Trainingless churches pool ignorance. Pt 2

If you missed Part One of this discussion, you can find it here.

The general synopsis. I have noticed a serious issue that pervades churches. Police, fire, military, and other public service organizations fully understand the need to constantly train to adapt and change with the rest of the world. While churches have done a wonderful job training ministers to produce wonderful shows every Sunday morning with advanced media, powerful music, and thought provoking speeches, there is a segment of church responsibility that is being overlooked. That segment is a method of sharing the gospel. I do not believe the solution to be something like a "5 steps to salvation." No, the solution must be multi-faceted, complex, and adaptable. While I did not label this issue in Part One, I have decided to call this the Molly Problem, in honor the video that piqued my interest in this issue.

Now that we're all on the same page, I do not want this blog posting to be a church-bashing. My last post was related to the issues. This post should be about solutions.

My wife is a black belt. She may, in fact, be a second degree black belt sometime during the spring. It has taken a long time for her to reach this point. While the work in obtaining a black belt was difficult, it pales in comparison to the responsibility once someone obtains a black belt status. When my wife tested for her black belt, there were others that were obtaining that achievement at the same time. I noticed a significant difference between some black belts. Some believed the black belt to be the highest honor and achievement in martial arts. Others, however, believe the black belt to be the highest responsibility related to martial arts. What's the difference? The first group believes that their achievement is completed and the job is finished, while the second group believes that their journey as martial artists has only just begun. My wife will tell you that one of the greatest honors she has as a black belt student is that she now has a responsibility to share that honor with others. She now gets to teach students of all ages and rankings. Not only is she a great martial artist, but she is also a great teacher. That is the difference between a black belt status and a black belt martial artist. My wife is a black belt martial artist.



I believe Christians have the same responsibility. Martial Arts is a journey. Along with that journey, there responsibilities bestowed upon the students. To me, becoming a Christian through baptism comes with a wonderful responsibility. The honor in being a Christian is not merely that we gain entry to the Kingdom. Furthermore, the honor is not just that we have everlasting life. Those are great honors in and of themselves, yet one of the greatest honors in becoming a Christian is undertaking the responsibility of sharing in the story of Christ and assisting others in that journey.

What do I mean by responsibility of sharing in the story? Don't we hire ministers and missionaries for that? You tell me...
Matthew 28
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

I don't know about what you read into that, but I have yet to find the verse that says church-goers have less responsibility to share the story of the Gospel than the paid ministers.

What does this have to do with the issue of pooling ignorance and assuring that we no longer have the Molly Problem creep up within our congregations? I believe that when we become Christians, the journey has not ended. Instead, it is now our responsibility to share the Gospel. In order to be able to share the gospel, we must know the gospel. The key is training. It takes mentors of all ages sharing together about their experiences in sharing the gospel. There are so many resources out there that involve sharing the story of our sovereign God and his slain Son. Why do our churches fail to train the membership?

In fire service (and other industries), there is a system called "train the trainer." The concept is that if those teaching fire ground operations are not properly train, it is just a great big pool of ignorance being taught through generations of firefighters. However, if the training officers of a fire organization have advanced knowledge of fire ground operations as well as advanced knowledge on how to teach/train on these operations, then the trainees will leave the classroom/training field better equipped to adapt and overcome in their own environments.

While churches historically have lumped all evangelistic training into five simple steps, that is neither biblical nor appropriate in this culture. The answer is to train the trainers. We need to go back, as a people of God, and assist each other in living out the responsibility, the honor, bestowed upon all of us to share in this wonderful story of Jesus who is the Christ.

Just as fire service training captains and black belt martial artists are expected to continue learning and developing their craft, we should be developing our knowledge on the story of the creator God and his Son, the Messiah. Furthermore, just as fire service training captains and black belt martial artists are expected to pay that knowledge forward, we should be sharing what we have learned about Christ with those around us.

The way I see it, that is the solution to the Molly Problem.

Discussion:
1) Is my solution too simple? Have I missed the boat somehow? Tell me how! Let's learn together.
2) How does a church train the trainer? Or, in some cases, how does a church re-train the trainer?

Trainingless churches pool ignorance. Pt 1

If one were to ask me what it takes to be successful in fire service, my number one answer is training. Whether you are a salesman, career fire fighter, executive officer, or a volunteer, change in this world is inevitable; training is the key to keep up with this change.
Sometimes training goes well...
Sometimes, well, you get the picture...

As a salesman, I am often blessed to see new developments in fire service equipment that can better the methods for those on the front lines. I often get to train on these pieces of equipment and show departments how training to use this equipment can better their operations as a whole.

Take the Eclipse thermal imager, for instance. This little pocket-sized imager is now cheap enough for most departments to afford and is even being adopted by larger cities so that more firefighters on the fire field have the life-saving device in their hands. Not only is size and price a benefit, it also is capable of software upgrades via the web, giving fire departments the ability to change with future updates. This is a piece of equipment poised to change thermal imaging operations.

In the case of firefighters, training is a necessity for their safety. As a firefighter, I am a proponent of aggressive training protocols to keep fire departments ready to adapt to challenges in protecting a community. For career departments, it can be as simple as what some shift departments do, which is devote 2 hours per shift to some form of training. For volunteer departments, it should probably be at least 6-10 hours a month (e.g.- two weekly meetings per month devoted to training.) Of course, we would all love to show up at the fire, be a hero, and go home to our families without danger and without the need for training... but that is a reality only in Hollywood depictions of fire service.

The problem with training is that it is all theoretical. Sure, there are some math equations in advance pump operations and hydraulics, but most of training is an exercise in being prepared for the unexpected. That is a poor argument some people use against training, but I say it is just a challenge that must be overcome. The training should not be a list of rigid rules with no flexibility. Instead, training should include flexibility, sharing potential downfalls to each tactic and offering alternatives. The key to good training is preparing for adaptability.

So, it is obvious that fire service needs training, but what about in families? I answer this question with a resounding yes! Though Tish and I have not yet been blessed with children, many families have shared with us that "teachable moments" are the key to raising disciplined, well-behaved children (in other words, using day to day activities to share with children about life lessons.) In addition to parenting, married couples must take time to grow and learn together, constantly seeking to understand their partners more. The result: families that communicate, love each other, and genuinely take care of each other.

If training works in fire service, and it works in families, what about in churches? I came across this question recently when viewing a YouTube account of a teenager trying to share the story of Christ to a Hindu friend. Take a moment to watch this video if you have not already. The entire premise of the scenario is cause for concern, but my focus is actually to rewind the clock and see what would happen if we were to employ training to Christians as a resource on how to share the gospel in love, not ignorance. In a post-Christendom world, where Christians are often viewed as ignorant, hypocritical, and hateful, it would have done wonders for the Christian in this video to do a little ground work first. Would it hurt to learn a little about Hinduism and Sara's home country of India before spouting off about Jesus, hell, and the wrong continent? Simply taking the time to learn Sara's spiritual point of view would go a long way in establishing trust and showing genuine love and sincerity. At this point, all this video has shown is that most of the stereotypes of Christians are true.

The case is made for mentoring in the scriptures (remind me and a future post will be on the subject of mentoring). I believe this mentoring relationship we see in the Bible carries over in how we teach each other to share the gospel. Those with wisdom and understanding-- especially those portraying grace and sincerity-- should be helping those who have less experience in sharing the story.

Sharing the story of Christ varies in tactic as much as people vary one to another. For that reason, I don't believe a simple lesson on the "steps to salvation" will do. Instead, I believe that training people how to share the gospel, just like in fire training, is a lesson in adaptability.

Unfortunately, I must stop here for today. The good news is that I will be back for Part Two soon.

In the meantime, I'd leave to hear your perspective on the following.

1) Am I right? Has the Church failed to train people to share the Gospel in love?
2) If you were to put a training curriculum together, what would it contain?
3) If you are not a follower of Christ, I would love to hear your perspective. Has anybody ever talked about the story of Jesus with you, and did they do so in love or did they do so more like our friend Molly in the video above?