The Cat and the Toaster

Living System Ministry in a Technological Age

Hall, Hall

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781498277013
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Religión

Living system ministry is an approach to Christian ministry in the Western world that recognizes the differences between cats, the world God created, and toasters, the world we create using our technology and our capacities, limited as they are. The church is the Body of Christ, a living system. Neighborhoods, cities, and cultures, too, are complex and interrelated living social systems. Why, then, would we try to do God's work in a church or social system using tools and methods designed for non-living systems? We do it because our culture is very organizationally - and technologically - centered. We have grown accustomed to thinking of our social contexts not as living systems, but as things we can easily measure and control. Embracing both perspective and procedure, Living System Ministry is aboutdoing better ministry by seeing a better picture of what exists in the total system. Like farmers, rather than technicians, we learn to be involved in and to be "in tune with" what causes fruitfulness. We never cause fruit to happen. God does! But as our work becomes better aligned with what God is already doing in his complex, living-system environment, there is an explosion of life. We discover the fruit that remains.Writing from his forty-five years of experience as an urban ministry practitioner in Boston, Dr. Doug Hall introduces us to an approach to missions that recognizes the lead role of God's larger, living social systems as powerful engines for doing far more in our world than we can even begin to imagine.

Foreword

We live in a complex urban world. This complexity of our cities is a given reality that a novice or a veteran of urban ministry must confess. If the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is to make a significant and faithful impact in our cities, it will require Christians who “do the Bible in the city.”

This outstanding book by my amigos, Doug and Judy Hall, is unique on many fronts. But above all, it is the story of two “urban prophets” who have committed themselves humbly to “doing the Bible in the city.” Going beyond theoretical biblical knowledge, they have struggled to discern and align themselves and their ministry to the Word and Spirit in the city, its people, and its systems. They have generously shared with clarity and simplicity, even when unpacking complex matters, the wisdom gained from the Bible and through a lifetime of urban living and ministry.

The Cat and the Toaster is a distillation of long and, at times, painful learnings by the Halls. It challenges all of us to go beyond simplistic assumptions, thinking, and practices in urban ministry. It calls us to “do the Bible in the city” by correlating the rich teaching of Scripture with the discipline of systems thinking. To do this, Doug provides a creative biblical template and an ongoing insightful exposition of Jesus’ letter to the Laodiceans in Revelation chapter 3.

The contributions of this book to urban discipleship and ministry are many. Foremost, Doug puts systems thinking to sanctified use. You will learn from a sound biblical and theological perspective how the language and tools of systems thinking can strengthen your ability to discern and grasp complexity in city living and ministry. Doug shares many stories—not only his, but those of other folks who have walked the inner city streets with him. For the novice urban worker, this is an indispensable urban manual, helping one to understand and navigate the challenging road ahead. For the veteran systems actor, it is a new learning experience. At the very least, you’ll respond as Rev. Hurshel Langham did to Doug’s classroom teaching: “Doug, you gave me handles; places to hang all the stuff I already knew, but didn’t know that I knew.”

It is a profound honor to have been asked to write the foreword to this book. It is a book for which many of us have been waiting for many years. This is so not only for the promise of its coming, but more, for the wealth of insight and knowledge provided by this much-needed, “for such a time as this” book.

—Eldin Villafañe

Rev. Eldin Villafañe, PhD, is founding director of the Center for Urban Ministerial Education (CUME), the Boston campus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (1976–1990); and Professor of Christian Social Ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (1976–present).

Preface

Are You Ready for the Coming Revival?

A “Check” in My Spirit

The fact that I can easily be working against what God wants and not even know it haunts me every day. That fear is part of my DNA, and it keeps me spiritually alert and walking softly before God.1

One morning, thirty years ago, my wife and I wrote a check to a missionary we knew and loved. We were missionaries ourselves, but we wanted to give to God’s work. It was our tithe to the Lord at the time. We put it in an envelope, but before sealing it, we began to look through the mail that had just arrived. In the mail was a bill we did not anticipate and for which we really did not have the money. So I suggested to Judy, “Well, we haven’t sent that missionary check yet. Let’s hold off on sending that and pay this bill.”

After making the decision, I was surprised to feel some gnawing discomfort in my heart, so I thought I would pray. Praying was horrible! As I attempted to speak to God, I sensed God was very angry with me. And while I struggled with that, someone started knocking on our front door. There stood a good friend, an urban pastor who looked up at me and, while still outside my house, handed me some money. “Okay, Doug,” he said. “God told me to bring this over to you right away. Why?”

I was very embarrassed. It was humbling to tell him that it was because God was upset with me and was chastising me because of my little faith. Within twenty minutes, a woman showed up at our ministry center next door with another gift! I ended up with more than twice what we needed for our unexpected bill.

I was puzzled. What was the big deal? Why was God so unhappy with me, and why the miraculous intervention? “Why are you so upset about this, God?” I asked him. “This isn’t the worst thing I have ever done.”

Of course, God forgave me. But God was very upset. He disciplined me because what seemed to me like a very small decision, not to send the check to the missionary, was very imp...