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OUR KINGDOM PURPOSE as KHBC FACULTY

OUR KINGDOM PURPOSE as KHBC FACULTY. The Gift of Teaching. Romans 12:2-13

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OUR KINGDOM PURPOSE as KHBC FACULTY

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  1. OUR KINGDOM PURPOSEasKHBC FACULTY

  2. The Gift of Teaching • Romans 12:2-13 • Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

  3. The Gift of Teaching • Ephesians 4:11-16 • It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work .

  4. What is our Kingdom Purpose? • We each have unique gifts within our own community • As a community, our faculty shares its gift with the larger Body of Christ • Task amongst ourselves and within the larger world • We nourish the Body of Christ by teaching those who will do the works of ministry

  5. HOW FOCUSED ARE WE? • Danger of a “False Disjunction” • Life of the Spirit vs. Life of the Mind • Teachers have a moral/spiritual duty to enrich the life of the mind • Indictment against evangelical schools • Enriched hearts while impoverishing heads • Given foothold to the enemy through sterility of intellect in the face of a complex world

  6. The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind • Claim: Evangelicals have “lost their minds” • The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind…there is not much attention to the discipline of thinking like a Christian—to think within a specifically Christian framework—across the whole spectrum of modern learning, including economics and political science, literary criticism and imaginative writing, historical inquiry and philosophical studies, linguistics and the history of science, social theory and the arts…. Failure to exercise the mind for Christ in these areas has become acute in the twentieth century. That failure is the scandal of the evangelical mind.”(Noll, pp. 3, 7)

  7. Why the doubt about the value of cultivating the life of the mind? • Intellectual life historically not viewed as an arena for glorifying God • Evidences: • Consistent false dichotomy between spiritualism and scholasticism • De-emphasis of intellect, scholarly studies, & secular liberal arts subjects • Lack of commitment to research, writing and publication • Anti-intellectualism bordering on hubris—discounting the value of prior wisdom • Modern missions consistently re-inventing the wheel apart from past theological contexts

  8. We Wesleyans Have a Unique Reclamation Role as Educators • Our purpose as faculty in the Wesleyan tradition: • To strive for holiness of heart & mind • To reintegrate pietism and intellectualism • To praise God with the mind by promoting intellectual integrity—character and quality of intellectual formation as well as spiritual formation

  9. We Wesleyans Have a Unique Reclamation Role as Educators • Our particular theology uniquely positions us to insure holistic Christian development • Fidelity to a Wesleyan soteriology of full salvation promotes radical conversion of the hand, the heart, and the head! • “Next to the Bible, logic is the most indispensable tool for the minister.” (J.W.) • Full salvation encompasses a re-formation of the mind as well as the heart • Rom 12:1-2; 2 Cor 3:18; Eph 4:23; Phil 2:5; 2 Cor 5:17

  10. AnalogousLocus Expression ViaHuman Nature Target forTransformation Human Condition for the Consequent Consequent (Yields / Fruit) Wesley’sJohannineAnalogy Hand (Outer life) ACTIONS What we doDOING Behavior (psychomotor realm) NATURAL RESOURCEcatechism / training Repentancein non-believer Salvation(Initial Sanctification) Outward compliance to inward convictions (J.W. “Even a newborn babe in Christ is so far perfect as not to commit willful sin.”) BabesinChrist Heart (Inner life) AFFECTIONS(ATTITUDES) Who we areBEING Attitudes / Intentions (emotive-affective realm) NATURAL RESOURCEEmulation-mentoring(Caught not taught) Confession&Consecrationin believer-disciple (J.W. referred to it as repentance in believers) Sanctification(Progressive and “Entire” or Heart Purity) Transforms & perfects intentions of will & desires of heartLove locus properly fixed on God yielding unadulterated love of God & neighbor & full obedience from pure heart through Christ’s Lordship by the indwelling of H.S. YoungMen Head (Core being) AMBITIONS(MOTIVES) Why we areBEING Reasoning / Disposition (intellectual-reasoning realm)Worldview / Noetic Structure NATURAL RESOURCECritical Reflective Encounter(Revealed not transferred)Transformational Enlightenment Renewing of the Mind Submission&Renewal in sanctified (Washing through the Word&Learning obediencethrough suffering) Full Salvation or Christian Perfection(Growing in Grace) Full congruity of intentions and actions through purification of conscious and unconscious motivesSanctification of why we do what we do through internal guidance/control of HS[Mind controlled by the Spirit, (Rom 8); Taking every thought captive to obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5)] Fathers

  11. Top-Down Conversionin God’s Salvation to the Uttermost Realm of the work of Salvation Appropriating Saving Grace ACTIONS(Behaviors) Realm of the work of Sanctification Appropriating Sanctifying Grace AFFECTIONS(Attitudes) Realm of thework ofChristian Perfection Appropriating Perfecting Grace AMBITIONS(motives)

  12. What is the Sum of Our Duty? To insure the complete work of God’s grace infully converting (the hand, heart and head) those whomwe send into the world as agents of God’s reconciliation. • What does that mean for the life of the mind at KHBC? • We cannot simply train students • We cannot simply turn inward on affective aspects of conversion • We must strive to inspire / provoke / challenge the foundational life of the mind – the realm of values, ambitions, motivations, and world-view

  13. How do we engender thelife of the mind at KHBC? • Overcoming destructive pedagogical templates of a high “Power Distance Index” • P.D.I. = The extent to which the less powerful members of institutions within a country expect that power is distributed unequally. (Hofsted) • High P.D.I. yields… • A trained incapacity to deal with real problems of actual living persons…(Wink) • Students have not learned how to think “Christianly” in their problem solving

  14. Specific Strategies to Engage • Promote critical-reflective thinking at every possible collegiate venue • Welcome students to experience enriching encounters with the broader community of the global church • Demonstrate depth of character which yields consistency in action flowing from steadfast values firmly anchored on solid biblical principles • Foster a culture and personal lifestyle that remains always sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit • Reinforce the equality of academic rigor with other spiritual disciplines in our conversations, examples, and budgeting of student time and assignments

  15. Unless we are willing to abandon our duty as Wesleyan Christian Educators, we cannot afford to… • Disregard or diminish our vision / purpose as an institution • A clear articulation of that purpose is our Mission statement: • The mission of KHBC is to advance the Kingdom of God and serve society through promotion of a Christocentric education within the Wesleyan tradition by integrating faith with scholarship and inspiring servant leaders. • Why have so many schools failed to sustain their vision & mission? • An adequate number of persons—board, administrators, faculty, and students—with a firm understanding of and commitment to the vision and ethos of each school’s sponsoring heritage was not available to either school or church at the necessary times to translate that heritage into the school’s life in a persuasive manner. Not enough committed and competent persons were present at crucial times to insist that the sponsoring heritage be publicly and fittingly relevant in all the facets of college life. That is the crux of the matter. (Benne, p. 19)

  16. Unless we are willing to abandon our duty as Wesleyan Christian Educators, we cannot afford to… • Divide our ambitions or put our own agendas / interests above God’s purpose for His Church through this school • Multiplied vulnerable lines exposed to the enemy of our mission • Division breeds in the morasses of institutional short-sightedness • Time to put behind us some attitudes and expressions

  17. Unless we are willing to abandon our duty as Wesleyan Christian Educators, we cannot afford to… • Ignore or depreciate external accountability to academic standards of quality and integrity • Cannot be holiness academicians and be careless in handling the life of the minds entrusted to us • Must be honest in our self-evaluation (Rom 12:3) • We must resist the temptation to self-justification,and welcome objective external authentication • Such demonstration of institutional character will affirm our academic integrity and the validity of our mission

  18. OUR KINGDOM PURPOSE asKHBC FACULTY TO NOURISH THE LIFE OF THE MIND… By insuring the complete work of God’s grace in fully converting (the hand, heart, and head) those whom we send into the world as agents of God’s reconciliation.

  19. Sources: • Benne, Robert. (2001). Quality with soul: How six premier colleges and universities keep faith with their religious traditions. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. • Hofstede, G.H. (1997). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill Book Company (UK) Limited. • Holmes, Arthur F. (1975). The idea of a Christian college. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. • Noll, Mark A. (1994). The scandal of the evangelical mind. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. • Wink, W. (1973). The Bible in human transformation. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press

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