Seminars and conferences

I'm a bit conferenced out at the moment. You see I spent Friday at a seminar, Saturday doing Child Protection training and the last two days at Holy Trinity Brompton at a Leadership event. It is the proverbial bus syndrome.

Friday was probably the best overall event, but that had a lot to do with the topic and the focused nature of the day. HTB' s conference was much broader, but no less valuable. The mornings were worth the time to attend by themselves.

Have I learnt anything? Well yes I have. Quite a lot actually, but it all needs processing and I just hope I get the time to do that. Okay, so I intend to make time to do that, honest I do! A good conference or seminar should inspire and I think I've been inspired.

I was wondering this morning if some of the things that we think should be our focus as church are in fact the by-product of where we ought to be focusing. For example, if we think that mission ought to be our focus, and why wouldn't we think that, might it be that mission is actually the result of focusing on say spiritual development? When I read Acts one thing strikes. Almost everything the early church did resulted in mission. And that included a church meeting!

So I wonder what really are the core things to which we should give our fullest attention? I have a few ideas but they need work.

Final thoughts on the seminar

Well maybe not the final thoughts, but nearly the last blog on the subject unless I get carried away.

We finished the day with a meditation which involved listening to someone read The Father's Love Letter. You might have come across this via an email from someone or a chance search on the internet. I was sent it quite some time ago. It's very nice. It's quite comforting. It's all Scripture. It's only half the story.

My problem is that whilst everything it contains is drawn from well-known verses and passages throughout the Bible, it is just that, a collection of nice, comforting thoughts. We're encouraged these days to think a lot about the Father who loves us. One of the artists at Spring Harvest this year described their ministry about helping people to see that God is head-over-heels in love with them. 

Hmm.

The thing is, where is the Father who disciplines his children in all this? Where is the Holy God who judges us, finds us wanting and then offers himself as the solution?

Therein lies my problem with some of what we talked about today. It's not a complete picture. To be fair, I'm not sure how you'd paint a complete picture in one day, but for me a little more theological reflection wouldn't have gone amiss.

I agree with the statement made today that the negative voices that tell us we're not good enough, we're useless, we're failures, do not come from God. But I'm not sure that turning them into comforting voices that praise our effort and tell us that our best is good enough is the whole answer.

Take David for example. When he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then arranged the murder of Uriah I suspect he felt pretty bad about himself. I'm guessing that he didn't feel connected to God, maybe even abandoned by him. The last thing David needed at that point was to turn to his inner voice and tell himself, "You're okay." Clearly he wasn't okay. He needed to deal with his sin in order to rebuild his self-esteem.

Then how about Moses? Was he suffering low self-esteem when he told God he couldn't possibly speak on his behalf  because of his speech problem? Maybe Moses was offering a realistic assessment of himself. Would God have used an articulate, confident Moses?

You see my point.

Low self-esteem is most definitely an issue with which many people, including many Christians,  struggle. But maybe the best solution is a healthy biblically based understanding of ourselves and of God's grace and mercy. Perhaps we need to engage more fully with the central doctrines of our faith in order to better understand these things.

It was interesting that when we were asked to think about various negative images of God as Father and choose the one that most reflects how we sometimes see him, I struggled to pick one. It wasn't because I don't have times when I feel abandoned or distant from him, it's just that as I thought about them I thought also about the theological understanding I carry with me that helps me address those feelings without having to think about how a positive parent might speak to me.

Overall the day did have real value for me as I reflected on the sources of low self-esteem and listened to the stories that some shared about their personal experiences. But I couldn't help feeling that something was missing and that something was about knowing God and knowing myself in God's eyes.

Self-Esteem Seminar

Halfway through the day looking at self-esteem and I'm struck by a number of things. Firstly, the theological framework of our understanding of self-esteem needs to be strengthened. It's very easy to get caught up in a framework that owes more to psychological interpretations than it does to a thorough Biblical understanding of self.

The second thing, which actually follows from the first, is the question of the place of sin in our self-understanding. Is it not possible that at times our self-esteem is rather dependent upon avoiding a sense of responsibility for our sin? Or maybe it's a case that if we have healthy self-esteem then we are better able to understand the nature of sin and what we are to do about it. In other words healthy self-esteem leads us to confession and contrition.

Thirdly it seems to me that self-esteem is about how we process what happens to us, rather than what actually happens. The good news that if we learn low self-esteem (or rather generate low self-esteem through the things we learn), through events and attitudes of others etc, then we can surely unlearn it as we embrace the truth of God's deep, compassionate and saving love for us.

Anyway, it's an interesting day so far, and there are many questions yet to answer.

Tools For Growth

No, not a review of gardening equipment but a one-day seminar about discipleship, mentoring and coaching. 

This was an overview of three techniques that can be used together or discreetly to help promote spiritual growth in the local church. Discipleship, mentoring and coaching were given specific definitions that may not align with how these terms are used generally in church and almost certainly not in other contexts. I say this partly because I've yet to come across a widely accepted definition of mentoring and coaching certainly means different things in different circles. 

The definitions we were provided with were:

Discipleship: An older believer who is committed to following Jesus helps another believer move forward in their growth on Christ.

Mentoring: someone more experienced in the faith imparts specific skills and knowledge of their faith to a less experienced person.

Coaching: someone facilitates another to take the action they require to produce desired growth.

After exploring some myths about spiritual growth we were presented with three vital steps for spiritual growth.

Step one: Develop a vision (a personal vision for one's own growth)

Step two: Decide that you want to change

Step three: Diarise regular spiritual practices

I thought that this really needed a fourth step which I suggested could be Determine measurable outcomes. Whilst I recognise that somethings are difficult to measure, I do feel that there are times when our failure at least to try to measure our growth leaves us assuming we are growing when in fact we might not be growing.

We did some work on a series of scenarios, looking at what approach we might take and how we might do things in a range of situations.

Overall it was a helpful day. The framework was useful as was some of the Biblical context. Reflecting a little on how Jesus did things and hearing the perspectives of others is always valuable.

Next up is a seminar about self-esteem and a leaders event.