriage groups, parents and young children,
etc. Howard Clinebell calls this fourth group, "Modified
Therapy Groups. " 18
We see the minister's teaching role as including leader¬
ship in the group life of the church. Through his role as a group
leader the minister helps release the full poten tialities of the entire
church. If this is to be done most effectively, there are certain
principles of group dynamics which a minister needs to be able to
use. These principles have been outlined and demonstrated most
clearly in adult education by Nathanial Cantor. ^ The dynamics of
the group process in rearing young children is presented in a book
called Summerhill.20 This group process is presented in a church
setting in such books as. The Company of the Committed , New
18 Ibid.
^Nathaniel Cantor, Dynamics of Learning (Buffalo: Henry
Steward, 1961).
20 A. S. Neil, Summerhill (New York: Hart, 1960).
21
Elton Trueblood, The Company of the Committed (New
York: Harper & Bros., 1961).
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
128
Life in the Church , 22 The Miracle of Dialogue, 23 and The Rebirth of
the Laity . 2 ^
There are common elements in each of these books which
make them significant for understanding the group life in the church.
The elements which are included here come from many sources and
from this writers experience with groups as a public school teacher,
a training director for an insurance company and minister. It seems
that there are basic attitudes which are essential.
Respect for Others
We have said that the goal of group leadership is the re¬
lease of the full potential of each individual within the group. The
release comes as the group shows respect for individual persons.
The uniqueness of each person is respected. We have tried to show
in this paper that there are two principles of personality development
which are a part of this respect.
22 Robert A. Raines, New Life in the Church (New York:
Harper & Row, 1961).
23 Reuel L. Howe, The Miracle of Dialogue (New York:
Seabury Press, 1965).
2 ^Howard Grimes, The Rebirth of the Laity (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 1962).
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
129
1. The idiosyncratic or unique aspects of what each person
has to offer the group.
2. The epigenetic principle of personality development.
These two aspects of personality were discussed in this
paper under "Wholeness vs. Disintegration. " A more complete dis¬
cussion can be found in the work of Erik Erikson. ^5
An appreciation for what the other has to offer the group,
together with some understanding of the level of development of each
member in the group is basic if the leader is to help release the
potentialities of each individual.
Appreciation and respect for others is shown as one in¬
vites participation, A leader who plays the part of the expert, who
talks all the time, is showing real contempt for the others. Respect
for others is communicated by the little things one does as a leader.
He shows respect by his own ease with the group. The spirit of the
leader, rather than the mechanics of the group process is most
I important here, however there are certain mechanical things which
may help.
1. Be at ease yourself--this comes from doing your home¬
work. You know the material and learn as much about
the group as possible.
2®Erik H. Erikson, Identity and the Life Cycle (New York:
International Universities Press, 1959).
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
130
2. Get an early response from the group--this may be nothing
more than telling a story so the group can laugh. Get over
on the side of the group as fast as possible.
3. Use a low well modulated voice. A high voice increases
tension.
4. Recognize and introduce any new members of the group.
If the entire group is new, let each tell something about
himself.
5. Clearly state the objective which you have. Show how the
group can help achieve these objectives. Invite partici¬
pation.
Arouse Interest
The test of leadership comes in terms of one's ability to
get wholehearted participation. Howard Clinebell points out that "in
an authority centered group, honesty of communication tends not to
occur. The more responsibility assumed by the group leader the
less assumed by the group. In an authority-centered group the
. leader stands over against the group. The leader is everything, the
group is nothing. This kind of leadership may be able to accom¬
plish certain goals if one can devise enough rewards or penalties to
manipulate persons into accomplishing the goals, but the health of
i
' the total group is destroyed in the process. Many church groups are
sick because of leader authority problems.
i
\
I
I
p
Clinebell, op. cit., p. 155.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
131
Genuine interest is aroused when the leader can show a
need and desire for the thinking, and cooperation of the group. This
is done when the leader is able to associate the material and subject
matter at hand to the experience of the group.
Clarify Thinking
We have said that the purpose of teaching was not the
presentation of facts as such, but a new kind of living in relationship.
This living can be experienced in the group. However, we do not
wish to imply that facts are unimportant. If one is to clarify thinking
one needs facts. Clear thinking and clear expression go hand in hand.
A good leader will clarify one point at a time. He will try to get the
facts and use the words that exactly express his own thoughts. He
will listen carefully to the meanings expressed by others and try to
help each one make his own thinking precise. Here are a few ways
which help confuse rather than clarify meanings.
1. Set yourself up as an authority or expert.
2. Take upon yourself the responsibility to answer every
question.
3. Give advice and dominate the discussion,
4. Tell a member of the group he is wrong, the very first
time he makes a contribution.
5. Be overly serious, condescending or pompous.
6. Let one person monopolize the discussion.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
i
132
7. Allow the group to waste time guessing about matters of
fact.
8. Argue, lose your temper or ridicule.
9. Use the word I all the time. "I think, " "I know, " "I, "
"I, " "I. "
There are other ways to kill the spirit of a group, but the
above are all quite effective. Here are a few ways to help keep the
group alive and help clarify thinking.
1. Keep the discussion moving and on the subject . This
can be done by writing on the black board, restating important
contributions, and ask a clarification question. If questions
are raised which are not directly related to the subject, ack¬
nowledge the question and appoint someone to study the ques¬
tion and report back. This will avoid hurt feelings and at the
same time keep the meeting on the subject.
2. Encourage the participation of every member of the
group . Clarification comes when all are able to participate.
When one allows one or two members to dominate the discus¬
sion one will cut off the valuable contributions of others. It
may be helpful at times for someone to make a participation
chart. This will help one see how well he has succeeded in
getting participation.
3. Get group reaction . It is frequently easier to give
answers than to draw them from the group. But the teacher
who answers all the questions robs his group of its initiative.
The leader who uses methods of manipulation on the group in
order to "get things done" may find that he got the job done at
the expense of the group itself. The operation may be a suc¬
cess but the patient dies. The initiative should be with the
group.
4. Summarize frequently . "Let's see where we are now"
or some such statement will help tie the discussion to the ob¬
jective. The leader needs the help of the group to sharpen the
focus of the discussion. Clear thinking comes when issues
are sharply drawn.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
133
5. Sum up at the end of each session . Too many groups
feel they accomplish nothing because there is no effort to "sum
up" the accomplishments. The blackboard can again be used
effectively for this summary. If decisions are to be made,
these should be nailed down. If it is a study group the ideas
should be summarized. An inspirational group may want to
point to some of the experiences which were most meaningful
and a growth group should attempt to articulate new insights or
some new understanding which has come in this time. Follow¬
ing the sum up, follow-up assignments should be given. "Who
is to do what by the next session?" Write down the assignments .
This outline of the group process has of necessity been
brief. We have tried to point to the importance of a person-centered
approach. We believe that the person centered approach practiced
in the small groups of the church will carry over into one's preach¬
ing. Preaching will be from the congregation and to the congregation.
By this we mean to say that preaching which grows out of the other
relations of teaching, visiting, counseling and the general adminis¬
tration of the church is most effective.
Secondly, we are saying that the ministry of the clergy
and that of laymen come together in the group life of the church. The
ministry of the ordained member of the church has the laymen in the
Christian community as its context. A minister does not minister
apart from the context of the community. A minister who does not
realize this is indeed cut off from his people. He is like an arm
severed from the body. 27 A minister receives his inspiration from
27 I Cor. 12.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
134
the context of the congregation to which he is called to serve. With¬
out involvement in the group life of the church a minister becomes
isolated and soon stands over against the congregation.
i
The Growing Edge
The meanings of the Gospel do not stand outside the
meaning of life. The mission of the church is accomplished as it
I
j
seeks to help men find meaning in life. Through participation in the
group life of the church the language of relationship is leanred. Our
emphasis in this paper is on teaching and preaching in a way that the
language of love or of relationship is expressed. The group life of
the church provides a place where this language can be learned.
Involvement
We have tried to show the importance of acceptance and
respect in the life of the church. As an individual comes to feel
accepted and respected in a group he expresses more and more of
his courage of involvement. One's own identity and one's own image
of himself is clarified in group relationships. If the group atmos¬
phere is one in which one can find honest communication of the
meanings and feelings which he has, he can be helped to break out
of his isolation and non-involvement into the joy and freedom of
being a part of a group. Through the group process the human
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
135
dilemma of non-involvement so characteristic of our society is taken
seriously. The group process incourages involvement.
Humanization
Secondly, the human dilemma of dehumanization is taken
seriously in a dynamic group where each individual is responsible
for the total decision of the group. We realize that authority-
centered teaching and institutions have their own ways of dehuman¬
izing, but a group centered approach transfers the power of decision
more and more to the group. We indicated earlier under our discus¬
sion of "Freedom vs. Dehumanization" that a person is most human
when he decides. The minister who understands and believes in the
integrity of the group process uses himself for the benefit of the
group. He helps give birth to ideas, decisions and to new freedom
for individuals and the group. He helps persons become fully human
and take full responsibility for their own decisions. We hold that the
most efficient and productive group is that group which each in¬
dividual member breaks through the dehumanizing aspects of our
society to where he can again be a deciding person.
Integration
Finally the group process is integrative. We hold that the
process of education is not additive but integrative. We said in
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
136
chapter I that society tears people apart and causes disintegration.
We indicated that the church can also contribute to disintegration of
individuals and families when the Gospel is understood simply as
another set of rules to follow in an already over-organized society.
We see the group process as a way of releasing the power of inte¬
gration present in each person. A person comes to see himself
more clearly in his relation with others. Through the group he finds
an identity and meaning in terms of his own unique contribution.
Hopefully through the Christian faith he finds a new center for his
life as he comes to experience the Spirit of the Christ in the fellow¬
ship of the group.
This is a very brief discussion of groups in the church.
However, it states a very important relationship between preaching
and teaching. The ministers sensitivity toward people is made
sharper and more specific in his group relationships. He becomes
a true follower of his master who brought the Gospel through
preaching and teaching. ^8
V. THE DYNAMICS OF BECOMING
What is often left out of a so-called "High Christology" is
the present. What we have been calling for in this paper is for
28 Matt. 9:35.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
137
preaching and teaching which is open to God through His Spirit in the
present. We have indicated that the church has no authority to say,
lo He is here, or lo He is there, since the decision for Christ is not
necessarily a decision for the religious institution. We are calling
for men to be what they are--children of God. We are calling for
men to follow truth wherever it may lead them. This will mean that
we will often have to endure the loneliness of Luther, when he said,
"Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. "
There is one real consolation in this decision to follow the
truth, for in the end, Christian truth and human integrity cannot be
contradictory since we believe both have their ground in the same
source.
We repeat our contention that theology provides the self
understanding through which the church can judge itself and society.
The purpose of teaching is to help open persons to this understand¬
ing. In this brief report on a class session of "The Dynamics of
Becoming, " we attempt to show how persons can be approached in
attempting to lead them to fuller maturity. Through this course we
attempt to clarify experiences in the light of the meaning of life
which one discovers. It is hoped that the discussion will give the
Holy Spirit an opportunity to break into the personal life of the
individual. The final purpose is to express the reality of "New
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
138
Life" in the relationships of life.
Course Overview
We include the course overview in this dissertation in
order to show how this course is person centered rather than con¬
tent centered. Evaluation is seen in terms of what persons become
rather than in terms of content learned. More research needs to be
done on this area of evaluation, but the evaluation would follow the
general characteristics of the seven stages of growth toward be¬
coming a person described by Carl Rogers in his work in this
area. ^9
As suggested in our section on teaching as the task of the
church. The Bible is basic for this kind of study. However, we draw
freely from many other sources; from art, literature, psychology
and history.
The basic guide for the development of "The Dynamics of
Becoming" is found in work of the following writers: Paul Tillich,
Martin Buber, Lewis J. Sherrill, Paul Johnson, Wayne E. Oates,
Carl Jung, Eric Fromm, Reuel L. Howe and of course Carl Rogers
and Erik Erikson mentioned earlier in this work. These men have
29carl Rogers, On Becoming A Person (Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1961), pp. 133-155,
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
139
i one thing in common. They believe that the process of becoming
|
i is a life-long process and the search for selfhood is a worthy goal in
| life. Buber puts this most directly when he says, "Every man has
|
his unique being as a gift from God, and it is his responsibility to
realize it in its wholeness.
The scripture used in this study is taken from both the Old
and New Testaments, but this differs from Exegetical Study of the
work on preaching in that we do not stick to one section of scripture.
The Gospel of John is our starting point because we feel it can be
interpreted most accurately in line with our ideological approach.
The tensions in John seem to be of such a nature that they point to
those areas of life in which contemporary society is struggling. The
basic text for the course is found in John the first chapter and the
twelfth verse. "But all who receive Him, who believe in His name,
He gives the power to become children of God. " It is from this
verse that we search for the dynamics of becoming that person which
God has called us to be.
We take the view that this becoming does not take place
! all at once--and for this reason we rejected the concept of "instant
I
J
j
^Martin Buber, Writings (New York: Meridian Books,
•j 1953), p. 17.
I
j
i
|
\
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
140
Evangelism, " secondly we hold that personal development is some-
I
thing a person does, it is not something done to the person by another
person. Therefore, we have emphasized that we guard against
I
taking the problem away from the person by giving him an answer.
The knowledge and experience of the teacher is used for the benefit
of the learner. The activity of the teacher is a part of the dynamic
i whole in the class. The road to understanding is by way of becom¬
ing clear about one's confusion instead of letting that confusion be
covered by simple and unrelated answers. Specifically, we are
looking for symbols which are alive for the student. Learning has
been defined as a continuous redefinition of meanings. This means
there is a continuous re-examination of the language one uses.
Through this painful and laborious process one comes to new mean¬
ings. The final meaning of life is never unqualified, unless it is
after death, and it just may not be absolute then either.
Development involves change in the behavior of the in¬
dividual. This change is more than reacting to situations outside
the individual, it is a change caused by the deliberate free choice of
the individual as he confronts life. Here are some suggested areas
of evaluation.
i
j
!
!
! 31
Cantor, op. cit ., p. 153.
i
I
I ' . .
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
141
A changed perspective of life . From seeing life as fixed
to seeing life as fluid. From the feeling of detachment to the
feeling of involvement. A recognition that I can't do every¬
thing, but I can decide on some things, therefore I am free.
A change in understanding of others . With a change in the
perspective of life there comes a change in the understanding
which a person has of himself and of others. He no longer sees
himself as an island unto himself, but he realizes that he
stands in a unique relationship to many others, and to the
world, and to God.
Values . Although we are not making a change in values
the goal of teaching, we expect that each person in the class
will gain some insight into his own value system and into the
values which others live by. There will be a greater respect
for the values of others.
Responsibility. There will emerge a greater awareness
of the responsibility for the life men live together. This re¬
sponsibility comes when it is recognized that to be responsible,
one is responsible to some one or for some thing. A recogni¬
tion that man is really responsible when he accepts his finite
existence under God and recognizes that he must one day
answer to that which is infinite. This kind of responsibility
gives one more freedom as one accepts God's forgiveness and
comes to a new and greater readiness to "Step off in faith with
more courage to be. 11
This course will be divided into nine lessons of from fifty
to sixty minutes. There will be some individual reading at home
and some projects completed outside of class. However, because of
the busy life of the young adult, we will not place heavy demands
upon their time outside of class. The following sessions will be the
basis for our "Encounter Study":
Lesson 1. "Being and Becoming"
Lesson 2. "The Foundations of Being"
Lesson 3. "The Goal of Becoming"
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
142
I
Lesson 4.
Lesson 5.
Lesson 6.
Lesson 7.
Lesson 8.
Lesson 9.
"Man's Search for Meaning"
"Finding Direction"
"A Delicate Balance"
"Becoming Through Community"
"Maturing in Love"
"Wholeness Through Integration"
Lesson 1. "Being and Becoming"
I. Aim : to lead the class members to understand their own
uniqueness as children of God and to excite them as to their
unlimited potential in becoming what their God-given abilities
would allow them to be.
II. Teacher Preparation: Read John 1:1-14 and study the com¬
ments in The Interpreter's Bible on this material. Read the
first chapter of "The Undiscovered Self" by Carl Jung. Study
this outline!
III. Materials : Easel, chalk, Bibles and the following books: "The
Undiscovered Self" by Jung, "The Interpreter's Bible, " this
outline.
IV. All instructions to the teacher are in brackets.
V. Procedure:
A. Make sure all members of the class are acquainted. If
there are new members, introduce them to the class. Get
any background information you can from new members.
B. Open the class with a brief statement of the purpose of
this series.
i
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
143
It is our hope that this course will help each of us uncover
resources for living which we do not now have or which we do not
now recognize. The course is called, "The Dynamics of Becoming. "
Both the terms Dynamics and Becoming are words which indicate
movement.
Today we are going to look at one phase of this entire
problem of becoming. We believe that we have some exciting
adventures ahead of us as we seek to look into the real meaning of
becoming what we can potentially be. We are indebted to a Jew,
Martin Buber, for the thought which leads us to our study of becom¬
ing. He has said, "Each individual has been given his unique poten¬
tial from God and it is his responsibility to discover it in its
wholeness. "
With this thought in mind, we want to look at the first
sixteen verses of the first chapter of John.
Ask one of the members of the class to read the first fourteen verses
to the class.
Discussion Questions:
1. What is the meaning of the words, "Power to become" as
used here?
Get several expressions of this meaning. Place the words
Power to Become on the board. Lift up the Key idea, that
to become implies that we are not yet what we should be.
2, If we are not what we ought to be, what ought we be?
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
144
3. What is the direction in which we must move in becomi ng?
Children of God. Place words: "Children of God 1 ' on
board.
| 4. Go back to the words in verse 6, 7 and 8. What do we
mean by the words "Children of light and the children
| of darkness?"
5. What is the meaning of darkness?
6. Is darkness a condition of the mind? Of your mind and
my mind?
7. Why are we called children of darkness?
8. Can we also be called "The children of light"--can those
outside the church be called children of light? (yes)
9. What do these statements tell us about the condition of
man?
10. Read the following statement from "The Undiscovered Self"
"Salvation of the world consists in salvation of the soul
(psyche) but only when the individual discovers his true
inner nature can he accept religion's gift of a meaningful
life... Only when the individual understands the duality of
his nature--his capacity for evil as well as for good--
can he begin to understand and cope with the potential
threat of power. "
| 11. Is Jung saying anything about darkness and light?
i
j
| 12. Is self-understanding a part of becoming? How?
j
| 13. Is there a difference in knowledge about self and self-
| knowledge?
!
| 14. Is self-acceptance and self-fulfillment possible without
j self understanding? _
Place Self-understanding, Self-acceptance and Self-ful¬
fillment on the board.
15. What are so me of the things which stand in the way of be¬
coming? Place on board.
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
145
16. What is the meaning of the words, "To all who received
Him?"
17. What does it mean to "Believe in His name? "
Summarize:
Those of us who are overpowered by His person and come
to terms with ourselves in the light of who Jesus was, are changed
into different kinds of persons.
!
}
Assignment: Re-read the entire first chapter of John.
Analysis
In this course, we attempt to gain direct insight into the
cultural conditions today which lead to man's dilemma of disinte¬
gration, dehumanization and lack of involvement. We seek whole¬
ness, freedom and a willingness to become involved in the present.
The aim of the first session is to lead class members to understand
the human situation and their part in it. We do not attempt to
j evaluate the entire course, but simply comment on this approach as
■ it relates to what we have said about the nature of teaching as one
| way of mediating the offense of the Gospel.
i
J We ask and answer questions. Certainly there is nothing
new about this approach in teaching. We know that questions obligate.
!
j
A well directed question is penetrating and although these questions
are not asked in a judgmental way they need to direct the thinking to
j
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
146
the personal. Non-authoritarian need not be non-directive. This is
not a class in general. It is specific and has content, however,
there is no content which "must be learned!" for the content is used
j
to open the minds of the learners rather than add something for
them to remember.
We look for meanings . "Only when the individual dis-
! covers his true inner nature can he accept religion's gift of a
meaningful life. " This modern insight is related to the meaning of
darkness and light. Naturally, we are reporting only the teachers
questions and the full range of discussion is not possible in this
report. Contributions from the class range from simple yes and no
answers to rather lengthy confessions, statements, examples and
insights. There are very few classes of young adults where one
would not get some contribution from each member.
We relate to modern dilemmas of life . Question fifteen
asks some of the things which stand in the way of becoming. Here
we get a list of most of the problems outlined in chapter one. The
!
i
J problems of the press of work, the press of time outside of work and
i
i the lack of free choice in an over-organized society are all listed.
i
I
| Here again members speak confessionally as to why they are not
!
what they ought to be. A confession on the part of the teacher in this
area is helpful in maintaining the atmosphere of the class as one of
f ello w 1 earner s.
i
i
|
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
147
We present self-understanding as a part of becoming . The
primary purpose of the first lesson is to show the importance of self¬
understanding. There may be a few timid souls who do not want to
face themselves and do not return to the next session, but this risk
must be taken. The church makes too many unnecessary enemies
for itself by not asking persons to face up to themselves.
The Bible is presented as the norm for existence . This
class takes most of its Biblical material from the Gospel of John.
Most scholars agree that this Gospel was written as an answer to the
questions in the Hellenic mind. These questions are part of the
fabric of Western culture and have relevance for us today. The
question of gnosis or knowledge was passionately asked. The
question of the existence of man is asked.
Man can decide. "To all who believe--he gives the power
to become. " You can become what you essentially are--a child of
God. This is a message for Christians and non-Christians alike.
"We are changed into different kinds of persons. " The idiosyncratic
nature of human development and human potential is respected. Each
is respected for what he is and for what he can become as he honest¬
ly faces himself in the light of the Gospel.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
148
j In this chapter we call for a recovery of the teaching
j
; ministry as an integral part of a minister's task. We do this not to
j
j take anything away from preaching, but insist on the inseparable
i
i nature of teaching and preaching. We attempt to show how teaching
i
l
j is especially adapted to mediate the Gospel. As a teacher a minister
i
| calls things by what they are and calls people to become what they
I
!
j can be--children of God. The obligations of the Christian life are
i
mediated through teaching, not through any doctrine or set of beliefs
which must be accepted, but through the relationships developed in
the class as each learner takes upon himself full responsibility for
his future and begins to take some responsibility for the future of
others.
We relate teaching to the Bible, and to the serious ques¬
tion of man's existence as understood in the Bible. We seek to avoid
the role of the minister as a ’’teacher of religion, ” and direct his
f
I teaching to helping persons find their own set of beliefs. We attempt
i
!
! to place the minister as teacher in the twentieth century where the
J church to a large extent has lost its place in society, where it has
j lost its authority in the demand on the time and life of individuals,
and where it has lost its authority to regulate the moral values of its
own members let alone those outside the church. We have tried to
show how teaching is possible in this precarious position in a fluid
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
149
j society. We start with the human condition in which we all share
the dilemmas of life and point to that reality which is possible. We
!
attempt to see the very day events of life as the source of the
I challenge and call of the eternal in the present. Freedom comes
through decision. God's Spirit is present with us as we face this
I
| decision. The group life of the church is the setting for the actual-
!
ization of this Spirit.
j
Finally, we presented the introduction and one lesson
from a course called "The Dynamics of Becoming" in which we
attempted to show how through teaching the ideas presented in this
paper could be approximated. We analyzed this lesson in the light
of the ideas presented.
j
j
The difficulty of this dissertation was felt most strongly
in this chapter. The problem of staying to the topic of balance
between teaching and preaching becomes most pressing. We have
i
i tried to show that evangelism was contextual and situational, but
i
this is hard to show apart from a situation where you can point and
j say, "This person received Christ at this point. " The theoretical
orientation as presented in this dissertation prevents one from
doing this. There is no statistical validation for this approach to
evangelism, except the validation of experience and that is sub¬
jective. We have personally used this approach in our churches
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
150
and it works. How well it works depends upon three unknown factors.
(1) The minister or teacher involved. Not so much one's intellec¬
tual ability, but on his openness in becoming a revealed person. (2)
The class and the individual background of each student. (3) The
presence of the Spirit of Christ in the relationship. All are factors
in the teaching relationship. The third factor, the presence of the
Word, in the human word again shows the impossibility of separat¬
ing preaching from teaching.
i
j
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
CHAPTER V
i A MATTER OF BALANCE
t
;
| Summary and conclusions
i
I
In this chapter we want to summarize as completely and
concisely as possible the integral relation between preaching and
I teaching. We relate this balance to our cultural situation and to the
I
J mission of the church. When this writer started seminary he looked
upon a minister's relation to the church as that of a coach to a team.
Recently he has come across the idea of the relation of the minister
to the congregation as that of a "player coach, " It seems this idea
symbolizes the role we have attempted to outline for the minister in
i
| this dissertation.
I
As a player coach the minister will exhort (preach), and
I
instruct (teach), but he will do more, he will also be in there playing
the game along with the rest of the community. He is fully aware of
i
the problems in the league (the cultural situation), and he is aware
| that this situation causes disintegration (we get hurt), and non-
i
i involvement (we would like to drop the game). However, in spite of
■ the human dilemmas, the player coach works week after week
calling on others to join in the game. He demonstrates his joy in the
total game of life. He instructs others in fundamentals (study
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
152
groups). They gather together for a rally (worship) and the player
coach gives witness to the life found in the community. All go out
again for another game.
We have tried to point to a ministry which achieves a
balance. The balance is directed toward the unique relationship
between preaching and teaching which has been stated as inseparable.
We have tried to speak to the unique problems of man living in our
day--a day in which he is torn apart, by forces in our culture. Yet,
we live in a day with great potential. We are calling for men to live
in the present and not to retreat to a time when the church had a
special place in the community and when its authority was recog¬
nized. We recognize the dynamic nature of our world.
We attempted to outline a concept of the church which is
also dynamic. We look at our mission as a total task of the whole
church. The group life in the church is the reality through which
persons experience the Spirit of Christ. We do not say that this is
the only place where this reality is found, but it is made actual here.
We defined Christianity as an existence in relationship rather than as
a doctrine. Doctrine will be useful and necessary as a way of under¬
standing ourselves now, but it will not be made absolute. The
danger of it hardening into "the one way" was followed from Old
Testament times. We tried to show the fragile nature of the
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
153
I Spiritual Presence and the tendency of Spirit to be transformed into
| doctrine, dogma and law. In this sense we believe we stand in the
I line of the prophetic rather than the scribal. This is an experiencial
j rather than a legalistic understanding of the Bible.
I
!
The dynamic nature of human development was outlined in
an attempt to show the unique nature of each human being. We tried
j to show that not only was there a flow in all history, but there was a
developmental process in each human being. Each person has his
own unique human history. While the prophet asks, "What is the
meaning of this moment of time in history? " the individual asks,
"What is my meaning in this moment of history? " We tried to deal
with human involvement in history and point to man’s distinctive
j
| human qualities--that is the power to decide, as well as the risk of
decision. The cultural forces in our day make the tension between
the alternatives of wholeness and disintegration, freedom and de¬
humanization, being for others and non-involvement as great as any
| time in the history of man, but this also implies a wide range of
! opportunity for those who choose to be free.
| The miracle of creation-redemption was seen within the
i
j
interpersonal relationships of life. We suggested that we are
created, recreated, or become disintegrated in our relationships.
j
Salvation or wholeness was described in terms of meeting and
i
I
I
J
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
154
changing. This change comes where there is honest communication
I
of one's own integrity and a willingness to recognize the basic in-
I
; tegrity of that other person who stands over against you. The call
comes to persons in the meeting where each is called to face up to
his own task in this moment of time. We see in the call of the pre¬
sent, Christ coming to us, as one hidden, yet known in the meeting.
! The relationship which we feel grows out of the meeting is a rela¬
tionship of open communication with the other. Each person opens
himself to the other. He presents himself to the other as an authen¬
tic person and takes the risk of "being known. " He may discover
what is presented is not appreciated, or he may be misunderstood,
but he continues to search for that word, for that being which will be
j
j real and open.
Openness to others does not imply a lack of conviction nor
genuine commitment. A person speaks out of the depths of his own
I
| experience expecting this experience to be taken seriously by the
i
other. He accepts the challenge of the beliefs and convictions of the
! other. In this relationship both are able to transcend their own
situation.
i
As a preacher open to others, and as a teacher open to the
possibility of learning from the class, we call on a minister to use
imaginative forms of church life which will make this meeting pos¬
sible. In our chapter on communal preaching we outlined one way
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
155
in which this could be done in preaching. Admittedly this brief
report was not sufficient to do justice to this approach, but we are
j
| not so interested in the method as in the overall aim of helping
t
| members see their responsibility in proclaiming the word through
preaching. The limitations to this approach are obvious: (1) Only
a small portion of the membership participated. (2) This kind of
i
exegetical study limited the range of discussion primarily to
Biblical materials and did not address itself directly to the cultural
dilemma. (3) The increased awareness of the need for total in¬
volvement in proclaiming the word through preaching did not neces¬
sarily increase the involvement of persons in this task in the world.
As we continued to look for that balance which would
reach out and become a total balanced ministry where evangelism
grew out of this balance we looked at the educational possibilities in
the church. We reviewed the importance of balance between
I
preaching and teaching both in the New Testament and in the history
j of the church. We recognize that much more could be said about
! this matter of balance in such movements as the Reformation, the
| Wesley movement and "new life" movements in our day. We must
i
leave this study for someone else or draw this material together at
a later date. We are primarily interested in showing the importance
of the recovery of the teaching function of the church in our day in
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
j 156
! order to achieve a balance in evangelism. We were interested in
i
j showing the changed stance of the church and ministry in our day.
i
A non-authoritarian, open, non-doctrinal stance which calls persons
j to freedom, was described. We presented the basic principles of
| the group process as a way to help persons achieve freedom and
i
j
• maturity.
: We recognize some of the problems with this stance in
!
■ our day and age. (1) Persons are not ready to take the responsi-
|
bility for their own belief and practice. They want answers rather
| than an opportunity to find their own answers. (2) The church is
not entirely ready to give up the idea that it has some special
authority from God to speak on His behalf. (3) Ministers, as well
j as members are often intellectually free and open, but emotionally
i
I
bound and therefore we become our own worst enemies. We use
people, because we are afraid to be used by them, or we are afraid
I "our plan" will fail if we don't manipulate people. We preach to
people because we are afraid to listen to them. (4) We retreat
from our own responsibility for our own future and for the future of
those close to us because we don't want to get involved.
Finally, we tried to present an outline for teaching in
which individual participation was made possible. We asked serious
questions about existence in the light of that existence revealed in
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
157
; the Bible. We attempted to make actual the ideal found in Ephesians
: 4:15-16,
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in
every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom
I the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with
; which it is supplied, when each part is working properly,
j makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.
This is the church--a community who can speak the truth
in love. Only such a community can be the truth. Only such a
i
! fellowship can risk honest communication. The church as such a
i
I
j body can upbuild itself in love and bring to fellowship those who are
j
| being pulled apart, dehumanized and uninvolved in today's existence.
Its task is one of becoming a true community. Its secret of unity is
repentance and forgiveness. The church becomes the "Cross -
| bearer" of the world. In this it is following its master who said,
i
"Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34).
| The task of witnessing to the world is carried on in the
community, and in the world. The church as a community is willing
to participate in the history of man, not escape from the plight of
i
our human condition. Communication is two-way, both giving and
receiving. In order to actualize the "Spiritual Fellowship" in our
time we need to make the change from one-way to two-way commun¬
ication. This communication can be thought of as: a relationship.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
158
a dialogue, giving and receiving in an encounter with another. It is
carried on when there is a balanced ministry where both preaching
and teaching are a part of evangelism.
It is hoped that in class, or in a worship service, or as
two persons meet in the market place a point of vision will be found
from which a new life can emerge. To paraphrase T. S. Eliot whom
we quoted in the Preface:
Lord we bring these gifts to your service in our meeting.
You have given us life, dignity, grace and order as well
as intellectual pleasure of the senses.
You have given us an opportunity to create >
and to imploy this creation in your service. f
Our service comes incarnate--spirit in a body.
We serve as the incarnation of thy spirit, for
in us the visible and invisible meet.
We don't believe we are entirely untrue to Eliot when we
say, in our meeting of another the visible and the invisible meet.
For from this meeting something of the transcendent is present.
Evangelism--is a matter of balance--for the Word is present in the
word. To separate preaching from teaching is to attempt to pro¬
claim the eternal without the finite dimension. To separate teaching
from preaching is to concentrate on the word of man and leave out
i
!
the spiritual presence in our contemporary world. Again in the |
{
words of Eliot, "you cannot deny the body, " but you also cannot I
\
<
i
deny the Spirit. It is a matter of balance. j
\
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
159
Practical considerations: for the life of the church .
1. This orientation, anticipates more lay participation in the
life and work of the church. The church is a witnessing
community.
2. "Church work" would not consist of what is done within the
walls of the building, but the witness made by the whole
congregation in the world.
3. We will listen and learn from other faiths in our world as
well as from secular society. We become open to the
world.
4. We will seek opportunities for dialogue with other helping
fields--medicine, psychology, law, and politics.
5. We will listen carefully to what other Christians are
saying. We will appreciate the ecumenical effort without
being taken in by it as "The solution" to the task of wit¬
nessing in our age.
6. We will be more imaginative and creative in our adult
educational programs. We will seek greater opportunity
for the meeting of small face to face groups again without
making this our only method of reaching others.
7. We will seek to learn the meanings and feelings of those
in various sub-cultures in our society. This implies
openness to the possibility of God's presence in such
movements as the freedom movement, and the student
unrest on college campuses.
8. We will seek to think of the church as a community rather
than as a building. It becomes an operational base for the
faithful from which we reach out to the world. We seek
to neither destroy the institutional church, nor to defend
every aspect of its action in the past or in the world today.
It is an earthen vessel through which God's light shines.
9. We must communicate the importance of "being" rather
than simply "of knowing" to the church school teacher.
Perhaps one will start by teaching the importance of the
class relationships. It is important that each teacher see
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
160
that what he or she is as a person says more to the
students than what he or she teaches in terms of content.
10. New approaches for classes for those either outside the
church or those on the margin of church life will be tried.
11. All programs of the church would be evaluated in terms of
their effectiveness in the development of the full potential
of individuals. Finance campaigns or even Mission cam¬
paigns which attempt to manipulate people for the sake of
the program would be out. There would be open commun¬
ication in all official board meetings and a complete re¬
port to the membership of all matters of vital concern to
the community.
12. Membership would be open to all (no racial, economic or
social segregation) who want to be a part of the history of
this commun ity. They would be asked to join a particular
church because history and commitment are particular.
Members would recognize their involvement with others
in joining. It is a decision to be for others, therefore it
is a human decision.
This is just one man's opinion on the church and evange¬
lism. There are those who will not agree with many of the things
that we have said. We would hope that in ten years we will not agree
with all that has been said, but if in presenting these views and in
dialogue with others with different views we come to a new appre¬
ciation of the church in our day, the work will have been valuable.
Every age and every minister is called to examine anew its effec¬
tiveness in proclaiming Christ. We have tried to examine some of
the presuppositions for a ministry in our day. We have suggested
a balanced ministry where preaching and teaching are integrally
related. We have done this with a view to "Bring every man up to
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
161
full maturity in Christ, " or in conventional pietistic Christian terms,
"We search for the means toward the achievement of God's will for
the world through the organism which we call the church. "
i
I
)
t
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
I
I
f
I
j
i
APPENDIX
i
I
I
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
APPENDIX I
YOU AND YOUR BIBLE
Yes No
1. The Bible can give me help in daily living?
2. I read my Bible every day?
3. I read my Bible once a week.
4. I read my Bible only when given a lesson in
a Sunday School class or some other class.
1. I believe the Bible is true?
2. I find it hard to understand the Bible?
3. I have tried to understand the Bible.
4. I have given up on trying to understand
the Bible.
1. How many books are there in the Bible? ___
2. How many books in the Old Testament? _
Testament? _
3. What is the first book in the Old Testament?
New? _
4. How many Gospels are there? _
Name two. _ _
5. Name three of Paul's letters. ,
In the New
In the
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
163
1. I find answers to my problems of living in the Bible? _
2. I seek help in time of trouble from the Bible? _
3. The language of the Bible is hard to understand? _
4. The stories in the Bible don't make much sense. _
5. All people understand the Bible in the same way? _
6. Every person has a right to his own opinion on the meaning of
the Bible?
1
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
APPENDIX II
A PREACHING PROJECT
i
| This is a report of our attempt to shift the emphasis of
preaching from the minister to the church as a ministering com¬
munity. It is not to be thought of as, "another technique of evange-
' lism, " but rather as a call for broader involvement in the total task
of preaching. Church members seem to feel they are more or less
involved in the finances of the church. They feel some involvement
in Christian education, and in Christian service, but by and large
the membership feels that the Christian community has no involve¬
ment in the preaching of the word, since they hire a preacher for
this task.
Communal preaching is based on the presupposition that
the entire congregation is involved in the proclamation of the Word
through preaching. It makes the further claim that the task of
i
preaching is a task of uniting study and proclamation into one thrust.
J C. H. Dodd made the Kerygma the basis and the entire content of
preaching. We appreciate his contribution to preaching, but we
i
|
| seriously question the values of his division into Kerygma and
Didache. Dodd's approach tends to polarize Kerygma and teaching
in a way which makes the integration of these elements difficult. In
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
165
the revival of interest in preaching today, this distinction has again
I
|
i been made. I believe it is unfortunate that such a distinction is
i
|
| being made today. The preaching of the Word is a teaching function
of the church which has ethical implications. Conversely, the
ethical teachings of the church must always be undergirded by the
proclamation of the Gospel. As we pointed out earlier these two
i are inseparable. The law and the Gospel belong together, for one
not only holds up the "ought, " but also the power of the Spirit in
actualizing the "New Being. "
We have said that communal preaching involves both the
announcement of the Gospel and instruction in the Christian life.
However, our primary task is not a theoretical discussion of
I
Kerygma and Didache, but an emphasis of the task of preaching as a
community task. The church as a corporate body is called to fulfill
I
the task of Evangelism. The church fulfills this task when it is
formed into "One Body in Christ by the Holy Spirit. " The theme for
| the Methodist church for the next four years, "One Witness in One
World" speaks to the problem of making the Church aware of a total
j
witness. The church must see itself as a witnessing community if
i
it is to meet the challenge of a changing world. The approach out¬
lined here is "one way" in which ministers can help members see
; preaching as a part of their task. It is a way in which ministers
i
i
I
|
i
j
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
166
j and members confront each other openly in their attempt to proclaim
i
;
j the Word. If it accomplishes this one thing, it is a valid form of
j
: Evangelism.
j This approach to preaching is an effort to make partici-
I
!
pation in the burden of proclamation more direct, on the part of
laymen. It places a demand upon the members as well as on the
| minister. A sincere effort is made to see the authority of the ser-
l
mon as the authority of the Word discovered in communion or fellow¬
ship. If this fellowship is of the type described in chapter II, where
each meets the other honestly and openly, the Holy Spirit may have
a chance in the development of the sermon, where it is formed in
fellowship.
It is the preacher who finally has the task of reinterpreting
the message, freeing it from the historical situation, and letting it
speak to people in our day. However, if the preacher is to do this
he must hear the Word of God as it speaks through the words of the
Bible. This can, and most often is done by the minister in his study
alone, but when these high thoughts are brought before the people on
Sunday morning one discovers to his dismay that his solitary study
of the Bible has cut him off from the people rather than brought him
close to his people. True Bible preaching is preaching which
develops the message from its source, but relates this to the needs
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
167
of people today. These needs are described in chapter II as the need
for wholeness, freedom and involvement. Through communal
preaching we open up the Bible in an attempt to have it speak to our
day.
Methodology
Before we attempt to outline what kind of preaching grows
out of the group experience, we wish to explain what we don't mean
by "Bible Preaching. " A lot of Bible preaching has little to do with
the Bible. It is good moral teaching and may be based upon princi¬
ples found in the Bible, but it is not Bible preaching. Many sermons
which are based upon a text should be called topical sermons rather
than textual sermons for the sermon is built in a more or less
Christian way and then a text is added just to make it into a sermon.
The sermon itself does not emerge out of the text but is formed,
polished, and made ready for delivery before the text is found and
inserted. This danger is avoided in Biblical preaching because the
members of the study group will keep one honest.
A second type of "Bible Preaching" is done by those we
think of as fundamentalists. They are not any closer to the Bible
than are the topical preachers. The difference is that they use
Bible stories in place of secular stories to illustrate their material.
This use of Bible stories gives them the feeling that they are Bible
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
168
preachers. They preach about Moses, Jacob, Abraham, Jesus and
Paul as if everyone knew these stories completely. The research of
Fairchild and Wynn mentioned in chapter I shows that this assump¬
tion is not valid in today's world. ^ Bible stories are used as a club
to convince people that "They should be like Jesus, " or "They should
tithe, " or they should do something else that the minister would like
them to do for the sake of the church. The structure, goal and
method are all designed by the preacher, and the Bible material is
superimposed on this structure for the sake of argument. There is
supporting material and proof texting which will range over the whole
Bible cutting out a little here and a little there. This, "cut and
paste" method of exposition helps one form a neat system by which
one can prove almost anything. Obviously, the integrity of the text
is lost in this approach. The honesty of persons in the group, and
the tendency of all of us to be more careful in our handling of
scripture when we are subject to the questions from members of a
group prevents one from using the cut and paste method of Bible
preaching.
I'm suggesting that preachers as well as laymen need
small groups where they can listen to what others think about the
*Ray W. Fairchild and John C. Wynn, Families in the
Church (New York: Association Press, 1961).
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
169
Bible, the meaning of the Christian life and our own involvement in
the life of the church. In this group one has an opportunity to give
his own ideas a trial run before they are expressed to the entire
congregation. The sharing of ideas concerning a passage from the
Bible is in accord with the paradox of the Christian faith. One
cannot keep his faith unless he is willing to lose it. This sharing
can improve the quality of the life of the church as well as the
quality of preaching. The group experience saves us from becoming
a "Clergy Centered Church" where we "hand down a program. " In
the group we struggle together with the meaning of being Christian.
We struggle to relate the Gospel to the task which confronts us as a
church. The demand is simply to actualize in the church a sense of
being a part of a witnessing community. When Bishop V. S. Azariah
of India received new members into the church he asked them to
repeat after him, "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel. " He was
I
I
I
i anxious to see that every laymen was a preacher. This is seems to
me is the final answer of evangelism.
In this project we try to avoid biblical preaching in which
the Bible is misused. We attempt to relate the sermon to the
specific contents of the scripture studied together. The proclama¬
tion of the Word gros out of the exposition of the material directly.
This study is related to the contemporary problems of living the
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
170
Christian life. This approach calls for honesty in study, faithfulness
to the Word, and the courage to submit your ideas and theology to
I
church members in open discussion. The method is anti-authori- I
i
tarian and anti-dogmatic. The principles of dialogue become pri¬
mary in the group experience.
I am not suggesting that communal preaching is the only
method by which the Word can speak through the preacher. I am
suggesting however that it is a method which demands faithfulness
to the Word. I am taking my criteria for faithfulness to the Word i
I
from R. E. Sleeth in his book. Proclaiming the Word . Using this
book as the basis, I will examine the methodology of our experiment
in communal preaching in terms of his analysis of Biblical preaching.
I will present a specific lesson and a sermon outline from the lesson.
I will give an evaluation--my own. Dr. Gloster Udy's and two class ;
members, of the entire experience.
Sleeth suggests the following approach to Bible preaching:
1. The preacher must exegete the passage just as he did in
the classroom study in seminary. This involves making
a lexical study of the words and passages in the material
which need clarification. The preacher needs to under- j
stand the words given in any specific passage in their
historical, doctrinal, and biblical setting.
2. The preacher must see how the words relate to the rest I
of the sentences. The tense of the verb, the form of the 1
nouns and the grammatical questions must be looked at j
carefully.
i
<
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
171
3. The minister must ask the question of the meaning of the
text in the larger setting. What was the purpose and
setting of the passage? Faithfulness to the Word includes
faithfulness in its own setting.
4. The fourth concerns the passage in its historical setting.
This is similar to the third step, only the preacher is
concerned with the immediate situation, customs, man¬
ners and mores of the people. The question of when it
was written, why, and to whom?
5. The last step for the exegesis of the passage of scripture
concerns the passage in terms of the total biblical view¬
point. The passage is always seen in the total setting of
the biblical viewpoint. This larger viewpoint will save the
preacher from a narrow wooden, inductive method of
reasoning. 2
After these five steps are completed the preacher is ready
to ask the question, "What is the bearing of this passage for our day,
our faith and our life?"^ Only after this basic study has been done
would the preacher formulate an outline. He will sit down and write
out some questions which become a part of the discussion with the
study groups.
Communal preaching does not relieve the minister from
the burden of preparation, it only forces the minister to submit his
study and exegesis to at least a part of the congregation before he
^Ronald E, Sleeth, Proclaiming the Word (New York:
Abingdon Press, 1965), p. 48ff.
3 Ibid., p, 49.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
172
makes his final sermon. The preacher is forced to explain his
meaning of the scripture to a group and also listen for the meaning
alive in the group. There is real dialogue as each learns from the
other. This kind of discipline saves preaching from becoming irrele¬
vant and calls a preacher to address himself to the problems of
meaning which the group finds difficult rather than dealing only with
the problems the minister finds difficult.
Studies in Ephesians
Our Lenten study group took the book of Ephesians as the
basis for our Bible study. We read the scripture together, the
group leader (the minister) gave the exegesis of the passage in terms
of the key words, the phrases, and the contextual meanings. We
then discussed the passage in terms of its relation to the problems
of our day. Members of the study group were encouraged to interact
in terms of their meanings, their understanding or their questions.
Finally, we discussed together what the passage of the Bible was
saying to us today.
In working out the approach, I started with a non-directive
approach. We read the material, and then I asked what each verse
meant to various members of the group. This approach gave little
discussion and there was little meaning derived from the reading.
We then changed to the approach outlined below.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
173
LESSON STUDY:
Ephesians 3:1-13
We read the entire passage in unison.
Leader: What is the central theme of this section?
Member: Unity.
Leader: How can we best handle this section this evening?
Member: You tell us what you think it means and then we
will respond.
Leader: All right. If you feel it would be valuable for us
to get an overview of the meaning of certain words and phrases, I
will share my study with you. However, this does not relieve you
of the responsibility of responding or asking questions.
Leader: Let's look at this section. We said that the
theme is "Unity. " We have already announced that we are dealing
with "The Mystery of Christ. " (Eph. 3:3). The writer says, "The
mystery was made known to me, by revelation. " Here we are faced
with the word, "Mystery. " It means literally concealed knowledge.
The purpose of the writer was to penetrate this mystery and to make
it known. "The Mystery concealed for the ages is now to be made
known through the Gospel and through Christ. " There is a new
condition--a condition where Jew and Gentile would both live in
obedience to God. The barrier between Jew and Gentile was to be
broken down and the "Two were to be made one" (Eph. 2:11-22).
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
174
| The Old Testament looked forward to the time when Jew and Gentile
i
!
would live in obedience to God, but it never suggested that this would
|
be on an equal basis. The first emphasis of this passage then seems
to be the emphasis on the new unity between Jew and Gentile--a
l
i
unity never thought possible before.
The second emphasis in this passage concerns the nature
I of this mystery itself. The writer here points to Paul as the
i
example of one who achieved this unity. His own conversion was a
living expression of this unity. This new unity is not based upon
anything which he did, but upon what God did, "While we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). To Paul the pharisee,
this idea that both Jews and Gentiles were to be made one was indeed
i
j
j shocking, and there is evidence in his writing that he was troubled
with the place of the Law and its real value all through his life. He
! gives lengthy explanations in Romans about the law. However, in
!
(
! Ephesians, the writer simply takes this idea of Paul and unites it
!
into a beautiful synthesis in verses 7, 8, and 9 of chapter 3. He
| sets Paul forth as an ideal teacher and example of grace. He became
"The minister to the Gentiles" and preached to them the "unsearch¬
able riches of Christ. " Paxil became the one in whom the mystery
was revealed uniquely. Now, says the writer, since the time of
Paul the secret is out. The separation is overcome and all men
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
175
may enjoy the unsearchable, inexplorable riches of Christ. This
means that no matter how we draw upon these riches, there is
always more.
Finally, this section relates this union which is found "in
Christ" to the union which is to be expressed in the church (Eph.
3:10), "That through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might
be made known. " Here again the marvel of the church as Christ's
body is projected. As in the first two chapters of Ephesians, the
church is placed at the center of this unity. The principalities and
powers in heavenly places again place the church in the center of
cosmic concerns. All of us who know churches well know of the
things which can be said against them, but here the writer who knew
of the weakness of churches lifts his vision to the greatness of its
calling. It is startling to be called to such a task. The church is
mentioned here, not as a means of escape from involvement, but
rather as a call to actualize this new reality in a specific community
in time and space. The new reality which was a mystery before the
coming of Christ is no longer a mystery. The mystery revealed to
Paul was now to be made actual within the fellowship of the church.
The reality of the presence of God's Spirit was to be demonstrated
in the church. The church was to be a new fellowship in which the
ancient division of men into Jew and Gentile was transcended.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
176
|
j
l
Discussion:
Leader: This briefly is how I see this passage. What is
your reaction. ?
Member: Wasn't the experience of Paul on the road to
Damascus an example of this new unity?
Leader: Yes, a great deal can be learned about this unity
by understanding the life and struggle of Paul. He struggled with
this problem of the relation between the law and grace, between Jew
and Gentile during much of his ministry. Some belive he was killed
for this cause.
Member 2: Wasn't the use of the word Mystery methodo¬
logical--that is wasn't it used as a technique to speak to the people
of this day? I remember reading about the mystery cults that were
popular at this time. Perhaps the writer used the word Mystery to
attract attention in a world where people were acquainted with these
cults?
Leader: Yes, I believe you are right. This was probably
written about seventy A. D. to a world filled with many mysteries.
Certainly there was an element of wisdom in selecting such a term
for it was in common usage.
Member 3: I notice you speak of "The writer, " why not
say this was Paul?
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
177
Leader: We could use Paul and we often do. The ideas
found in Ephesians are certainly from Paul. However, the style and
content are much more compact than that found in Paul's other
writings. I am personally attracted to the idea of Dr. Goodspeed
who sees this letter as an introduction or "Cover Letter" to a col¬
lection of Paul's writings. The ideas which are in this letter are,
as you say, Paul's. A second evidence found in our lesson today is
the use of the term, "Wall of partition. " The wall of the temple was
broken down in seventy A. D. Paul would not have been living at
this time. However, having said this, let us not forget that the
Spirit of Paul is much alive in this letter. One could call this letter
a dissertation on the problems which Paul takes up in all his other
writings. Here all his thought is before us in concise summary
form.
Leader: Are there further questions? (There was a pause)
What should our ideas be for the sermon next Sunday?
Member 4: The Mystery of Christ should be one area.
Leader: Yes, the Mystery of Christ is important. I'm
sure it should be one of our points.
Member 5: I would think something needs to be said about
the relation of this mystery to the conversion of Paul on the road to
Damascus.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
178
i Member 3: The riches of Christ for us today should be
I
I
brought out. (I took notes on these ideas)
!
!
Leader: Thank you again for your help. We should have
i
j a good message Sunday because of this discussion. Now before we
close, let us ask the Spirit of Christ to guide us in our Sunday
service as He has guided us in this study tonight. (We close with
prayer)
Sermon Preparation
Following the study, I briefly summarized the notes which
I had taken during the study. I placed these on my desk on Sunday
evening and went home. On Monday I again read the passage of
j scripture and the commentary. I did nothing directly with the notes
on Tuesday and Wednesday, however thoughts came to me concerning
the ideas we discussed. I would jot down ideas on scraps of paper
and put these in my file.
i
On Thursday morning I pulled all the ideas together, form-
»
ulated the outline and wrote the sermon. The sermon was expository
i
in nature with the historic situation in mind. However, the opening
i
j statement was a contemporary one. "Mysteries are fascinating!"
"We like to read mystery stories, see movies based on mystery,
i
and sing songs with mystery in them. " J
|
\
?
: !
i
i
i
, t
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
179
The meaning of mystery from its usage in the Old and New
Testament is explained. The sense of the usage of the word Mystery
is presented. "The divine secret or mystery, long hidden is now
made clear in Christ. " The hidden secret has become an open
secret.
I, The mystery of the Gospel is revealed when new life
is found.
A. The tragic division of life is overcome in Christ.
B. Hostility is overcome through love.
C. Unity is achieved in the church through Christ.
H. The message of unity and the messenger are united
in Paul (See Ephesians 3:7, 8, & 9).
A. The hostility of Paul before his conversion.
B. The conversion of Paul brings release from
hostility.
C. A new unity is found in the life of Paul, He be¬
comes an agent of unity, healing, and love
rather than an agent of division and hate.
HI. The Mission of the Church. "A mission of being. "
A. The new unity or mystery is now made known
through the church.
B. The eternal purposes of God are manifest
through the church.
C. The "New Spirit, " is the Spirit of Christ made
actual in the life of the church. This "Com¬
munity of Love" is an expression of the unity
between Christ and His Church.
Conclusion:
Men can be drawn together--made whole, when love reigns
among them. Evangelistic appeal is a call to unity, to actual¬
ize the unity of Christ in the fellowship of the church.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
180
i Analysis:
i
One can see how the sermon grows out of the shared exper-
i
1 ience. This was an expository sermon in that the Word grew out of
j the Word. The integrity of the text was respected. The radical
nature of the "New Mystery" was placed in a contemporary setting.
For example in explaining the conversion of Paul and the dramatic
, change in his life we use the illustration: "When Paul became a
follower of Christ, it was as if Gov. Wallace were suddenly to join
the crusade of Dr. Martin Luther King. "
The theme, "Unite or Perish" from our present existential
situation was the backdrop for the theme of unity. The struggle of
Paul was seen as the struggle of every man. The need for commun-
I
j
! ity in which this new unity--mystery could be experienced was
I
i
demonstrated in the service of worship itself.
This total experience was not dull instruction in the Bible,
i
!
for the Gospel was announced. The total experience was a combina¬
tion of proclamation and teaching. It would be impossible to
; separate the two in the total process.
j
i
;
! Evaluation
It is difficult to evaluate a new approach to preaching after
just a few weeks of study together. However, I have at least four
evaluations from those who were involved in the study. These come
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
181
from the two ministers involved. Dr. Gloster Udy and myself and
|
t
j
from two members who were in the discussion group for the entire
ten week period.
I. Ministerial Evaluation: By a visiting minister.
A. Values of the experience.
This experience gave insight into the total con¬
gregation. This insight was valuable for a visiting minister.
The needs of the persons could be determined by the discus¬
sion. The stage of spiritual understanding, and points of re¬
sistance were learned. It gave the members a sense of being
a part of the task of preaching.
B. Problems in this approach.
It forced prior preparation to a given subject.
This could limit the emphasis.
Only a few (8-12) persons were involved in the
process.
It forced one to use expository preaching and
limits the range of subject matter.
C. Changes in preaching.
If any, they resulted from the study and
sharing. The acceptance of what was in the scripture as a
starting point for preaching.
D. Implications.
They come from this shared experience in
terms of involving the community.
This again brings faith back to "The Word. "
II. Evaluation by the Pastor.
I would agree with the entire evaluation which Dr.
Gloster Udy made. The points of emphasis on which we dif¬
fered came primarily from the fact that I am the pastor and
know the persons in the group.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
I
182
i
| A. Values of the Experience.
I
Although I have known all the persons who were
; in the group for at least two years, this study helped me under¬
stand aspects of their thinking which I had not previously
understood. The interaction helped me gain insight into the
level of understanding of the persons present. I would perhaps
| place less emphasis on points of resistance on the part of
members, since many of the points of resistance are valuable
tools for new understanding. Perhaps there are areas of my
thought which need to be resisted by the group. I learned this
in many of these sessions.
The value of participation in the proclamation
of the Word was dramatically demonstrated through this
experience. One woman commented after a sermon on
' Sunday morning, "My these study sessions are certainly giving
you new inspiration in explaining the Bible. " I must confess
they did just that,
B. Problems:
As Dr. Gloster Udy pointed out, the problem
j of prior preparation on the subject was a big one. However,
the total preparation time was not much greater than any other
sermon. The sermon was limited by the subject for the
Sunday, and may cause one to miss certain opportunities to
speak to specific social issues.
We were able to sustain the interest of the group
during Lent, but following Easter, the group dropped to four
or five each week, and we were not able to increase the in¬
volvement. This would indicate that such a program should be
limited to a period such as Lent, or a specific period of time.
j
I
C. Changes in preaching.
i
If any, they resulted from the study and sharing.
Although most of my preaching is expository in nature, I was
forced to be more specific in my relationships between the
scriptures and my conclusions concerning the scriptures. I
was also forced to be more direct in explaining the meaning of
certain ideas in terms that the laymen could understand. The
study made a continuity in preaching important.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
183
D. Implications
They come from this shared experience in terms
of involving the community in preaching. There was no ques¬
tion about the broader involvement in the task of preaching.
The claim that the task of preaching was a community respon¬
sibility was accepted, at least by the members of the study
group. The emphasis on the quality of the community as an
expression of the Spiritual Presence was experience in this
sharing time. The call of Christ became more than "The Call
of Christ through the preacher. " There grew up in our dis¬
cussion a deep concern for helping new members understand
the meaning of being a part of our church. There was a con¬
cern for more open and honest discussion at the feeling level
of what it means to experience, "The oneness of Christ. "
Finally, there was a concern that new persons discover the
meanings which are alive in our fellowship.
Self evaluation of the church as a community
became a part of our discussion as we progressed in the study.
This evaluation was done first in relation to our own under¬
standing of Christ and the church. We also evaluated how we
were communicating this new relation to others.
III. Summary of Members Evaluation:
A. Values:
I learned more about the scripture than in any
other study. The scripture came alive for me. I looked for¬
ward to the next Sunday's sermon after studying the lesson.
I also liked the reading of the scripture together in unison.
I learned to know other members of the group better.
B. Problems:
It limited the minister to what was in this
scripture. The Bible study became too much the same. Need
of more variety in the study group--films, outside speakers.
I enjoyed Dr. Gloster Udy's coming.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
184
C. Changes in preaching as a result of the study.
More Biblically based. It addressed itself to
our questions. Explained more fully ideas found in the Bible.
I had the feeling I read and understood at least one book in
the Bible.
D. Implications for your own involvement in
preaching.
This was the first time I felt I was involved in
the actual preaching. I felt more involved in the total service
of worship because I had a part in the discussion. I came to
church prepared because I had studied the Bible before coming.
I had done at least a part of my home work. I knew what the
sermon was going to be about and felt I had some part in it.
!
i
I
i
'
i
i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I
|
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. BOOKS
Allport, Gordon. The Individual and His Religion . New York:
Macmillan, 1960.
_. Becoming . New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955.
Baldwin, James. Nobody Knows My Name . New York: Dell, 1961.
Berger, Peter L. The Noise of Solemn Assemblies . Garden City,
N. Y.: Doubleday, 1961.
Bloy, Myron B., Jr. The Crisis of Cultural Change . New York:
Seabury Press, 1965.
Brown, Mackenzie D. Ultimate Concern . New York: Harper &
Row, 1965.
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. Poetical Works , 5 Vols. New York:
Dodd, Mead, 1892.
Buber, Martin. Pointing the Way . New York: Harper & Row, 1957
_. Writings . Ed. by Will Herberg. New York: Meridian
Books, 1953.
Bultmann, Rudolf. Jesus Christ and Mythology . New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1958.
Cantor, Nathanial. Dynamics of Learning . 3rd. ed. Buffalo:
Henry Stewart, 1956.
Clinebell, Howard J., Jr. Mental Health Through Christian Com¬
munity . New York: Abingdon Press, 1965.
Cobb, John B., Jr. A Christian Natural Theology . Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1965.
Cox, Harvey. The Secular City . New York: Macmillan, 1965.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
186
Ellul, Jacques. The Technological Society . New York: Knopf, 1964.
Erikson, Erik H. Identity and the Life Cycle . New York: Inter¬
national Universities Press, 1959.
_. Young Man Luther . New York: Norton, 1958.
Fairchild, Ray W. and Wynn, John C. Families in the Church . New
York: Association Press, 1961.
Frankl, Viktor E. Man's Search for Meaning . New York:
Washington Square Press, 1963.
Friedman, Maurice S. Martin Buber, The Life of Dialogue . New
York: Harper & Bros., 1960.
Fromm, Erich. The Sane Society . New York: Holt, Rinehart &
Winston, 1955.
Glenn, J. Stanley. The Rediscovery of the Teaching Ministry.
Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960.
Goodman, Paul. Growing Up Absurd. New York: Random House,
1960.
Gordon, Richard E. The Split Level Trap . New York: Dell, 1962,
Grimes, Howard. The Rebirth of the Laity . Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 1962.
Henry, Jules. Culture Against Man . New York: Random House,
1963.
Herberg, Will. Protestant- - Catholic- - Jew . Garden City, N. Y. :
Doubleday, 1955.
Howe, Reuel L. The Miracle of Dialogue . New York: Seabury
Press, 1965.
Interpreter's Bible . 12 Vols. New York: Abingdon Press, 1952.
Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible . 4 Vols. New York: Abingdon
Press, 1962.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
187
Jung, Carl G. The Undiscovered Self . New York: Mentor, 1958.
Kennedy, Gerald. His Word Through Preaching . New York: Harper
& Bros., 1947.
Leuchtenburg, William E. (ed.). The Great Age of Change . New
York: Life, Time, 1964.
i
| Littell, Franklin Hamlin. From State to Pluralism . Garden City,
| N.Y.: Doubleday, 1962.
Marty, Martin. The New Shape of American Religion . New York:
Harper & Bros., 1959.
i
j _. Second Chance for American Protestants . New York:
j Harper & Row, 1962.
Mead, Sidney E. The Lively Experiment . New York: Harper &
Row, 1963.
I
Menninger, Karl. Love Against Hate. New York: Harcourt, Brace,
1942.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman . New York: Dramatist's Play
Service, 1952.
Neil, A. S. Summerhill . New York: Hart, 1960.
Pyke, Magnus. The Science Myth . New York: Macmillan, 1962.
Raines, Robert A. New Life in the Church . New York: Harper &
Row, 1961.
Robinson, John A. T. Honest To God . Philadelphia: Westminister,
1963.
Rogers, Carl. On Becoming A Person . Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
1961.
Ritschl, Ditrich. A Theology of Proclamation . Richmond: John
Knox Press, 1952.
Scott, R. B. Y. The Relevance of the Prophets . New York:
Macmillan, 1963.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
188
Sherrill, Lewis J. The Struggle of the Soul . New York: Macmillan,
1951.
Shippey, Frederick A. Protestantism in Suburban Life . New York:
Abingdon Press, 1964.
Sittler, Joseph. The Ecology of Faith . Philadelphia: Muhlenberg
I Press, 1961.
t
Sleeth, Ronald E. Proclaiming the Word. New York: Abingdon
Press, 1965,
• Southard, Samuel. Pastoral Evangelism . Nashville: Broadman
Press, 1962.
Stein, Morris I. Contemporary Psychotherapies . New York: Free
Press, 1961.
Thielicke, Helmut, The Trouble With The Church . Translated by
j John W. Doberstein. New York: Harper & Row, 1965.
i
! Tillich, Paul. Systematic Theology . 3 Vols. Chicago: University
! of Chicago Press, 1960.
j _. The Courage To Be . New Haven: Yale University
| Press, 1961.
1
! _. The Eternal Now . New York: Charles Scribner's
| Sons, 1963.
i
5 _. The Shaking of the Foundations . New York: Charles
I Scribner's Sons, 1948.
_. Theology of Culture. New York: Oxford University
' Press, 1959.
Trueblood, Elton, The Company of the Committed . New York:
Harper & Bros., 1961.
Van Dusen, Henry P. Spirit Son and Father . New York: Charles .
Scribner's Sons, 1958.
Weigel, Gustav. The Modern God. New York: Macmillan, 1962.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
189
Whyte, William H., Jr. The Organization Man. Garden City, N. Y.
Doubleday, 1957.
Winter, Gibson. The New Creation as Metropolis . New York:
Macmillan, 1963.
B. PERIODICALS
Galdston, Iago, M. D. "The American Family in Crisis, " Pastoral
Psychology, XHI.-124 (May 1962), 38-39.
Niebuhr, H. Richard. "Reformation: Continuing Imperative, "
Christian Century , LXXXVII:9 (March 2, 1960), 249-251.
Pate, Andrew, Jr. "The Gap Between Pulpit and Pew, " Christian
Advocate , IX:23 (December 1965), 9-10.
Trotter, F. Thomas. "The Minister as General Practitioner, "
Perspective, The School of Theology at Claremont
Bulletin, VII:3 (July 1965), 2-3.
C. UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS
Cobb, John B., Jr. "A Personal Christology" A paper read at the
School of Theology at Claremont, California, July 1963.
Eitzen, David D. "The Predicament of Man and his Salvation From
it--Experientially Speaking. " A paper read at the School
of Theology at Claremont, California, December 10, 1963.
Snyder, Ross. "What Makes a Group Redemptive?" A paper from
Chicago Theological Seminary, distributed in Christian
Education Class at the School of Theology at Claremont,
December 1963.
_. "Ethical Living is Actualization of Life World. "
Mimeographed.
lony
THEOLOGY LIBRARY
CLAREMONT, CALIF.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11