Playing Out Of Position - Part Two

Reading, I love it. I was sitting down the other day in one of those neat straw made deals in a conservatory in Salford and for the best part of an hour or so I was just chilling and reading the Michael Foot biography. Kenneth O. Morgan (I wonder if he get upset if we miss that crucial O.) did a fantastic job on the book in making it engrossing reading, I hope I get round to doing a review of it when I’ve finished it.

So whilst I was on the throne recently and had an opportunity to read more about Foot it reminded me of a text I’d sent to a dear friend of mine. By the way as a small diversion, isn’t it a privilege to have dear friends, you know the sort to whom there is a connection and a repartee on a given subject. I love those kind of dear friends. I haven’t always had them and I thought my brother would be the only one at one stage, but God in His kindness allowed me to link with some others, really nice of Him.

Anyway, so I text this dear friend earlier before my stint on the throne and I said to the friend that Foot was the right man at the wrong place at the wrong time. In fact what I should have said was that Foot was a good man in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is no era in the 20^th Century or any stage of the Labour movement when that brother would have been the right leader. Sure things may have been worse if Healey or Shore had taken over in 1980, but seriously what kind of message are you sending in letting a scruffy, old, rhetorician anywhere near the keys to power?

As I reigned on the throne, however, I saw that point as the ideal way to get us back on where we were and the links between part one of this two part series. Quick recap – we can play players in their best positions and hope for the best, or we can have a system for which we select certain players at certain times even if it’s not playing the brother at his best position. We linked that with the current Liverpool malaise and the less we say about that the better.

So here’s the link. As you may recall back in April I made a Statement of Intent which was basically reiterating a phrase I’d come across at the beginning of 2009 – In my element for my season. Rooted in Psalm 1:3 this was all about a renewed commitment to being planted exactly where God wants me to be physically, socially, spiritually, vocationally, relationally, etc. etc. Making the statement is one thing, living up to it is another thing. Uncovering what that costs is an even more tricky thing when we consider it in greater detail. As I have discovered and continue to discover this can be a very costly business.

It’s costly, but it is worthwhile and here’s my contention on the issue. I’m sure some people are predestined to be misfits and malcontents – their role in the larger scheme of things is to make people uncomfortable by asking awkward questions in awkward ways and appear somewhat on the fringes of the mainstream. Thankfully God gives us biblical dudes who fit that bill like Elijah and John D. Baptist (is it the only biblically acceptable denomination? You decide. OK actually God does, but you can have a good guess, as a hint it doesn’t start with ‘y’).

This calling, though, is pretty specific though and you’ve got to be very well equipped emotionally, mentally and relationally to deal with the flack, rejection and abuse that comes with it. In a very real way you have to be designed for the task. That leads neatly into another underpinning scripture behind the desire not to see people play life out of position. Ephesians is a book in the bible worth serious study – when you’ve read it once, read it again and then one more time to even begin to comprehend what on earth Paul is saying and its vast implications. One little verse in there gets to the heart of what I’m all about with the playing in position deal.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

First thing that I notice about this is that it is not an individual call – it relates to a corporate call to be about the business for which we’ve been made. Implicit within this and to further explained later on in the letter if the corporate is going to be effective in getting on with its business, the individual parts need to be in their place functioning as they need to function. Or as Paul puts it

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:15, 16 emphasis added)

Now for each part to be working properly and with the recognition that we’re different parts of the growing organism there is great importance on discovering what our place is. That discovery process is not superficial but gets to the core of who we are as defined by God not by personal experience, friends, family, denomination, etc. although these can contribute to the process.

The deal then is about going back to the Coach to discover what our best position is, because He would have the best idea of where we fit in the team. Everyone wants to play up front and hog the headlines, but thankfully the Coach knows best. He plays us in different positions, sure, but He knows that you’re a right back or a left winger or a tough tackling midfielder or a commanding defender or a creative maestro just behind the front two, or the goal-poacher.

He knows and once you know He knows and He lets you know then not only do you find out but on playing in that position you feel at your best. Each position requires discipline and an understanding of what the position demands, but these demands are not imprisoning and confining, indeed these are Garden of Eden opportunities where you can eat the fruit of any tree – you get to enjoy all the garden and then discover that it contributes to others also being released to do what they’re called to do. Before you know it, everyone is in their place, everyone functions out of love and joy in Christ rather than dictation or obligation. Then you’re pinging the ball around and playing the lovely football of life enjoying sharing and serving each other, setting each other up for goal scoring opportunities whilst covering for each other to prevent break-aways.

It’s a joy. It’s a delight. It’s a pleasure. It’s an honour. It is no longer mind-less routine or ritual. It is no longer drudgery or confusing hypocrisy as you kid yourself with the fake-it-till-you-make-it psychology. It is being in your best position and enjoying Christ in it. It is then having an impact on the lives of others by doing that.

I am convinced in my brief time on planet earth that far too many people … far too many Christians … far too many eager well-meaning followers of Christ are playing out of position. Far too many accept their circumstances, background, institutional and inhibitive or deceptive doctrinal demands from work, home and church without any consideration to where God actually has placed them to be as His workmanship.

I know only too well how soul-destroying it can be. I know only too well how real it seems at the time and how it appears to be all there is your life and it’s a status quo you can live with, when in actuality it takes the love of God to break through to help you move on with your life to be rooted and grounded in Him. I know only too well how miserable and unfulfilled and unfruitful this kind of living can be. So it’s no surprise that I have a desperate desire to see people awake to who they are in Christ and then join Him in the steps towards real freedom, real service, abundant living by fruitful serving by the character of Christ being formed in us.

It’s not a utopia that gives us our selfish gratifications, but it is a real godly Kingdom in which who we really are becomes further revealed in us as we give our lives completely to Him. That won’t necessarily help Liverpool win the Premier League, but it will certainly help followers of Christ to enjoy the Kingdom that we’ve been translated into.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Teaching Basics

I met a very good friend today. By very good friend I mean the kind of friend who I don’t see regularly, but when we sit down and talk they are always … always … fruitful occasions. We can get as deep as we need and there’s often something said that makes me go back and ponder on some of the true things of life.

Today whilst we were conversing he shared about the need to get back to basics on what it is to follow Jesus. He looked at how easy it can be to get distracted with other peripheral issues and make them the big day and avoid the main things. Whereas when our focus is on the basics we never stray from what could ever make us successful in life. It is almost as though the basics work as a seed and we must get back to that seed to get an idea of what kind of plant we really are meant to be.

Today’s teacher training session reminded me of that principle. We teased out some things about establishing aims and objectives and key concepts in terms of what it is to set objectives. It was a draining session in some ways … that being considering some of the material being laid out and how it fit into the bigger picture of what we’re going to learn. It is also still the initiation stages in terms of learning the system of the course structure and what’s expected, how and when. It was looking at those basics though and understanding what to have in approaching the subject. (I’ve used a word for which I would be shot if it were applied to an objective – understand is not a concept easily measured and so requires something else in terms of an active verb to state the intention.)

I have found it fascinating to consider the different ways that people learn and the different methods that can be used to meet those tastes. We have affirmed again that the deal of teaching is getting something across to a group of people who differ in their learning style. The irony is, however, to effectively put together something that could possibly meet the tastes of an individual is based on generalities in terms of definitions for teaching methods. Sometimes I’m not sure if the pupil-focussed approach stretches the teacher beyond his own capabilities, but I guess it is good to be stretched in considering what the outcome of your teaching should be.

When looking at these issues it baffles me again that the highest place of learning in the formal education structure – university – does not reflect these important issues on the whole and persist in methods that it as learning institution itself would hardly describe as an effective learning method, i.e. the lecture style. My experience of Philosophy and Politics back at Essex University was mostly of the lecture then tutorial method. Looking back it makes it all the more remarkable that I made it through that as I did.

Looking wider at the issue of how best to learn, when I consider some of the tensions of the education system and pressures on teachers, it reaffirms my scepticism towards the mainstream education system being the best place for my children to be educated. A holistic approach to learning incorporating the key facets of the individual whom you are teaching is something the system is not set up to do at the level most effective (I believe it’s the affective domain to which I refer). It is way too taxing to expect our system to be able to get children to engage with that on the attention they deserve, not just because of class sizes, though that is an issue, but because of the nature of the investment in the child that is required.

So lots to take on board and ponder. Much to work on and the plan is that I will do so over the weekend and get myself up to speed as much as I can. So far so good and there are a lot of connecting points with other projects and schemes I’m considering. After all to be a good teacher, you have to be a good student, and being a good student can allow me to stretch myself as a reader and a writer – that can only mean good things for pursuing God through the gifts He’s given me. Keep praying.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Why Teach?

Another remarkable milestone was reached in the life of Christopher Dryden. This evening I enrolled to study a two year part time teacher training course. Had me first class this evening, really just about getting the paper-work sorted more than anything. It was a good evening overall and the course looks interesting in terms of what’s expected of us. The course tutor/lecturer looks very good in terms of being someone to guide us through the course and so it’s all looking promising for the years ahead.

So a good question to ask is – why teach?

There is a cruel statement that says those who can – do, those who cannot – teach. I think this a gross misunderstanding of what teaching is. I would say that those who cannot commentate which is seen in no better a field than football where the television, radio and newspapers are full of former pros who no longer have it in them to kick the ball but are more than happy to give the benefit of their wisdom about those who are playing. Teaching requires something far more than just talking at people.

I have found teaching to be hugely fascinating since I was taught at school. One special teacher who I’ve been reconnected to recently made teaching look fun and more than that made learning so wonderfully fulfilling. This was the seed to the desire of my heart to see people reach their full potential. Enabling people to do this is done through teaching.

There have been many over the years who have really shown me the value of teaching – not as a profession but as a vocation. This is why I have a strong position on the education system. My development is not so much about the system, but about individuals who bucked the system to actually engage with me person to person and passion to passion. The subjects I’ve loved the most are because of the people who have taken me deeper into it through their own passion and personal investment. Not really anything to do with systems, curriculum or any such thing.

Being able to share concepts and help people in their understanding and application of priceless gems fills me with enormous joy. Being part of the process of ingesting those gems myself whilst appreciating people’s different styles whether at school, in church, in conversation or in observation has shaped the man that I have become. To me teaching is so vast and such a pit for creative play that for it to be limited to the stuff of exams and paperwork breaks my heart. To see people assessed by their ability under artificial conditions at a certain period of time is so sad. To also see people never being able to see what they’re capable of because of repressive indoctrination makes my blood boil whether that is done aggressively or subliminally.

My own belief is that my mother suffered under such a regime and she is an incredibly intelligent who was never allowed to blossom in that intelligence. I’m not talking about English brilliance or holding profound concepts to mention in conversations, but an ability to work out her stuff and do what she was good at with diligence and creativity that Oxbridge dons would be stunned at.

I know my mother is no exception. I know many others who have not been released to express the natural intelligence they have in a given area – because it’s not about who is the most eloquent or verbose. So teaching – when it is creatively applied and transferred is about releasing people in those areas. I want to be a part of that process in whatever way I can and that’s why I want to teach.

As well as that there is also the fact that it’s a natural outlet for all the reading and writing that I love engaging in. I teach what I learn and get to write about what I teach. It is my desire to blog part of the journey through the course right here so look forward to meeting some interesting characters and coming across some intriguing techniques, processes and experiences.

Keep praying for dmcd, it’s been 7 years since I was last subjected to a formal education environment of this nature. I know I have it in me to excel, but I want to make the most of this opportunity to really do that – not to please me mother or me wife, not for personal prestige but to benefit others and primarily to bring honour to my Father who has granted this opportunity to me.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd