Technology, News, And Discernment

I'm in the midst of reading another book, one that touches on spiritual lives and the impact that technology has on our faith lives.  Let's just say that, a few chapters in, it already has me thinking deeply on a number of things.  (For those who may be interested, the book is called "Digitized", by Bernard Bull, Concordia Publishing House) I'll touch on a few of these here.

How do you learn about the world around you?  Most of us look to news information of some form, whether TV, newspaper, radio, or internet.  Yet, how often do we critically ask why these forums are reporting the news in the way that they are?  Why are they choosing the stories that they do?  What stories are they choosing to leave unreported?  What is the perspective that they bring to the story?  And then, especially with our day and age, are they reporting accurately, or are they trying to steer you in one direction or another? 

I would dare say that most of us would honestly have to say that we don't give it that much thought.  We listen to the ones that resonate with us, and disregard the ones that don't resonate with us.  We start to put our faith in the ones who are doing the reporting without critically asking what they may be trying to achieve with their words or stories.  And they have learned how to play on our emotions and thoughts, especially with our indwelling sinful desire to be right and to have others know that we are right.

What does this do to our faith lives?  Well, for one, I would argue that we get drawn to spending our time on the "news" rather than the "good news" (aka, the Gospel). We spend many more hours listening to perspectives, opinions, and the "stories of the day" rather than THE STORY that shows us our God and His fervent desire for us.  We pridefully proclaim that we know what is right, rather than humbly looking for the good of our neighbor, whoever they may be.  We spend our time defending our stance rather than proclaiming the good news of Jesus.

You know, that's awfully close to putting something else in God's place in our lives, a sin which God calls idolatry.  We get filled with the desire to know and to defend our position, and are willing to share that with others, even strangers, and sadly leave our Gospel proclamation and life tucked away.  We rejoice to wear a label, and even declare it on our social media sites, but fail to lovingly address our brothers and sisters with the tender care they need in Christ Jesus. We start to put people on the "right" side and the "wrong" side instead of realizing that God would have us not show partiality or favoritism.

It takes great discernment to take such a critical look at the information we take in daily. In our day and age, I would suggest that we have to do this at levels we never have had to before.  With great access comes a great need for discernment, and I pray that you will start to take a more critical look at the sources of your news information, and perhaps even ask what your time could be better spent doing.

Information Reflection

For a moment, think about the last thing you looked up on the internet.  What resources did you use to look up whatever it was?  How did you go about choosing the websites to look at that you did?  What were your criteria for determining if you thought the website was helpful or not? Did you just go with the first thing you saw and, if so, why did you take that approach?

I realize that taking the time to do these things I just wrote perhaps seems like a waste of time.  You just do it.  You "just know" if you can trust what you see or not.  You "just know" how to interpret what you see and how to understand it.  It's kind of like watching the news.  You "just know" that the reporters are just reporting the news.  You "just know" that they are presenting it objectively, without any attempt to steer your way of thinking.  Or, is that really the case?

Up front, I want to say this.  Reflection is difficult.  It is difficult to slow yourself down, ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing, to ask what you are trying to accomplish.  It's difficult to ask yourself why you trust this information instead of that information.  Shoot, most of the time we haven't taken the time to reflect on why we even are looking for what it is that we are looking for. We haven't taken the time to reflect on our motivations and instead are just doing it.

The day and age we live in is full of information.  It's also full of knowledge.  The amount of information we have access to is exponentially more than what previous generations had access to.  It would therefore stand to reason that we should be all the more reflective of the information we are looking at.  We should look at it critically (and for those who may not get this word "critically", by it I mean that you ask yourself why it is deemed trustworthy, not that you are being negative toward it).  Since there is so much out there, we need to work toward wisdom to understand what we are looking at, why we are looking at it, and what we hope to accomplish by looking at it.

Reflection isn't just something that I am encouraging you to do from time to time.  It is actually a lifestyle.  It guides you to know yourself better, your strength areas, your weak areas.  It gives you a clearer picture of who you are, and of why you do the things you do.  Most of us assume we know these things, but I would dare say that taking some time to reflect might actually open our eyes a bit, and not always in painless ways.

So next time you are looking for something on this world wide web, think about why you are looking at it.  Think about what it is telling you, and why you are processing it the way you are.  Start reflecting on it, even if only for a moment.  Perhaps that moment of reflection will lead to you learning something about yourself, which is far more valuable than whatever you may have been looking up. 

A God of Order and Chaos

Okay, so perhaps the title of the post is overstating it a bit.  Perhaps we should think of God as a God of order and disorder.  Order is clear as you read through the Scriptures.  A set pattern for creation.  The simple way that we humans are made and function within the world He created for us.  If you read through Exodus, you see a God of order at work, issuing things like the manner of life He expects of His people and the construction of His tabernacle on earth.

Yet, you also cannot read through the Scriptures without getting a sense that God is very much like the way C. S. Lewis describes Aslan, the Christ figure in the Narnia series.  "He's not a tame lion."  "Is he safe?"  "No, but He's good."  Just read through Jesus' words to Nicodemus in John 3 and you get a picture of a God who is above order.  "The wind/breath/spirit blows where it will, and you do not know where it is coming from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." And yes, I do believe that Jesus leaves it very ambiguous on whether He is talking about the wind, our breath, or the Spirit of God.  It proves the point.  God is a God of great order, and yet, God also at times seems extraordinarily disorderly.

Perhaps that is mostly due to the fact that we tend to focus on one side of this equation, or the other.  We see God's order, and we feel comfortable with that order.  We look for that order in all things, even in the way that God's Spirit works to create faith and draw people to Himself.  So we set about designing an orderly way, say, of evangelism, where you follow a script, memorize verses, and the like.  Yet, then we are surprised when that doesn't work the way we expect it might.  If God is a God of order, why doesn't He do things the same way every time?  Why don't we organize our worship times to be exactly the same everywhere?  And yet, we see God working through things that so often seem disorderly.

Or, we go the other way. God's Spirit cannot be predicted or confined, so we aim to "leave things to the Spirit."  Why have order to, say, a worship service if God's Spirit works in ways other than a set worship order?  Why think through a way of engaging someone with our faith in God if God's Spirit is simply going to do the leading?  So we strive for disorder, and yet are surprised that God works through regular ways that He Himself indicates do what He says (like baptism and the Lord's Supper).

We find it difficult to hold this tension.  That shouldn't be surprising, after all, we are a creation out of step with God and His creational aspirations for us.  When we expect order, God may respond with order, or He may respond in ways unanticipated.  When we expect that God will work in many and various and unusual ways, God responds with a call to observe how He created and wills for things to operate in this messy world.  God perfectly holds in tension that which we are unable.  And even more incredibly, God perfectly forgives through a bloody cross and an empty tomb, working through this seemingly chaotic course of events to bring His restoration through orderly means again and again.

Perhaps the opening title isn't so off base, then.  It seems like chaos to us.  But to the God who is able to hold order and disorder in perfect tension, it makes perfect sense.  And our faith clings to that God who is able to do that which we cannot. 

Self-Awareness and Reflection

For a moment, I want you to do something that is a little strange sounding.  Think back to the last real difficulty or challenging moment that you had.  As you think back to it, I want you to consider a couple of things.  First, what were the specific challenges that you faced?  In what ways were you prepared for it?  In what ways were you unprepared?  What could you have done differently and perhaps seen a different result?  As you think through these questions, perhaps even close your eyes and re-imagine the situation, or write down your reflections upon it.

I have come to believe that reflection is something that we do not attempt nearly enough in our lives.  We go through a situation, we quickly brainstorm an idea or two, or simply do the first thing that pops to mind.  Then, once the situation has come to its conclusion, we move along to the next one.  What's lacking in all of this?  Taking time to reflect.

If we take a few moments to reflect in the midst of the situation, we will likely come up with another direction or two that we could take.  Further reflection can even provide us with an opportunity to see how each of these different approaches could lead to different results.  Just a little reflection in the midst of the situation not only provides alternative avenues, but even the chance to consider if the avenue we are taking will lead in a direction we would like.

Additional reflection at the end also lends itself to bearing fruit.  When we look back, we can see the various points at which we could have gone a different direction.  We can reflect on if we made a good choice, a bad choice, an informed choice, or an uniformed choice.  We can also take that opportunity to reflect on what we learned and what the situation has taught us for the next encounter we have.

Several recent studies I have read show that taking time to reflect is actually one of the best ways to ingrain what we learn from a situation.  This is, for example, the power of journaling.  We reflect and write down what happened, what our thoughts were, what our reactions were, and what we could have done differently.  In doing this, we learn so much more than if we didn't take the time to reflect.

Taking this reflection approach also permits us to become more self-aware, to know who we are, what our strengths and weaknesses are.  Reflection can also allow us to learn what our "trigger points" are.  When we are struggling with a sin, reflection can help us learn of how we react leading up to the sin, and perhaps can serve to give us clues on how to battle against that sin in our lives.  Reflection also permits us to confess to God, knowing that He assures of us our forgiveness in Jesus, and to come to a greater awareness of our sins, faults, and flaws.  In doing this, we come to a more realistic picture of who we are, and I am convinced that doing this will also grow us in appreciation for God's gift of Jesus and our baptism, which connects us to Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.

Building this habit into daily life is not easy.  I have tried and, while I do it quite often, I also find many times where I fail to reflect well.  In the end, my times of reflection have served to grow my appreciation for God's Law and will, as well as to more fully understand the depths from which Jesus has rescued me.  I pray that taking time for reflection may do the same thing for you. 

Book Review: The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More, and Change the Way You Lead Forever

Book: The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More, and Change the Way You Lead Forever, by Michael Bungay Stanier

In this book, Michael Bungay Stanier would have leaders consider how they can work to equip the people they work with more, and in doing so, to end up taking away many of the tasks that they end up doing for others anyway.  His proposed solution to this situation is to ask questions, seven specific questions in fact.  These questions get to the heart of what a leader needs to learn from workers and provides an avenue for having the worker then arrive at possible solutions, thus freeing the leader from doing the work that rightfully belongs to others.

Stanier's questions are not profound questions, and in fact, are likely questions that many leaders are already thinking.  However, the manner which Stanier proposes for the leader to follow involves a more coaching approach to employees.  It also involves changing the (likely) ingrained habits that leaders have of providing advice or solutions, changing instead to a more questioning approach that leads workers to discover what is truly challenging them and then to discover solutions on their own.

These seven questions, as I said, are not profound, but it takes the development of a new habit and approach to incorporate them.  To assist in doing this, Stanier provides an area at the end of each chapter where the reader can write out the triggers that lead to their current habits, what their old habit is, and then the new habit that is proposed (which consists of asking each of the seven questions he provides, and sorry, I'm not listing them out.  If you want to learn them, you will need to read the book!). By taking this approach, the leader slows down his usual approach, engages the worker, enables the worker to discover solutions on their own, and thus empowers workers.

I found this book easy to read and, while the questions are not profound, the development of a new habit toward asking questions definitely would prove challenging to myself and many others.  I agree with his assertion that taking the time to reflect on what is learned is vitally important for both leaders and workers, and the approach he recommends calls for such reflection.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has to work with people and who may be frustrated when the workers consistently approach you with questions on what to do.  Initially, I believe it would involve more time, but over time, it would likely prove to be an approach that would grow the workplace and create an environment where creativity and productivity would follow, not to mention workers who feel empowered and thus are more invested in their work, which is a benefit to the leader and the organization.

Customer Service and Christian Love

As many of you may know, I do a lot of leadership reading, as well as reading to improve myself.  All of this in addition to the regular educational reading I do.  (Yes, I am admittedly a nerd, and not afraid to be one.)  One thing that I see a lot in leadership reading is the thought of customer service.  I'm sure you have heard the phrase, or one similar to it.  "The customer comes first" or "The customer is always right."  Reading through sales research, it's often highlighted that the best salespeople don't sell you the product they want to sell, but the one you want to buy.  Yes, I know that seems like a fine distinction, but it's also a very important one in the area of sales.

That got me thinking about how this could possibly relate to our life in Christ.  A good salesman looks to see what is of interest to the customer.  The good salesman looks beyond his/her own ego to see things from the customer's eyes, and then attempts to see what he/she can provide that satisfies what the customer is looking for.  To put it succinctly, the best sales people try to discover what the customer is looking for, and then works to find something that fits best with the customer's need or desire.

This echoes Christian love to some small extent.  (Yes, I know a few of you may take exception to me comparing Christian love with sales, but please bear with me on this.) As Christians, we look to put aside our own wants and needs to serve others.  Just read Philippians 2 if you want to see an awesome example of this.  We look not to our own interests (in sales terms, not to sell what we want to sell), but to the interests of others (again, in sales terms, to see what truly matters to the customer, seeing things through their eyes).  We do what is right for the other, not what we wanted to do for ourselves.

Now, every example is going to always fall short, and this one is no exception.  We don't "sell" Christian love to another with the ulterior motive that we want then to become Christian.  Of course, our hope and prayer is that they will see our caring action toward them and then question why we would put their needs over our own, or they will wonder why we were so interested in them and in their life, why we wanted to make sure that they received what they needed.  Yes, we hope that we will have the opportunity to share our hope in Christ Jesus with them and see them come to believe in what He has done for them.  But, and here's the kicker, we aren't caring toward them in order to do that.  We care for them because God created us to care for one another.  If we are kind and caring toward them with the hope of their conversion, we are basically utilizing another (poor, I might add) sales tactic, called bait and switch.

In conclusion, Christian love seeks to find what is of meaning and need with the person with whom we are relating, and then doing it.  We do it without any expectation in return.  Their response is in their hands, and is guided by God and His Spirit.  That is ultimately what grace is.  Giving with no expectation in return, and then pleasantly thankful when there is some response, such as an opportunity to share Christ's forgiveness and hope, or even to say that we did it because God first cared for us in such a way. 

Dependence: Good, Bad, or Neither?

Think about phrases that describe our North American lifestyle.  Some old ones are along the lines of "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps", "Never let them see you sweat", and "You can only rely on yourself."  Still today, you hear phrases like, "If you want the job done right, do it yourself."  In other words, the sentiment is still very strong out there.  You cannot rely on others, you should only rely on yourself.

A word that is often used to sum up this idea is "independent".  Independent means that you don't have to rely upon others.  You can do what you want, the way you want, in the time that you want.  This is contrasted with being dependent.  The idea of dependent is that you cannot do anything without relying on others.  To take it to extremes (which some do), it means that you are incapable of doing something without the assistance, direction, or motivation of others.  You are incapable of accomplishing it yourself.  To many, there is a very strong aversion to dependence. 

I've seen this aversion to dependence in a variety of ways over the years.  You get someone who is recovering from illness or surgery, and they have to rely on someone to tie their shoes, or help get dressed for example.  They almost seem embarrassed that they need such help, even if it is understandable, given their circumstances.  Yes, I recognize that this is a fairly benign example, but you get the idea.  We see it with parents whose children fail to leave home during or after college, where they are often viewed as dependent (with a negative connotation toward the idea).

The question we are asking today is this.  Is such dependence, while perhaps not normal for our culture, biblical?  Paul uses the image of the body, a multitude of parts that all rely upon one another, working in coordination.  Eyes do not function on their own, but as a part of the overall body.  The same is said for ears, the brain, the spine, the legs, the arms, etc. The body, as a whole, simply cannot have one part exist independently of the rest.

Yet, we also have examples from the Bible of the need to be a functioning part of the body.  Paul would also say that the worker is due his wages.  If someone refuses to work, then they should bear the consequences of such inaction.  This creates a tension.  We are to rely upon others, but at the same time, we are also to do the "work" given us to do.  We are dependent on one another as members of the body and as members of society, and yet, we are each also expected to fulfill the roles (work) that God gives us to do.  Because of our redemption in Jesus, we do this now out of love for neighbor rather than as a means of pleasing God, but the point is, we DO it.

I would dare assert that we spend much time trying to be overly independent.  That means there are times when we must give way to our independent instincts and allow others to serve us, just as we are also to serve them in their needs.  Yes, it means putting aside our pride and dying to ourselves, but those are held up as good things throughout God's Word to us.  Just as Jesus put aside His own needs to serve others, we do the same thing as redeemed, baptized children of God. 

As an end note, I realize that this is a fairly specific use of the word dependent that I am using for this post.  There are other uses of the word which I am not addressing in here where dependence is not a good thing.  But overall, what I most would like for you to take away from this is that we actually could stand to grow in our reliance upon others, seeking to put to death our self so that we are open to others serving us, just as we want to serve them and pray for them to be open to it when we see their need.

Book Review: The Vibrant Workplace

Book Title: The Vibrant Workplace, by Paul White

In many workplaces, employees may feel unappreciated by their bosses, their department, or the overall organization.  They feel as though they are not valued, as if they are replaceable, and much of this may be tied to a lack of appreciation shown toward them.

In The Vibrant Workplace, Paul White builds upon the 5 languages of appreciation (these build off of Gary Chapman's 5 Love Languages) to describe how a workplace can grow in appreciation for one another.  He describes how the lack of appreciation often leaves workers feeling unmotivated and undervalued, often simply putting in the minimal amount of work necessary.  Programmatic approaches to rewarding high achievers has not sufficiently demonstrated appreciation to workers, and in fact, often come across as impersonal, actually serving to deepen the problem.  In response, White offers an approach of genuine appreciation which serves to retain and motivate employees.

Utilizing research done in these areas, White also describes how to approach the different types of appreciation to which workers respond.  While some, such as physical contact, must be handled with caution, the point White primarily emphasizes is for management to realize that the expressions of appreciation must be genuine and fitting for each worker.  While the manager or boss may have his/her own manner of expressing appreciation, he/she must strive to discover how best to demonstrate that appreciation appropriately for each worker.

White also goes into some depth to emphasize the need to make such an approach something which is incorporated into the overall culture of the workplace.  Mere random acts of appreciation potentially  could be seen as lacking genuineness, and thus be more harmful.  Rather than changing everything about how appreciation is shown, the emphasis is instead placed on starting with one or two items and then making them more natural.  This applies not only to upper management, but to all workers, regardless of their station in the organization.  Anyone can begin showing genuine appreciation in appropriate ways and begin to change the culture of the workplace.

I highly recommend The Vibrant Workplace as a means to build up the workplace environment.  Regardless of your role in the organization, creating a starting point of building appreciation can only help a workplace that lacks genuine appreciation.