Mind your Ps and Qs

As the summer progresses ever forward, I feel somewhat diverted from the "Personal Syllabus" series that I still hope to finish. As I wrote in the last installment, I have found it difficult to write this. Not to rehash all of that, but I do get stuck sometimes in analysis. But hey, it's just a blog and I can take my time, right?

Thus, today I want to unpack a challenging biblical text -- really, just to wrestle with a few of its conceptual conundrums. 

Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:13 (NET)

First, it's important to recognize this is written as part of extensive opening salvo in which Peter paints a picture of the grace of God that produces salvation in the believer. The classic statement Bible teachers like to make: "notice the 'therefore' and ask what it's there for", indicates that context and establishes that the actions Peter is commanding is for those for whom the grace of God is already at work as demonstrated by faith amidst trials (cf. 1 Peter 1:3-9).

The phrase "get your minds ready for action" is the NET Bible's gloss for "gird up the loins of your mind" (KJV). It is an appropriate gloss, as modern readers seldom think about girding up anything. Yet notice the "fully sober" connection. While intoxication is clearly in view, Peter would arguably include anything that diverts our attention from what is vital. How important such a warning is in our day! There are so many things seeking to grab our focus that it takes no time at all for our Christian discipleship to slow to a trickle. 

The LEB translates it as being "self-controlled". Greek word studies support that gloss as well, though it's best to think of being free from "every form of mental and spiritual ‘drunkenness’, from excess, passion, rashness, confusion, etc."^[1]

Yet Peter continues, exhorting believers to "set your hope completely on the grace..." Now, have you ever done something so completely as to know there was nothing left? How does one know one's hope is completely set on the grace of Christ? What are the implications of partial or incomplete hope? Is it any wonder that I can sometimes get caught in "analysis paralysis"?

We do have the rest of Scripture to help here. Yet I think it's important that we do not so flippantly fly by Peter's point: Christ's grace will be revealed at his coming. If we allow the sober reminder to sink in, I think our time spent on careless diversions would be re-evaluated. Not that recreation, fun, fine dining and even a glass of Merlot cannot fit within a disciple's freedom. Oh, but take care brethren: everything in the world is potentially able to intoxicate your thinking and dull your hope for the return of Christ. Be mindful. Be watchful. The enemy is prowling. Mind your Ps and Qs!

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^[1] William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 672.

Personal Syllabus: Part 3A "Taxonomy of Learning and Application"

I am finding it difficult to write this new series I am calling "Personal Syllabus". One possible reason is that there are so many factors in personal growth as a Christian. There is certainly a spiritual component, where our tireless enemy actively fights against our surrender to Christ our Lord. There is also simple laziness. We can be lazy in our spiritual disciplines, and also lazy in how we use the mind God gave us. 

On the other hand, I tend to over-analyze things like this (as anyone who really knows me can attest). This topic has overwhelmed my thought processes. However, after some reflection this summer, I will offer a structure that might be useful. After all, the point of this series is to create a roadmap for growth. As I have said, this roadmap (syllabus) is unique for each person: one must honestly inspect their lives and even ask others where they might be ripe for growth. For me, the Apostle Paul confronts me in the area of knowledge:

“And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can approve the things that are superior and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9–11, HCSB)

This is a major reason why I attended seminary. It seems God knew what I needed. When I first entered seminary, I was presented with Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning (revised). A taxonomy is 

a "knowledge organization system," a set of words that have been organized to control the use of terms used in a subject field into a "vocabulary" to facilitate the storing and retrieving of items from a repository.   

(http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/Editorial/What-Is-.../What-is-a-Taxonomy-81159.aspx)

In other words, a taxonomy is a specialized dictionary used for a specific area of study. Now, stay with me! There is a point to this!

An example of a special dictionary (a taxonomy) is often used for those who study the the animal kingdom. The taxonomic structure of mammals, for instance, employs a significant number of fancy latin terms to systematically catalogue animal families (can you identify from the rodent family the Platacanthomyidae?). Scientists love to use taxonomies for the purpose of exacting precision. 

What is helpful for today's article is how Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning catalogues how people think and learn: it depicts a "cognitive process" that details how people understand concepts via increasing "cognitive complexity." 

This means that as we learn something new we go from a simplistic understanding to deeper understanding over time. Bloom's Taxonomy attempts to portray how our minds work when we learn. This is something we just do without realizing it. It happens from the moment we are introduced to something new to when we grasp a more advanced understanding. Then ultimately mastery of a concept or skill has its own unique life (and a true master knows there is yet even more to be learned).

Take a moment to examine this diagram in the Bloom's Taxonomy motif:

Honestly, at first I was confused as to why this was discussed at a biblical institute (just as you may be scratching your head). Yet as the years have gone by I have recognized the need to take time to reflect on the merits of a system of describing human learning.

Learning like this can indeed be translated to Christian discipleship and growth (see Luke 2:52 how Jesus grew in wisdom). Such growth is from the Lord.

All that Bloom's Taxonomy does is unpack the underlying process of learning. I believe that students of the Bible can review their own growth process with similar precision, and with God's help even confront roadblocks to their growth.

This is part of obeying Romans 12:2:

And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may approve what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God. (LEB)

My purpose here is not to get exceedingly technical, though I suspect I went a little overboard. As a former pastor, my desire is for God's Word to change the way you think. The Holy Spirit can effect changes in your attitude and actions through other means, but He primarily does that through the revealed Word of God. Thus, it is imperative Christians learn how to learn and grow in the Lord.

So let's put this together now: think of how you might take in a sermon. Initially, you are giving attention to grasping the meaning of what is being presented from the biblical text. This is somewhat automatic (at least the basic process of understanding). Often a preacher will tell you how to apply a given biblical text. This is well and good, but the pastor cannot present an exhaustive list of application. A good under-shepherd knows his flock and crafts his message to confront those things he prayerfully recognizes is needful in his local church. This characterizes a good sermon and a caring pastor.

Yet what about in your personal Bible study? How do you discern God's loving correction from what you have read (or heard in church)? Do you take the Scripture your pastor preached on and dig deeper to see where God may be calling for repentance in a specific area? How does one go beyond the typical lists people have (read the Bible more, prayer, give more, serve more)?

In the next installment (Part 3B), I will delve more deeply into application as a process. I'll examine how to go from a basic and somewhat shallow personal application to more of a transformational application process.