I read a post on Justin Taylor's blog today regarding his friend (the director of radio and internet at Desiring God), Matt Perman. Perman was mentioned on the blog of productivity expert David Allen. In the blog, Allen quoted Perman's email that he had sent to him about the benefits of taking Mr. Allen's Minneapolis RoadMap seminar. Here it is:
"And thank you for the great work that you do. Getting Things Done and Ready for Anything have been paradigm-shaping books for me and several others I work with. It is so freeing to have a clear enough view of things that I can choose my work, rather than have it choose me. The GTD system has also taught our organization how to hold together our sometimes competing values of creativity and execution. In fact, the vision I now have for my department is: creativity, quickly executed."
Here is my question for you guys/gals: Is there anything wrong with Christians taking these types of courses (like Mr. Allen's or Franklin Covey's) to improve productivity and/or time management, etc? Some of you may think that this is a silly question to even ask because it seems like there is obviously no problem with it. I tentatively agree with you, but I just want to solidify my foundational thinking on this. The reason I even ask the question is because of two things:
1. Before I became a Christian I was really into the whole Franklin Covey thing - really into it. It was almost like a religion (I think it was an idol). It is something that you can get so wrapped up in that you find your happiness and satisfaction in "Getting things done". The problem is, what if you don't get things done? So when I became a Christian I think I shied away from it for fear of it becoming an idol. This may be unbalanced (I think it is), but you can help me with that.
2. I am a little leary of taking my cues about how I live my life from non-Christians. As someone with convictions about the sufficiency of scripture and the power of a nouthetic model of counseling as opposed to psychology sprinkled with Bible talk, it scares me a little to take courses like these and allow people with no Biblical foundation to counsel me as to how to live my life.
That being said, I have some other thoughts as to why this would not be a bad idea. Instead of me including my thoughts, I would like to allow you folks to help balance me out and point out where my thinking may be wrong in this regard. I'm hoping to get some good responses on this one. Perhaps you have benefited from these types of courses and would like to share why you wouldn't hesitate to read and/or practice some of the things that they teach. Talk to me...
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6 comments:
Vinnie,
I've wrestled with some of these same things in participating in public school professional development. I have by no means become a master at weeding out what is foolish, but a wife is a great help. Humbling myself before God and confessing to Him my need for help in this regard has helped as well.
I say, "Lord, when it comes to the art of teaching, your word is somewhat silent. Help me discern. Help me to take in and apply what is good and right and to shun every thing that isn't. Cause me to walk in your ways."
I don't know if there is a cut and dry answer. It might just be something we learn through experience and wisdom. The Lord will protect us. But, seeking to discern what is helpful and unhelpful can be quite challenging. I welcome other ideas.
Another thing I thought about was the fact that the Bible does not claim to be sufficient for anything other than spiritual issues. Which means that it is not a problem that the Bible doesn't teach me how to do trigonomotry - praise God! It claims to be sufficient for doctrine, reproof, correction, training in righteosness that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16) - all we need for life in godliness. However, we don't want to run the risk of saying something that is spiritual is not. So the question becomes is this a spiritual matter or a non-spiritual matter?
Well, everything has a spiritual dimension, but that's not the same as saying everything is a spiritual issue. Abortion is not a religious issue. It's an ethical issue with religious dimensions. Math is not spiritual issue, it is an issue with spiritual implications. (More below).
There are some issues that are wholly spiritual. Others overlap. There are matters of conscience. Where the Bible is not specific, it is, for the believer general over most everything, because most everything anybody does has a spiritual dimension. There's a difference, however, between evangelism or conversion or worship and, say, where to eat dinner tonight or the square root of 145841.
Even the square root of 145841 is a spiritual issue. How, because, as John Frame says, logic is an attribute of God. Therefore, so is math. That doesn't however, mean the Bible teaches us math.
That's true. Here's what we have to remember from the Reformation. Too many of us think "Sola Scriptura" is SOLO Scriptura. It's not.
The rule of faith states that the Bible is the church's infallible rule of faith and practice. However, it goes on to state, that we may hold to any additional traditions so long as they are submitted to the light of Scripture itself.
For example, I'm committed, as you know, to Reformed Baptist principles. However, I've studied my share of liberals and neo-orthodox theology too. My theology of marriage is partially derived from Karl Barth's view of marriage. Why? Because I think, on that issue, his view of the purpose of marriage and Adam and Eve is thoroughly biblical and exegetically very valid. Just because something might come from another source, that does not preclude us from using it.
This doesn't mean that pragmatism becomes our guide. It means we test everything by the Scriptures.
One could argue that these kinds of courses help teach us to redeem the time. That is a biblical command. Slothfulness or inefficiency can rob God of His time, the same way spending five extra minutes on your break robs your employer of his time.
On the other hand, you have to avoid legalism that says, "If I do this, this, this, and this today I will be out of God's graces." It goes to the Law's teaching on vow keeping. Moses said we should keep our vows. Jesus reiterated that and said it is better not to vow than make a vow and not keep it. Don't obligate yourself to God or man to x,y, and z today if you are not going to do x,y, and z today.
With respect to actually taking the classes, I would point to this principle:
1 Thess. 5:21, "Test everything. Hold on to the good." Take the course, test it by the word of God and keep what is good and useful. Throw out the rest.
Gene, good point on the spititual issues comments. Thanks! I would never want to start compartmentalizing God, because He is the exclamation point at the end of every sentence. I believe in the supremacy of God in ALL things. I wasn't trying to imply that there are no spiritual implications or that there were some things that aren't spiritual. I just meant that the Bible doesn't claim to teach how we are to do math. Anyway, you get my point. Anyway, thanks for the balanced view here.
Mark, you and Gene seem to be saying the same things and I appreciate the wisdom here. Be discerning, but don't be afraid to take the classes. Take what is good and helpful. Leave what is not. So, it's really no different than the reast of life. Everything must be filtered through the grid of a Biblical worldview.
Thanks guys!
Wow, Gene has some great points. One other thing i was reminded of early this week was (and i think Gene touched on this) that our actions MUST be grounded in God's direction, realizing that though i may make my plans, i may have my idea of how i'm going to organize and appropriate my time (good grief that sounded self-centered), but ultimately a failure to accept God's perfect plan and His pre-determined sovereign course for my life is pride and an offence to God, for i have placed myself as God in the situation. (James 4:13-17) Basically, eat the meat, spit out the bones, as you have already said.
And, the more we know our Bibles and the God who is central in them, the more we will be able to apply 1 Thess. 5:21 because we will become the Hebrews 5:14 people God wants us to be.
Good discussion, guys.
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