rock, cloud & water : nurturing holistic christian thinking
TRANSCRIPT
ROCKROCK, Cloud, WATERNurturing Holistic Christian Thinking
ROCKROCK Logic
Is it true?
Is it Biblical? What does the Bible say?
Is it ‘Christian’?”
The Focus of Rock Logic
• Finding Truth / Exposing Falsehood
• Creating Certainty & Conviction
• Ensuring Safety / Boundaries
• Highlighting Differences in Perspectives
GG3
Greek Gang Of Three
The Tools of Rock Logic
• Criticism / Argument
• Judgment / Certainty
• Hermeneutics of Suspicion (towards differences)
• The Logic of the Courtroom
“Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only”
(Luke 4:8)
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
Galatians 2:21
“Here I stand; I can do no other.”
Martin Luther
EBNERock Logic is…
“Excellent But Not Enough”
Cloud Logic
Does it help? What can I learn? Do we understand each other?
How can we make this work?
The Focus of Cloud Logic
• Meeting Needs
• Mutual Understanding / Respect
• Strengthening Relationships
• Highlighting Similarities in Perspectives
The Tools of Cloud Logic
• Exploration / Synthesis/ Embracing Ambiguity
• Context! (what rock logic is poor at)
• Hermeneutics of Charity
• The Logic of Love
“If I can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge…but have not love, I am nothing.”
1 Corinthians 13:2
“The Sabbath was made for Man, not Man for the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:27
We must value theology across the spectrum of the Church…
AdversarialThinking
ParallelThinking
“Get up, Peter! Kill and eat!” (Acts 10:13)
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”
(Gal 3:28)
“There is neither Barisan nor Pakatan, Conservative or Liberal, Protestant or Catholic…for you are all one in Christ Jesus”
(The Book of Malaysians 3:28)
WATER Logic
Is it new? Is it rich?
What can we do with this? Can we have more ideas?
What’s next?
The Focus of Water Logic
• Valuing Innovation and New Perspectives
• Generating Ideas and Alternatives
• Creating Fresh Practical Solutions
What is the ‘box’ we must think out of?
The BOX =
Logic + Experience
“Creative ideas are always logical in
hindsight, but invisible in foresight”
Edward de Bono
The Tools of Water Logic
• Provocation / Suspension of Judgment
• Messiness / Value Sensitivity
• The Logic of the Studio
How Does GOD Think?
“In the beginning was the Word…and the Word was with God…and the Word was God…(Who)
was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
John 1
What kind of God breaks our expectations of the divine?
“'Right now we can only guess that the correct
answer for the total number of species lies between
2 and 100 million”
Michael RozensweigReconciliation Ecologist, University of Arizona
What kind of God can ‘think up’ 100 million species?
What kind of God dies for His creation and whose defining symbol of victory is a Roman
death machine?
“For the foolishness of God is wiser than Man’s
wisdom…”
1 Cor 1:25
ROCK CLOUD WATER
Best Strength / Security
Reconciliation / Connection /
Reinvention / Path-Breaking
Worst Fossilization / Judgmentalism
Lack of Integrity / Syncretism
Chaos / Absurdity
#1 Grow Strong and Healthy!
• Rock Logic = ‘Bones’• Know your Bible• Know basic doctrines• Learn Church tradition
#2 Play well, Love Well!
• Cloud Logic = ‘Skin’• See the value in other
perspectives• Understand other
communities• Work for inclusiveness and
out of compassion
#3 Carpe Diem!
• Water Logic = “Face / Personality”• Break new ground• Reimagine the future• Surge ahead