A great Advent challenge from my friend John Notehelfer:
Greetings to all of you on the front lines of kingdom work abroad and at home.
Westmont Professor, Gregory Spencer, got my attention when writing about “authenticity” in his book, “Awakening the Quieter Virtues”. He would argue that the parent-virtue of authenticity is Courage – the courage it takes to be real with our self and with others.
Then he threw out a challenge for us as missionary leaders or superintendents or pastors that I need to pass on to you as he underscores practicing the discipline of real presence.
“Jane next door e-mails me instead of stepping into my room. Derek texts his friend, though his friend is just thirty feet away. I call instead of walk over to a colleague down the hall. In an age of second-hand presence, I suggest that we lean toward firsthand presence, that we make the extra effort to be face-to-face whenever we can. ‘But e-mail is more efficient,’ we say. Indeed. Firsthand human interaction, true communion, is messier and slower. So what? What’s the rush?
A tip: “…count the number of human senses available in our communication—and ‘lean toward’ the choice with the higher number. Face-to-face has the potential to include all five.
A video phone call loses touch. A regular phone call loses sight. Voicemail loses hearing. E-mail and texting lose tone of voice. For all its benefits, e-mails implicit bluntness has been the cause of untold confusion and conflict.
Real presence understands that we are sensory creatures. The likelihood of misunderstanding grows exponentially with each sense lost.”
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While serving as interim in the departments of World Mission and Church Growth/Evangelism I learned the hard way that there are critical matters that cannot be addressed with wisdom and healing by second-hand presence. It was a lesson well learned—whether leading globally or locally.
And what about the authenticity of our Creator-God?
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish” – John 1:14 ( The Message)
Prayerfully, John N
