"Leadership and Self-Deception" - Christian repentance in a secular management book

My pastor recently recommended the book Leadership and Self-Deception (The Arbinger Institute (c) 2000, 3d ed 2018), which I read this past week. While the book does not acknowledge Christianity anywhere in the text, many teachings of Christianity are strong and plain, and I can see why the book would receive a pastoral recommendation*. It is a book that takes one premise and runs with it: "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins ..." (That quotation from the New Testament forms the invitation to an honest and humble self-examination, confession, and repentance in many a Christian order of worship, for anyone unfamiliar with the words. While that Biblical quote does not appear in the book, it would be difficult to find a more accurate summary of the book.) It is fascinating that a book with such a thoroughly Christian premise should make its way onto a business best-sellers list. 

Without ever using the word "sin," the book describes our human tendency to fail at kindness, but then justify our lack of mercy by dwelling on the faults of those we resisted the urge to help. We easily become entrenched in the habit -- and justification -- of indifference toward others. It reviews the compulsive fault-finding that come from a decision to count ourselves as better than others, or others as less virtuous than ourselves, even if the decision was not consciously made. It walks the reader through the relentless slide from self-justification to provocation and mutual distrust, and the too common, too human end result of people considering their ill-treatment of others to be a proof of virtue. It exposes the self-deception at the heart of our self-justification and fault-finding. 

Without ever using the word "confession," the book describes the profound and positive changes that come from questioning our own virtue. It identifies that self-questioning humility as the key step in freeing ourselves from the distorted thinking that spring from our self-justification. 

Without ever using the word "repentance," it speaks extensively of the need for a new mindset that honestly acknowledges our own faults, and recognizes the equal humanity of those whose faults we so eagerly seek. 

The strongest point of the book may be the examples (less-than-deftly-written, but very relatable examples) of how we talk ourselves into thinking the worst of others and the best of ourselves. It also follows through with convincing instances of the havoc that self-justification wreaks on human relationships whenever it is left unchecked. It includes a worthwhile study on how often 2 people (or groups) can be locked into a mutually-reinforcing cycle in which each provokes the other, yet can only see their own wounds and the others' faults. And it describes ways to extract ourselves from the mess in order to lead clean and honest lives, not locked into the need to justify ourselves or find fault with others, but again free to act in kindness towards all. 

Much to my surprise, that business book may be the best modern study of confession and repentance that I have read. As a Christian I may wish for an acknowledgement of God, or forgiveness. But for a business book, it makes a remarkable start. 

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* Based on some cursory research, it looks like the key person at The Arbinger Institute spent some time teaching at Brigham Young, so I would hazard a guess he might be Mormon. It would explain the yes-and-no fit to Christianity as I know it. 

In gratitude for fathers: Happy Father's Day!

Though my own father passed away many years ago, I am still grateful for the kindness and support he provided over the years. 

To all fathers who have stepped up, great and small: Happy Father's Day! 

God's love in action: "Family Promise" (addressing family homelessness)

Many humanitarian organizations have good intentions. Good intentions do not always translate into good results. The God's Love In Action series focuses on people or organizations that seem to be able to translate those good intentions into results. 

Family Promise is an organization that tackles a particular type of homelessness: when families with minor children become unable to maintain a home. Sometimes Family Promise manages to prevent evictions. Sometimes a family is placed with a church. (My own congregation participates in Family Promise, where any families currently in service literally stay in our building for a week before transferring to the next congregation, while members of the congregation arrange meals, help meet basic needs, and even spend the night in the facility with them. Families on the verge of homelessness can then have their food and shelter provided for free while they stabilize. 

Family Promise also has other services to make families more financially stable. There are expectations for the family to begin saving and to build enough of a financial cushion to weather a financial surprise. There is training in financial literacy. 

And there is a reasonable amount of success in stabilizing families who then return to self-sufficiency. Family Promise seems to have hit that workable blend of supporting people while equipping them for a responsible and dignified life. 

God's love in action: finding the approaches that work

Previously in the "God's love in action" series, I'd looked at how Habitat for Humanity works. Specifically, we focused on why their approach seems to be more successful than other approaches to the same problem. This post continues in the vein of looking at largescale solutions not only for good intentions, but for measurable success in tackling the problem. 

I have heard it said that, as Christians, we are not called to be successful; we are called to be faithful. But if "success" is measured in actually helping the people we intend to help, then part of being faithful includes being successful in actually helping people. If we get bad results, then good intentions will require us to try other approaches. 

We don't often think of 12-step groups as a Christian outreach program. But 100 years ago they were exactly that. The leaders in outreach to alcoholics were Christian ministries. And one particular program called "The Oxford Group" was the direct forerunner of Alcoholics Anonymous. 

There's still a lot of spiritual work to be done in addiction recovery. But it has resisted mass solutions, and so far people recover one person at a time. For those who recover successfully, there are several things vital to recovery: a wide support system constructed to provide regular face-to-face contact with people who will listen and care, a dedicated contact person who is more experienced and on call to offer guidance; a roadmap of how to lose the dysfunctional coping skills and gain experience with healthier ones; and the concept of individual responsibility as each person takes ownership for their own life. There is also an expectation that people will "pass it on" and be there for the next person who needs help. All that is woven into a framework where spirituality is welcome and religion is, for many, necessary. 

It surprised me at first to see some things in common between Habitat for Humanity and AA (and other 12-step programs). They both focus on re-attaching people to a community, re-attaching people to a support system. They both focus on learning individual responsibility, but not learning it alone or without help. They both take seriously the need for practice and experience with new skills, for guidance with expectations of growing responsibility. 

We live in a world where there is no shortage of good intentions, but few programs have good results. The approach of building a community with structured responsibility seems to have promise, and it might be worth applying it to other large-scale problems. We have plenty of them. 

Pursuing a knowledge of God, and pursuing godliness

Today, on Trinity Sunday, I am reminded of how eagerly we can pursue a knowledge of God, how thirsty we are for a deeper understanding of God. But the pictures we draw of God often pursue the lines of our curiosity, not the lines of his gifts and his self-disclosure. I am as prone to curiosity as the next person. But if I were to try to draw God based on Scripture taken as God's self-revelation, I might get something more like this: 

Let me be the first to say: It's incomplete, and could also use some editing for more appropriate parallels. With that out of the way, here is what it's trying to convey: 

The general form is ripples going out from the center, and the center is God. The rippling outward indicates God's reach throughout creation and specifically to the creatures who are made in God's image. Streaming out from God, we see water representing God's actions to cleanse us and renew us, foremost of which is the work of Christ; and flames representing the Spirit's presence with us. 

The center, God as the origin of all things, contains three attributes that come up as key in Scripture. At the center is "holy," as Scripture repeatedly says "Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." While it is God's attribute first, it is something that he means for us to share. At one side is "mercy," where Scripture tells us to be merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful (again, a key attribute that God means for us to share with him). On the other side is "wisdom," where Scripture tells us that the wisdom of God is communicated to us by the Spirit of God: wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear of the Lord (reverence), joy in his presence. Once again, this is an attribute God means for us to share. 

At the top are the well-known gifts of the Spirit: faith, hope, and love. At the bottom we see the fruits of the Spirit. 

The graphic has some significant shortcomings (beyond the amateur art): though it is already crowded enough, still "Jesus" and "the Holy Spirit" are not explicitly named anywhere. That is not a small shortcoming, and so I can consider this to be a not-quite-beta version of the drawing, since it requires reading the accompanying text to get to material that is so vital. 

For all that it lacks, there are many passages of Scripture that could be explained with reference to this visual, where the authors are saying: God is this way, he is transforming us to be like him. 

If on Trinity Sunday I find myself drawing three circles to describe the person and work of God, these  particular three circles show how God's character has ripple-effects in our lives. The traits I would most focus on today are the ones he wants to share with us. The work of the Word and Spirit are to bring exactly that fellowship -- and transformation -- into our lives. 

Thank you for your patience with this series, now concluded. Several of my other series over the years have been driving at the same point. Related series include On being like God, and Rethinking the Shape of the Trinity, of which the most closely-related post in the series is part 4, which originally appeared in the Trinity Blogging Summit in 2009. 

The power of God's nature

(Next-to-last post in the current series)

So far we have looked at various passages in which the "Spirit of God" and "Word of God" are used in ways that can test our assumptions about them. 

First, the New Testament authors really do speak as if they mean it literally that God's Spirit is the spirit that comes to live in us, giving us new life. Consider St Paul here, speaking while the literal Temple in Jerusalem still stood, where the presence of God was expected to dwell: 

"Don't you know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16)

Again, consider the New Testament authors speaking as if the spiritual life is new in a way that leaves us immature, where three different letters, generally understood to be by three different authors, all pick up "milk" as a metaphor to point out immaturity or tender new life: 

"I fed you with milk, not solid food" (Paul, 1 Corinthians 3:2)

"You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child." (Hebrews 5:12-13)

"Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk (1 Peter 2:2)

The New Testament authors speak as if our Christian walk is not so much a matter of needing more information, and more a matter of living according to the character and spirit of God. In the New Testament epistles, Sts. John, Peter, and Paul all address our character coming to be like God's character not because we studied or tried hard enough, but because we have a fundamental connection to God who is like that: 

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)

"as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16 )

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

And of course the apostles' teaching in this matter follows Jesus' own teaching. We often read Jesus' teaching as if he is saying to try really hard to be perfect. But again we see Jesus basing his teaching on children being like their father: 

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:44-48)

Only one entry left in the current series. Thank you for your patience! 

The power of God's word, and how the messenger may need to get out of the way

Because the Word of God affects us in different ways, I want to be sure to make my point without detracting from other ones that could be made. 

For example, the word of God can be strikingly beautiful. We can feel the way certain words fill our soul with a longing for holiness, or an awe and reverence for the majesty of God's creative power. When the word of God is beautiful, that beauty goes beyond shallow appearance, instead fulfilling the promise of beauty as the marker of its deeper source, like a tree in a desert that signals the presence of water. And again, the word of God can be wise with a wisdom that makes us pause, requires us to expand our thinking and return to it with humility. 

That needs saying before I move onto how Paul communicated about the power of the Word of God. There are times when words of beauty and eloquence are a distraction. There are times when we hear wisdom and power that come from the art of rhetoric, pointing (at best) to human wisdom. While we love and pursue wisdom, the highest form of it is not man-made. 

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Paul focuses on "Jesus Christ and him crucified" as the message of God's power. Paul was concerned that any eloquence or artistry could leave people doubting. That is, they might not doubt whether they believed but why they believed. Is Paul just a persuasive speaker, or is the message itself powerful? Paul got out of the way of the message: Christ crucified is the message of the power of God. 

Paul continues the message of the power of God by describing the work of the Spirit, too: 

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. (1 Corinthians 2:9-12)

This is not often how we speak of the Spirit of God, as simply the spirit within God that knows the inner thoughts of God in the same way our spirit within us knows our thoughts. Paul explains that spirit within God, knowing the mind of God, is the same Spirit we receive so "that we might understand the things freely given us by God." 

Here Paul comes very close to the point that Jesus made when speaking to Nicodemus of the importance the Spirit of God as a living and active force in our own lives and our own understanding. 

(Two more posts are planned to wrap up the current series: a post on the Holy Spirit planned for next week on Pentecost, and the ultimate point of the series planned for the following week on Trinity Sunday.)