RICH TREASURES IN JARS OF CLAY

Reflections on Hess Chapter 1

I appreciated this chapter on Christian education and ministry. It addressed some practical concerns regarding the current educational model utilized at many seminaries and churches. The model of separate spheres of teacher and student is prevalent in many educational arenas. I have experienced several variations of this antiquated model of education and longed for the inclusion of a more contemporary approach.

Hess contends that Jesus modeled an educational approach that was fluid and reciprocal, one that embraced education being administered and simultaneously received. Additionally Jesus did not   limit the cultures with which he engaged, providing a multicultural learning experience for all who entered his arena.
I relate to the model of Jesus as someone who engaged the world as a teacher who was always eager to learn. I think of the story in Matthew 15 where the Canaanite woman kneels before Jesus asking him for help with her ailing daughter.

He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs (Matt 15:26).” “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table (Matt 15:27).”

Following this exchange Jesus altered his original stance and healed the woman’s daughter. Jesus, in fact learned from the Canaanite woman because he became present and open to hearing what she had to say. He began to listen with his heart rather than abiding by his previously stated agenda to help only the Israelites.

Like Jesus, we need to learn new models of engaging our classrooms and communities of faith. As Hess suggests we need to practice those new ways of being until they become second nature to us as we engage the world.
As well as being open to new ways of thinking we (as a culture) need to recognize that the methods of engaging our world have shifted dramatically over the last decade. Religious institutions will need to shift with the culture of technology if we are to reach our local and global communities. “We need our teaching and learning in communities of faith to be about knowing how, not simply knowing that.”

Many of the core messages we receive regarding how to be in the world are sent and received through varied forms of media. Shifts in my consciousness have definitely occurred through listening to music or viewing a poignant film. These resources are under utilized in communities of faith and I look forward to learning how to incorporate them into my engagement with a global community of faith.