Building Vision

A Constructivist-Developmental Approach to Spiritual Growth and Leadership

Gedeon

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9781498271349
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Western culture is changing. Postmodern exigencies are encroaching on all aspects of our lived experiences. With them, these exigencies bring tremendous pressures and challenges to Spiritual Leadership-challenges that must be met and overcome, lest this traditional institution render itself out-dated and outmoded. We are now confronted with the advent of an empowered, educated, and democratically geared population-an epistemological culture that is engaged in its own determination, that has information at its fingertips, that feels entitled to its own points of view, that passionately pursues its own development, and that wants to feel validated in all these pursuits. Postmodern Western society expects its Spiritual Leaders to be able to engage it at a level of depth that is sufficiently cogent to honor individual complexity, personal trajectory and evolution, philosophical differences, scientific relevance, empirical cogency, cultural sensitivity, religious background, emotional inheritance, and existential mystery. It is a sophisticated and elegant culture, steeped in autonomous entitlement and ready to easily discard that which it feels is no longer useful.In the face of such a stark and startling challenge, what can Spiritual Leaders do to keep up? How do we approach our work when so much is demanded of us? How do we conceive of our vocation in such as way as to avoid the slide into potential cultural 'obsolescence'?This book sets forth a framework of spiritual growth and spiritual leadership that addresses these very issues. In its pages, cherished traditional messages are interwoven with post-modern therapeutic and care-giving outlooks, resulting in a product that is a must read for Spiritual Leaders today. Spiritual Leadership must find a way to remain relevant, cogent, and integrated as it toils to disseminate its essential message of growth and transformation into this post-modern world. This book tells us how.

1

Epistemology

Substance: Science and Faith—A Full Act of Knowledge

At first blush, it appears as though the modern world was born of an anti-religious movement: humanity becoming self-sufficient and reason supplanting the supremacy of belief.1 In our generation, we are constantly bombarded by talk of the conflict between Science and Faith, between Creation and Empiricism, between the measurable and the mysterious. As the realm of Science found its grounding and began to prove itself as a leading force in the improvement of the human condition, it achieved ascendency, gaining strong epistemological currency throughout many of the most prominent cultures in the world. In fact, it began to appear as a foregone conclusion that Science was destined to take the place of Faith as the founding epistemology of human engagement. So intense is this struggle for the prestige of influence that cultural attitudes have begun to view Science and Faith as antonyms of one another. But, as the tension is prolonged, a resolution, in which one of these warring factions is discredited as nonsense and the other acclaimed as authoritative, has begun to fade as a viable possibility. There will never be a world in which the biases of any one of these two factions will find authoritative and accepted supremacy over the epistemology of the human race. I believe, therefore, that this conflict seems to demand a resolution in terms of an entirely different form of balance—not in elimination and duality, but rather in synergistic synthesis. The purpose of this section is to set out the founding epistemological framework through which I have approached my investigation of spiritual growth: the epistemology of synthesis between Science and Faith. It is only through this kind of phenomenology that I believe the inescapable Internal aspects of God’s Creation as well as the undeniable External aspects of the empirical Universe will be taken into account in elucidating spiritual formation.

So far as I understand it, the quarrel between Science and Faith depends not on an impossibility of integrating both types of knowledge into a coherent whole, but rather on the difficulty of the two schools in finding harmonious integration, and balanced dialogue. On the one hand, the Scientific orientation insists on talking about objects solely as empirically perceivable, quantitatively apprehendable, external actions and mechanistic relationships—as if humanity could somehow stand apart from its observations and propound a sort of purely objective account of phenomena. On the other hand, the Faith orientation is just as obstinately determined to introspectively stipulate that objects are nothing other than immanent workings of the Divine—as if empirical measurements, observations, and findings are somehow shallow, illusory, misleading, or even deceitful. Fueled by almost two centuries of struggle, neither side has effectively succeeded in discrediting its adversary. They fight in fundamentally different dimensions and as such are unable to answer each other’s queries. It is the fragmented and compartmentalized vision of these factions that leads me to invest my conviction in the realm of unity and synthesis.

In my opinion, a synthesis of the Science and Faith orientations results in the only viable act of knowing that is comprehensive enough to encompass the complexities of spiritual growth. The strength of this growth lies in its ability to address aspects of observation, investigation, and reason, while equally paying heed to the elements of inspiration, intuition, and belief. As such, the framework allows the faithful to inform the scientific and the scientific to inform the faithful—whereby each discipline is both a rich source of questions as well as a wise and penetrating source of answers to the complexities of our lived experiences. It is through this dialectical form of awareness, rather than through the traditional, dualistic form, that I believe humanity comes closer to apprehending a complete act of knowing. God has revealed Himself to humanity both through Creation (Science orientation) and through Scripture (Faith orientation). Just as an artist cannot create a work without infusing it with his unique creative imprint, so Creation could not exist devoid of the transcendental dimensions of Holiness. Thus, neither in its mission nor its achievements can Science go to its limits without becoming tinged in mysticism and charged with faith. For example, I am particularly struck by the many scientific accounts of the complexities and characteristics of DNA—the very building blocks of our genetic material. Throughout the literature dealing with this fascinating topic, narratives seem to move more and more from a discussion of base pairs, sugar-phosphate backbones, and ‘lock-and-key’ protein coding structures, to spiritual discussions of the staggering unity that infuses all living beings on Earth. As such, the scientific discussion of DNA very often leads to a grasping of a seminal, universal, and basic connectedness of all living things to other living things—regardless of species denotation, geographical localities, or temporal locations.

On the other side of the coin, just as a composer’s temperament is betrayed by the timbre, intensity, and force of his composition, so devotion could not exist devoid of insight into the complexity, beauty, and perfection of the observed world. After all, the basis of allegory, illustration, metaphor, beauty, and interconnectedness is rooted in the empirically known vagaries of Nature itself. Hence, neither in its drive nor in its inspiration can Faith go to its limits without finding root and revelation in the actuality of the empirical universe. As such, Science finds fulfillment in Faith just as Faith finds fulfillment in Science. The disciplines, when viewed in this light, are promoted to the status of integrated and confluent phases of knowing, rather than dueling and contradictory sources of information. But not only do these disciplines flow into one another, they also interlink seamlessly, to those who choose to perceive it, as two faces of a knowledge coin.

I believe that, in the realm of Science, humanity will only continue to evolve, to work, to research, to expand, so long as it is prompted by a passionate drive. This drive is entirely dependent on the conviction, ironically non-demonstrable by Science, that the universe has some form of order and reversible perfection (a quantifiable faultlessness that can be inverted, understood, and predicted with flawless accuracy. In fact, reproduceability is one of the founding tenets of the scientific method). Equally ironically, it is in the passionate pursuit of this perfection that humanity engages in the faith-filled and seminal concept of ‘progress’.2 In addition, we can scientifically envisage an almost indefinite improvement in the human organism and in human society. As soon as we conceive of this perfected vision, however, we come face to face with the notion that this putative perfection would speak to all humankind everywhere. For example, we do not speak of seminal scientific discoveries as benefiting human beings living in, say, India exclusively. Rather, we are always keenly aware that all forward movement in the empirical world has ramifications for and a concrete hand in the progression of all humanity, regardless of its local incarnation or preliminary reason for investigation. Interestingly, the perfected and progressive world that we find described in the works of many scientific leaders is a world meant to benefit and fulfill all of humanity. Nowhere in the works of these brilliant thinkers do we find an extensive anthropological study of the needs of human beings across several cultures and continents. Instead, the scientific culture presumes that its findings are seminal and welcomed by all human beings, everywhere.

According to Teilhard de Chardin, the source of this perceived universal harmony could be nothing else than a super-rational intuition within each of us.3 As such, can we truly say that scientific progress is somehow predicated on fundamental faith-filled tenets—those of universalism, connectedness, growth, and altruism? According to de Chardin, this is precisely the case. Therefore, from the scientific belief in reversible and empirical perfection, we arrive at the Faith-oriented belief in unity—conceived, intuited, but never measured. Furthermore, if we stipulate and reinforce the optimistic notions held within a framework of unity, we are pushed further along by the necessity of discovery—a necessity which fuels the impetus to push forward, to evolve, and to develop. Thus, it is my observation that as soon as Science outgrows its procedural and analytical investigations, it passes onto an epistemology of synthesis. This synthesis naturally culminates in the realization of some superior state of humanity, which in its very nature reintegrates and renews those very faithful forces against which it claims to be fighting. Therefore, I believe that Science and Faith are two conjugated phases and faces of one and the same complete and interlacing act of knowledge. This is the only act of knowledge that can embrace the past and the future of human evolution so as to contemplate, measure, and transcend both the observed and the believed. It is in the mutual reinforcement of the powers of Science and Faith, in the conjunction of reason and mysticism, that I believe the human spirit is destined to find the utmost degree of evolution, with the maximum thrust of its vital and holy force.

It is with eyes firmly fixed on the union of the External with the Internal, of the Scientific with the Faithful, that I proceed in the discussion of the complexities of spiritual growth from a constructivist-developmental viewpoint.

Essence: Story—A Full Act of Comprehension

Throughout the world of Biblical study, many distinct intellectual cultures have contributed their unique brand of information to the challenge of Scriptural interpretation: source analysts, redaction analysts, systematic theologians, linguistic scholars, historians, anthropologists, among many others. With all the various methodologies of approaching Scripture, it is no surprise that many readers of scholarly commentary find themselves confounded and confused by the complexity and intricacy presented in the interrelation of these different paths of study: an unfortunate happenstance. My approach will engage in a different yet emerging interpretational culture: the theology of narrative—an approach that, I believe, provides a much simpler, yet much more comprehensive apprehension of Biblical lessons and wisdom. In this section, I will outline my approach to the Biblical text, and delineate a narrative component that I consider to be paramount: story. But first, I must define what exactly I mean by a narrative approach to Scripture.

By ‘narrative’, I am referring to the body and form of the Biblical text as we now have it—in its complete form. It is the shape of this body, and the interrelations within it, to which I will appeal in my description of the Biblical roots of the constructivist-developmental framework. In other words, my approach to Scripture is to view the text as a completed whole, designed and guided by an over-arching intelligence, within which lies a thematic integrity. This integrity is rich enough to not only inform us of God’s revelation to humanity, but also to allow us a glimpse into the transformation and evolution of humanity itself. As such, in concert with David Clines, I will deliberately steer away from two pervasive elements in Biblical analysis: atomism and geneticism.4

As Clines states, the tendency toward atomism is amply revealed by the content found in the pages of the proverbial scholarly journal. We are no longer surprised by the existence of vast articles written to explain the meaning and origin of a single word found in a particular Scriptural passage.5 Nor are we amazed to encounter great scholarly energy devoted to the elucidation of the complexities of a minor detail within the Biblical narrative.

I recall several years ago, I engaged in a conversation with a colleague (I will call him Jason) about the nuances held within the complexities of Biblical Greek grammar. I remember sitting fascinated as Jason extolled for me a theory he had been researching over the course of the past few years. This theory involved the elucidation of a novel interpretation for the use of verbs in Biblical Greek. Jason was stipulating the wonders of viewing Greek tenses as aspectual rather than as temporal. As such, he believed that the present tense implied an immediacy and strong emphasis, whereas other verb tenses implied less dramatic emphases (for example, the past tense, he said, was used as the regular verb-of-choice in everyday discourse, and therefore held no special or particular emphasis beyond the lexical meaning of the word). He further intrigued me by translating certain verses he was working on using this new approach. On the page, he wrote the present-tense verbs in oversized, capital, red letters, the imperfect verbs in slightly less over-sized green letters, and the past-tense verbs, written in the same scale as the remainder of the text, in dark blue. He then asked me to read the verse raising or lowering my voice dramatically depending on the relative size and color of the words he had written down. I did so (ignoring the odd stares I received from the other patrons in the coffee shop), and to my extreme surprise, found that the verse did in fact change slightly in the presenting meaning and articulation. I was intrigued to hear more, and, in particular, to find out what this difference in grammatical emphasis meant for the greater Biblical message. Although he could walk me through the re-translation of many of my favorite verses using this new grammatical convention, Jason sadly and humbly admitted to me that he was unable to elucidate the overarching effect such an approach would have on the New Testament, as well as on ministerial approaches in general.

After this particular encounter, I was struck by a very sobering thought: although this stream of study can provide a unique insight into a fuller appreciation of the nuances and historical accuracy of particular texts as written, it leaves out what I believe (in agreement with Clines) to be a paramount aspect of Biblical interpretation: personal, significant, and repeated engagement with the text.6 It is not only through the challenge introduced by critics and scholarly insight, but also through the illumination effected by our personal experience, the need brought about by our personal struggles, the lacks branded into our beings by our inescapable fallenness, the hopes that crown our very dreams, that we come to co...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Section One — Vision: The Constructivist-Developmental Framework of Spiritual Growth
• Chapter 1: Epistemology
• Chapter 2: Defining Terms
• Chapter 3: The Theory of Growth
• Section Two — Seeing: Thought and Action in Spiritual Leadership
• Chapter 4: The Goals of Spiritual Leadership
• Chapter 5: Creating Environment
• Chapter 6: Creating a Proper Attitude
• Chapter 7: Constructivist-Developmental Practices
• Prologue Extended
• Bibliography