Integrating Missionally

My previous two posts (here and here) looked at what many philosophers deem to be a special kind of knowledge, one which is the basis for the standard view of knowledge. It is called propositional knowledge. Here is a short recap.

Propositional knowledge requires three conditions. Propositional knowledge requires truth. You cannot know something unless it is true. It is never right to say, “He knows it but it is false!”. That lacks complete logic. You cannot know that George Jetson was the first man to step foot on the moon. The reason you cannot know that is because the facts indicate that Neil Armstrong was the first person to step foot on the moon. You know a proposition only if it is true. What we must now deal with is an understanding about what it is for something to be true. The simple and widely accepted answer to this is contained within the correspondence theory of truth.

Correspondence theories claim that true beliefs and true statements correspond to the actual state of affairs. This type of theory attempts to posit a relationship between thoughts or statements on the one hand, and things or facts on the other. It is a traditional model which goes back at least to some of the classical Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. This class of theories holds that the truth or the falsity of a representation is determined solely by how it relates to a reality; that is, by whether it accurately describes that reality.] Additionally, a “proposition is true if and only if it corresponds to the facts. A proposition is false if it fails to correspond to the facts.”

A second condition for propositional knowledge is belief. If you know something, you must believe it or accept it. Belief in this case is being used in a broad sense. Any time you take something to be true, you believe it. This includes hesitant acceptance as well as fully confident acceptance. If you do not even think something is true, then you do not know it. In addition, it must be stated that you can believe something without it being true, having the facts to support it. Propositional knowledge requires belief, but belief does not require truth.

Philosophers also say that a third condition for knowledge is justification for the belief. What justification amounts to is of considerable debate. Justification is something that comes in degrees, meaning that you can have more or less justification. In addition, you can be justified in believing something without actually believing it.

The modern church has adopted propositionalism as the basis for understanding truth and knowledge within the context of Christianity. The Bible is understood propositionally. Belief is understood propositionally.

In the context of Christianity, however, we must deem propositionalism desperately lacking. In fact, Christians cannot beholden our knowledge of God in a propositional manner. Here’s why. By definition, propositional knowledge must contain verifiable facts. Does the scripture have facts? Yes, indeed. It is a fact, propositionally, that David was a king in Judah. It is a fact, propositionally, that Solomon was a very wealthy king of Judah. It is a fact, propositionally, that Jesus lived and a fact, propositionally, that Jesus died. It is not a fact, propositionally however, that Jesus walked on water. Though I believe that He did, it is not provable or factual.

The basics of our faith are not factual, propositionally; they are beliefs. We cannot factually verify that Jesus walked on water. We cannot factually verify that it was an angel of death who killed all the first-born of Egypt in Exodus. We cannot factually verify many of the miracles of scripture. They are beliefs, not facts.

However, to equate truth as propositional means that we must deal with truth through the lens of an epistemologically propositional framework. To do so destroys our Faith.

Does that mean that there is no truth? No. Does that mean that there is not such a thing as absolute truth? No. I believe in truth and in absolute truth, which is found only in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Yet to define knowledge and truth through one particular framework means that we have to take the good and bad that framework brings. For a Christian, propositionalism cannot work.

The second implication for the church is that propositionalism potentially distorts the gospel. Belief in a propositional framework is used in a broad sense. Any time you take something to be true, you believe it. This includes hesitant acceptance as well as fully confident acceptance. In addition, it must be stated that you can believe something without it being true, having the facts to support it. Propositional knowledge requires belief, but belief does not require truth. To adopt the gospel with hesitant acceptance and equate that to the biblical definition of belief distorts what it means to believe in Jesus Christ. Belief in Christ is not an acceptance of facts It is a emotional, mental, and physical response to the calling of God upon a person’s life. If even the demons “believe” and are still bound to an eternity in Hell, then belief has to be more than acceptance of facts; it is a movement towards God as a response to God’s calling.

The framework that best exemplifies biblical truth and biblical salvation, then, is a relational framework. Salvation is a response to Jesus wooing us relationally. Truth, biblical truth, is found only in a relationship with Jesus and the revelation of the Spirit (I Cor 2:14). Therefore knowledge and truth are best described as relational, not propositional.

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The sixth principle from the Made to Stick is also the first principle that professional communication coach, Lynn Scarborough, says was part of Jesus’ communication style.  That principle is stories.  Stories work because they touch people on a number of levels. They tap into the emotions. They teach, inspire, correct and change people by touching the mind and the heart.  Stories stimulate a person’s senses and help people find themselves in the lives of others.  Stories also create a safe place for people, a place where no one can hurt a person.[1]

Stories are the foundation of the message.  Interaction is what attracts people to the message. Interaction “is like a baited hook.  It attracts attention, engages, ‘hooks’ and draws people into the message that is being communicated…Great interaction is like ‘word salt’ because it flavors information and makes it taste more palatable and more memorable.”[2] Jesus used questions and props to interact and teach.

Jesus also made use of multi-track communication. Communication is not simply a matter of the mind and the will, but “an intrinsic convergence of everything we are.  It is made up of what we do, what we say, what we sing, how we feel, what we desire, what we hope and what we dream”.[3]  There are five levels of multi-track communication: physical, emotional, intellectual, intuitive and spiritual. Jesus used multi-track communication to “expand his communication impact and make it more memorable”.[4]

Jesus was also prepared.  Master communicators understand that preparation is the key to successful communication. But it is not simply the preparation of the message. It also includes the preparation of the person.  Communicating effectively requires preparation in many different areas, including physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.  Jesus prepared his whole life for three short years of ministry.  He also prepared others to lead at his departure.  It was his “preparation and discipline” that “established the platform from which he launched history’s most transformational marketing campaign.”[5]

The fifth characteristic of Jesus’ communication is love. Love is the heart and soul of communication.  It is communication’s core.  “Master Communicators help us discover love because they help us discover ourselves.  They hold up a mirror of truth to our lives and help us to see the truth of our hearts.”[6]  Because Jesus was love, he taught, spoke, modeled and lived love and that made his communication life-giving.[7]

The final technique or characteristic of Jesus’ communication, according to Scarborough, is execution. She states, “[e]xecution is critical.  It requires energy, precision, commitment, and accurate focus.  Jesus reached his goals because he executed and hit the target whenever he communicated.  His examples were clear, his questions concise, and his responses precise.  He never let others pull him off track with their personal agendas and schedules.”[8]

NOTES:

[1] Lynn Wilford Scarborough, Talk Like Jesus (Beverly Hills, CA: Phoenix Books, 2007), 74-75.

[2] Ibid, 95.

[3] Ibid, 119.

[4] Ibid, 117.

[5] Ibid, 139.

[6] Ibid, 164.

[7] Ibid, 163.

[8] Ibid, 185.

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Within culture, people are devoting less and less time to community events, relationships and church gatherings.  Ministers in many settings have only the Sunday morning gathering to create an environment for the timeless truth of God to be made real in the life of a person.  Despite the reality that it is ultimately the responsibility of the Spirit to bring change in the life of a person, churches need to develop worship gatherings where the environment is effectively designed for the transmission of the life-changing message of the Cross.  Doing so requires an understanding of how the mind processes information and how to design environments for communication.

The majority of texts on preaching deal more with structure and form in preparation and delivery of the sermon rather than teaching future preachers communication theory as well as helping them understand how meaning, reality, and language are developed and interpreted.[1]  The course of action within many seminaries is to teach the construction of sermons, not to communicate with the group they are addressing.  “We are teaching people how to put together sermons, not to communicate,” noted one professor of preaching.[2]

As less and less time is given by people to the gathering of the church and the communication of the Word of God, more and more emphasis needs to be given to the act of communication itself.  Communicators need to understand how a person constructs reality, understanding language and how those are important to the change process.   Preaching and communicating in a church or worship setting in not simply a matter of a stylistic or formulaic development of a talk, but integrating the message of God to a specific group of people who understand and see life and reality in specific ways.  Communication thus requires understanding the context so that not only does communication take place, but when it does that it does not inhibit or deter the work of the Spirit in addressing behavioral issues which need to be changed.

The master communicator in all of history is a part of the Godhead himself, namely Jesus Christ.  If he was the master communicator, and the creator and sustainer of all things[3], then a reasonable understanding of his communication practices should also be addressed.  His words and communication elements, intersected with the power of the Holy Spirit, have brought about the transformation of the masses.

Combining and understanding of all of these will allow the communicator to make the best use of his time to communicate in a meaningful way and create an environment where the Spirit can integrate the message from the messenger and the timeless truth of the Gospel to see behavioral change in the lives of people.

Notes:

[1] This is an observation based on a perusal of more than thirty texts on preaching from my own library.

[2] Email conversation with Dr. Argile Smith, then Professor of Preaching at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2001.

[3] See Colossians 1:15-20.

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Fear.

The opposite of Love is not hate. The opposite of love is fear. What does scripture say? Perfect love casts out:

Hate?
Pain?
Anger?
Fluffy the vampire bat?

No, perfect love casts out fear.

Fear is the base emotion. One of the brain structures that is primary to our life is the amygdala. It is the section of the brain that deals with emotions. This brain structure receives important sensory and environmental information first so that the brain can prepare the body for fight or flight behaviors if necessary. It is a base structure. The base emotion that triggers our fight or flight reaction is fear. And primarily, it is the fear of the unknown. If you are camping in the woods and hear a branch snap, your body reacts by freezing, as if you are dead. That happens because of fear… fear of the unknown. Fear causes that physical reaction.

However, fear’s bark is bigger than its bite. At least in most cases. A shotgun pointed to your face by a serial killer is not one of those cases. However, most of our fears are not that dramatic. Most of our fears center around change, or what could happen in a particular situation. For instance, we may be afraid to ask for a raise because we are afraid that if we do, instead of getting the raise our employer may actually fire us. A person may be afraid to go down a water slide because part of it is enclosed. Whether it is claustrophobia or fear of the dark or fear that the slide will fall, some people cannot get past this fear. We may say those are irrational fears, but in the mind of the person, they are very real.

Fears hold a great deal of power because we are primarily emotional beings. When there is fear, a primary emotion, then our behavior will reflect that fear.

This is why I think fear is the primary driver of maladjusted behavior. It all goes back to fear. When there is fear, the body will do something to compensate for that fear. It will either fight or run. Examples of fighting include lashing out verbally or physically attacking some person or some thing. Examples of running (or flight) include ignoring someone or self-medicating through food or drugs.

The biblcial prescription for this is love, primarily perfect love. Perfect love only comes from Jesus. Perfect love removes all fear. It creates a perfect place of safety. When the disciples and Jesus were crossing over the Galilean Sea, a storm arose. The disciples were afraid. Jesus was asleep. When they woke Jesus up, he immediately calmed the sea by saying, “Peace, be still”. The sea was immediately calm. Jesus had been able to sleep through this because he knew the perfect love of the Father. He was safe. It was that same love that was able to calm the sea and eliminate the fear of the disciples. He brought peace to the raging sea and the fear of the disciples.

When we know the perfect love of the Savior, we have no fear. We are fear-less. However, this takes time and relationship. It is only through God going all Job on us from time to time and having him provide exactly the way He promises that we are able to see our fear transformed by His love. We truly begin to trust God and that trust creates that safe place for us.

Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the absence of fear.

Thanks, Todd Littleton for the discussion this morning on this topic

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My Jesus

Bothered
not by man’s anxiety
but by his brokenness

Passionate
not letting his emotions drive him
but still loving us with all his heart

Human
not only was his body exhausted
but he wanted us to identify with him.

That is my Jesus.

Holy
true that sin did not taint him
but he still muddied his hands with mine

Divine
true that he was God
but he stooped to man’s level

Light
the one who created light is the light
but calls us to let ours shine

That is my Jesus

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