scratching the itches of MY soul

Those who have set under my teaching have heard me frequently express intrinsic motivation with this phrase about the itches of our soul. Human psychology associates intrinsic motivation with directing our personal attentional resources towards behavior that rewards us internally through enjoyment, purpose, and meaningfulness. I believe that intrinsic motivation is the basis by which we play out what God has put in us. In my scholarly and Biblical study I believe that our calling is primarily driven by these internal motivation factors more so than talent, skills and giftedness because these direct our effort, abilities do not. Paul would say he was compelled to go here or do that or say this. Compel is the force of intrinsic motivation. Many have heard me say that the South Alabama meaning of compel is "can't not do it."

I am currently being overwhelmed with the calling to take a message to those who have ears to hear. In my soul I feel I am at a pinnacle of understanding a few key insights that can transform people's lives. In my university teaching, my small group discussions, and teaching Bible study, a clear message has emerged that has impacted people's spiritual walk in very tangible positive ways.

This message is basically this :
 Christians spend much of their study acquiring more knowledge, but knowledge alone has little motivational power. Its when we discover truths that can be applied to our psychology to think, feel, and choose differently that we are truly transformed. One of the ideas we learn from Scripture is that we have a carnal mind (old man) that represents our thoughts, feelings and choices influenced by our flesh or our human nature. We also have a Kingdom mind (new man) that is given to us by God as we become His adopted child. Our dilemma is that as we grow in our head knowledge of grace, we are influenced by our nature more than we know because we know very little about it except that it is at enmity with God and it is so natural to us.
For example, two of the theories of human behavior that explain how our nature works are Social Exchange Theory and Equity Theory. Social Exchange Theory states that the force that holds relationships together is the value that passes between them. Basically, we give to get and we are obligated to return when we receive. If we apply this natural way to make sense of our relationship with God we become legalistic and CANNOT make sense of our self and the world around is through the lenses of Grace, and thus fail to fully realize the privileges and provisions of the Kingdom of Heaven. This has nothing to do with our salvation but has everything to do with the quality of our Christian walk and testimony. Its what would make us different from the world. I believe that Social Exchange is so subtle and so natural that it provides a competing belief system to the Gospel of Grace and wars against our Spirit in a stealth way. Once we grasp this nature in a conscious way, we gain a freedom to make sense of things through grace and we experience more joy, hope, and significance. 
In a similar way Equity Theory is our nature to demand fairness. This is ever present in our sense making and its so natural that we give it the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval and never question it as being carnally minded. The futility of sensing we fail God and do not deserve His favor robs us of the joy and freedom of Grace and leaves us frustrated in our guilt. Gaining an understanding of these natural forces at work in our sense-making, of which we really are unaware, renews our mind to be informed by grace, which is the opposite of Social Exchange and Equity judgments. 

I feel so compelled to engage people with this message. I know I need to establish mechanisms to do this. Obviously there is much more to this message than what I could share here so I know I need to write a book on the contrasting models of carnal and Kingdom minds in sense-making. I need to deliver workshops to people everywhere I can. I know I need to coach individuals one on one who desire special support to applying the basics of this message. I need a website and other structural aspects of a ministry. I know this whole endeavor is risky from a human point of view. I don't know if anyone will publish or buy the book or whether anyone will attend a workshop or desire coaching, but i know that in my 4th quarter of life, I must do this. Dudley Hall once defined passion as "that which propels us through obstacles as if they were not there in the quest for the object of our love." Passion is intrinsic motivation on steroids!! Passion is the heart and soul of calling. This is my calling and so I am compelled - the real risk is NOT doing this :-)

"weak and worthless elementary principles of this world"

I have definitely entered the fourth quarter of life and feel compelled to be the most strategic that i can be. I have raised kids, been a business professional, and engaged bible study for much of my life. In the more recent years I took the path of academia to develop a more disciplined way to think about human behavior and to teach it to college students. I believe I am at the pinnacle of my life's journey in understanding the tension involved in being in this world but not of the world.

I have seen evidence all along life's journey that what God has put in me has power to transform lives. I find I am more capable and passionate to help others move beyond the "weak and worthless elementary principles of this world" (Galatians 4: 9) to a life model that is strategic and nourishes the soul's well-being. To be faithful to my calling I have found closure to my full time faculty position that was extremely rewarding and productive to develop a full time ministry that broadens the network of people's lives I can intersect with the message God has given me to profess.

In the months ahead I will provide details of the form this ministry will take. I do know the theme will be applying the Kingdom mind to make sense of personal and professional headwinds through teaching and coaching. Making sense of our life and the world around us through the lenses of Grace rather than our human nature (social exchange and obsession with justice) is transformational. More over, a transformed life is the greatest witness of the hope that is in us.

Everyday I think about the bondage that people live in because they are slaves of "the weak and worthless elementary principles of this world." Most of my life has prepared me for this moment. I have done some things right and I have made many mistakes. God has redeemed all of this to bring me to the fourth quarter.

If you have enjoyed and been blessed by my blogs, I think you'll find the next step to be quite exciting. Stay tuned - more to follow :-)

"Grace Unplugged"

I saw this movie tonight and cried most of the way through it. This movie touched the deepest chords of my heart. The story line is of a girl named Grace who was raised by a former pop artist with a big hit as a young man. He rejected pop culture and turned pastor of music as Jesus invaded his life and changed his motives. He had a daughter who was raised singing with him as praise leaders at their local church.

As she reached 18 she began to want to sing and use music to fit her dream. However, dad "knew what was best for her" and so instead of nurturing her dream and how God might be playing Him self out in her life he put her in a box and focused on conforming her to his image. This well intended but destructive behavior of dad drove her away and put her in danger. His actions did not support her, but rather protected him. I see this everywhere around me, especially in legalistic, moralistic graceless Christian dads.

While Grace was "unplugged" to grace, she was plugged into rebellion to pursue her dream and thus subject to a world who wished to exploit her for their own benefit. She was drifting and subject to deceptive influences. Being unplugged to grace Grace lacked the transforming power of grace not provided her by her dad  . When dad finally "plugged" into Grace's life by trusting God for Grace's protection and development, Grace was transformed into God's desire for her. Ironically, God put a Christian young man into Grace's life to guide and protect her. Dad had no way of knowing how God was going to work in Grace's life, he just needed to let go of his own control and believe God loved Grace more than he did and would provide what she needed.

This contrast between a dad's destructive need to conform his daughter into his image and unleashing God's grace into her life tears at my soul. I see way too many young women set back for years by dad's controlling influences that work against God's design on his daughter. My heart weeps as I see young women struggling to break away and having to seek rebellion, and loneliness which leaves them empty of a father's love and distracts them from the power of The Father's love.

My heart is still shaking from grace I see "unplugged" in daughters ....

The Institutional Imperative

Warren Buffet has been acclaimed for his characteristic of the organizational phenomenon that seeks legitimacy and resists changes by mimicking normative practices of their industry. This behavior is basically an inertial resistance by organizations to any change to its current direction. This is not new to Buffet in that economist Adam Smith predicted in 1776 such constraints in organizations as managers became caretakers of organizations. In the 1950's March & Simon described rational decision making as a logic of legitimacy more than a logic of consequences. What this means in organizations is that existing practices get perpetuated not because they are the best path but because they are the established path.

The institutional imperative is not limited to commercial organizations. I find the church to be just as subject to these inertial influences. As many of you know I have been frustrated by how the church teaching has perpetuated the concept of "the process of sanctification." Theologians have declared sanctification has two meanings, definitive and progressive. Because this has been declared and accepted by mainstream theologians, preachers regularly preach sanctification in both ways, with more emphasis on the "progressive" and completely resisting any challenge to it.

I have argued that the definitive form is the only form supported both by the definition of the word sanctification and God's ordinances as expressed in Scripture. The word sanctification literally means "set apart." In Scripture this refers to God's work in and through us to set us apart for His purposes (I Thess 5:23; Hebrews 13:12; I Corinthians 1:2). John Frame labeled this definitive sanctification. However, others like Wayne Grudem have added to this a notion of progressive sanctification, that is a continual work of GOD and MAN that is an incremental spiritual work of both.

I do not find any evidence in the meaning of the word or biblical use of the word to suggest it is collaborative in any way. I Thess 4:3 has been used to support our role in sanctification. However, this implies more to our reaction to our sanctification, not our part in it. The INERTIA to make the Christian life more collaborative than God's ordinances set forth leads to a stubborn embrace of this dual notion of sanctification. Thus, the logic of legitimacy has trumped the logic of consequences. The defense of the legitimacy of these two tenets of sanctification lacks thorough examination. I am generally dismissed and simply told by preachers (and others) the difference between definitive and progressive is a nuance, not substantive.

I think this "blinds eye" to the consequences in favor of legitimacy is substantive. Collaborative meaning to any of God's sovereign acts breeds legalism and ultimately guilt and judgmentalism. To suggest that being made holy is a collaborative work of God and man places an inappropriate role on us and diminishes the power of God's Grace. While "growing in Christ" may in fact represent a legitimate experience as Christians, it is not the incremental progressive work of sanctification, it is mainly living by faith in the sanctification we already have. When God sanctifies us, we are His. It is a finished work. He doesn't need us to help Him complete it. It is not incremental. To think its collaborative and progressive exalts us.

"Growing in sanctification" implies we don't have it all yet. I don't get more sanctified by trusting in Jesus? Do I? Just like salvation and justification, I would prefer to say "growing IN OUR sanctification" which implies that we are exercising something we already have (Philippians 2:12b). I think it frustrates Christians to believe God hasn't given us all we need and we must work with Him or do something to get more of it. God's ordinances clearly sets forth that He has justified and sanctified us in His redemptive work of salvation. Our issue is not getting more sanctified but appropriating by faith sanctification we already have.

The reluctance of even reformed preachers to challenge Grudem's collaborative extension to the meaning of sanctification is an institutional imperative based on inertia of man's need to do something to make himself Holy. The consequences are much more than a nuance. The notion of "progressive sanctification" constrains the freedom and the joy of our calling to play out what God has put in us.

So, is preaching the "process of sanctification" an institutional imperative? I have yet to be given an explanation of why its not. IDK

Affectionately Yours,
The Word Nerd

Ay yi yi ......

where does evil get its power?

"be vigilant, be sober, because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour"     I Peter 5:8

"the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, I come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly"   John 10:10

Where does evil get its power? We see that the objective of evil is to destroy, to kill "life" (zoe, God's life) and evil "roams around seeking whom it may devour".  We know that for the unbeliever, evil is eternal separation from God (Hell). But for the believer, the consequences of evil are not death (eternal separation from God) but rather impotence. The power evil has over believers is to constrain their light and to steal their joy, to put them in a box where Christ stays private. This happens through shame, guilt, fear, pride, etc. of the believer. This gives evil its power.

Why does the believer feel these emotions that constrain their joy and make them hide their light under a basket? Well, I think it generally comes from our desire to please others, to be respected and liked by our peers. But its more than that. There are two sides to the equation.

While our nature is to seek our well being from the world around us and not the glory God has given us through Jesus, our reaction to our own transgressions feeds destruction of our pride resulting in our fear, shame, blame, and guilt. However, if those who witness our transgression responded to us in Grace, we the transgressor may be spared the consequences of Satan's desires, and thus not have the light in us extinguished. There's a case to be made that evil has no power unless the persons witnessing the transgression choose to give evil attention and react in judgment and gossip, not Grace.

I for one have made many mistakes, some significant ones even recently. As I pondered the shame and guilt from my actions, I realized that while I really offended God and should know better, my desire to withdraw and hide is mainly influenced by fearing the condemnation of others, not God. The thought occurred to me that if my friends never embellish evil's design on me, if they simply ignore what Satan has orchestrated and respond in unconditional love as God does, then "death and destruction" doesn't occur. The power evil has to shut me down and to steal  my joy may be as sourced in my brothers and sisters mistakes in how they respond to my mistake than in my mistake itself. This is not intended to be a deflection away from consequences of my own action, but a broader look from God's perspective of what is really happening.

In some ways a condemning response to another's transgression may be more destructive than the original mistake itself. While not excusing or rationalizing our sin, may God really be equally concerned by our giving evil its power when we respond to others in judgment rather than Grace?? Can we really take the sting out of evil and make it impotent instead by extending the Grace we have been blessed with to others as each of us in our own way fail in our actions.

certainly worth pondering .....

Will the real xxxxx please stand up?

What are we really like? What we think? How others perceive us? Is there a reality of self that both miss? Self-perception is an interesting phenomenon. Sometimes we see ourselves as we wish we were, or as we fear we are, or as others convince us we are. The degree we deceive ourselves about ourselves is the degree we fail to receive feedback from others about us. Its true that some feedback, if not all, is contaminated by the biases of the source of the feedback. The motive of the feedback source can reduce credibility of the message others have for us about our self. Yet information from others about us is necessary to challenge the tendencies we have to see our self as we want to and not as we really are.

In my organizational behavior class i require students to provide me with a write-up of their reflections on each chapter they read. I am currently reading the first write-ups form this semester's class. The chapter includes the topic of personality and how it informs behavior. Students had opportunity to take a personality survey on them selves to further grasp the topic of personality.

Here is one student's reflections: "The results show I have a distinctive preference for judging.... I see myself as not very judgmental... I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt."  The student then proceeds to slam "personality tests." She writes "I do not believe this is an accurate way of assessing one's personality... people perceive each other differently and a test cannot determine a universal way of knowing.... the model isn't a sure fire way of assessing who a person really is...I see myself differently than this test has scored me.... I believe I have a great personality.. the personality test I have taken would not agree.. its all how one perceives it (personality)."  REALLY???

I found this so interesting. Personality is merely the tendency to behave a certain way. There is no right or wrong personality. Depending on the desired behavior, some are more likely to produce the behavior than others.

This student announces the "test" pegged her incorrectly ( based on her own self-perception) but then spends the rest of her write-up (behavior) displaying her judgmentalism by condemning personality tests. I don't think I have ever witnessed a more blatant example of how one's behavior totally contradicts one's self-perception. So, what is this student really like - what she thinks or what some objective feedback suggests?

Duh!!!!!

Genesis - and not the one from Hyundi

There's growing hype on Hyundi's new luxury car Genesis, especially where I live - someone is getting a new one for the first time almost monthly. When I bought mine I wondered why they picked that name. What could Hyundi be trying to communicate to car buyers with this name. For most of history Genesis has been associated with the first book of the Bible. I looked up genesis in 1828 Webster's dictionary, the first dictionary published in USA and the one I used in college (jk). The first reference of meaning was that Genesis is the first book of the Bible. I had always thought genesis primarily meant "the beginning". However, the only other reference to meaning of genesis in 1828 was an application in geometry, "the formation of a line, plane or solid by the motion or flux of a point, line or surface."

Here we see that in part genesis reflects the notion of beginning but more importantly denotes the act of formation. Formation is a bit more substantive than just the beginning because formation denotes source and intent, not just beginning. I guess buying a Hyundi Genesis represents not just a new beginning but the formation of a new driving experience desired by the engineers at Hyundi.

In the Bible Genesis then is not just the beginning of God's story but the formation of history as God desires it to be. The creation is God's original intent, His ordinances prior to sin, the fall of mankind. In the creation story we see God gives us His intent in at least 3 areas - work, worship, and relationship. The Fall of man contaminates these three areas of our life and the Cross redeems them back to the original design or genesis of life.

The creation account in Scripture has often been the central component of the scientific perspective of the origin of the universe. Does one day really mean 24 hours? How does theory of evolution contradict Genesis 1? However, references in the rest of Scripture doesn't seem to worry itself about these questions but rather we find the essence of the creation account - God sovereignly did it and it was good - as the basis for worship and pastoral endeavors. In other words the intent of Genesis 1 and 2 is not to answer the scientific debate on origin of universe but to establish the formational intent of life as one established by God for His purposes according to His ordinances. Its man who has attempted to imagine life as intended and sourced by other means, for other purposes, and with other ordinances.

Tim Keller once said unless "your God can outrage you and make you struggle will you know that you worship the real God and not a figment of your imagination." Those who reject Genesis (God's formational intent of life) have done so because their own imagination provides a comfort to them and does not challenge the notion that man alone is sufficient to deliver the soul's well being.

If our faith does not cause us to struggle against our carnal mindedness, then our imagination provides for us comfort in the illusion that we are the sovereign one ...........