The power of mental models

Houston Baptist University is developing a Center for Christianity in Business and has engaged the Faithwalking team in some conversations. Six of us met with their team a few weeks back to discuss the vision of the Center. I am cautiously excited about what HBU is up to in this endeavor and am attempting to contribute to the dialogue.

Following the conversations one of the professors who is leading the Center's charge wrote and asked about the Scriptural basis for Faithwalking. Here, in part, is my response.

Larry, I've puzzled over how to respond to your email - thus the long delay. You asked what Scriptures you could study in order to get a sense of who we are. They are the same as always - the one's about unconditional love, forgiveness, sacrifice, taking up your cross ..... the ones about the church being like a body, a bride, a family, living stones ..... the one's about God's heart for justice and unity. There's nothing new there. We are profoundly biblically based.

To "get" what we believe and teach through the Faithwalking movement, you have to start with an understanding of paradigms and mental models and how the mental models help us get a view of life. Paradigms and/or mental models are very powerful - see Acts 1:6 when, after the resurrection and despite three years of hearing Jesus' teaching and seeing Him perform miracles - the disciples ask him if now he is going to deliver on their expectations shaped by their mental model of who the Messiah was to be. They still expected an earthly King with a Kingdom run by a treasury and an army.

This is but one illustration of how even the people of God hold a view of things that comes from their interpretation of Scripture that is not the view God intended. This happens over and over again and has many historical events to illustrate it. Our mental models in 21st Century America have been shaped by the modern, industrial western world. The influence of modernism caused us to "see" the Scripture in a certain way, and along with the modern world's commitment to certainty, caused us to believe that our interpretation of the Scripture was the truth rather than simply a view or an interpretation. We pretty consistently failed to bring a humility that said our view was simply that - a view that in the mystery of God - could be flawed or incomplete.

In Faithwalking we help people examine their mental models, see the power of them to help make sense of our world and to see how they can screen our a view from Scripture as well. Ours is a different view than the one held by modernity in many ways. Once you begin to see that your view is just that, then you become open to other ways of seeing the same Scriptures and the Holy Spirit has room to work. In taking this approach we attempt to foster deep conviction about one's view while simultaneously holding that view with deep humility and openness to change.

Now, lest you think that this is some postmodern, believe what ever you want to believe, approach to Scripture, let me tell you that Faithwalking begins with an assertion that in the modern western view of things, we have dummied down Jesus vision for humanity and have accepted low levels of obedience that we have justified and rationalized in order to maintain our western, materialistic, extravagant way of life. The teaching of Faithwalking asserts that the Church has been captured by democratic, capitalism that teaches us to be fear driven consumers, giving the leftovers of our extravagant life to mission trips and an occasional visit to the Food Bank. That's the beginning place.

And we go back to the Scriptures to see Jesus for the counter cultural revolutionary that he was - challenging the status-quo in government and religion especially in places where systemic injustice was taking advantage of the poor and the powerless. Then we begin to ask, in light of that, what does it mean for us to hear the words of Jesus when he says, "If you love me, you'll obey my commands" (John 14:21, John 15:10, I John 5:3).

Well, that's a start. I haven't even gotten to the application of all this to the advance of the Kingdom of God and how our view of the Scriptural teachings about "congregation" impact and in some ways undermine the advance of His Kingdom. So as you can see, this does not really lend itself to either an email discussion or to a list of Scriptures to review. I'd be glad to carve out some time for leisurely conversations over good coffee. And I welcome you to attend a Faithwalking retreat. The next one is on September 12-14 here in Houston.

One more thing - you got the spirit of what we are about correct. Ours is not a program to improve and refine the lives of Christians in our culture - to maintain the status-quo or to help them get a little more of the American dream. It is a movement that is committed to the transformation of life - beginning with our own lives and rippling out to our families, our neighborhoods, to the institutions and sectors of our city - including the business sector. We believe and are working passionately toward the day when a visible, serving Church will be present in every major business, school, and institution in our city. This is not some new and improved vision of western Christianity. It is a deep, abiding, and passionate commitment to Jesus as THE transforming presence in the world and to the belief that He is able to transform this amazing, decadent, influential, broken, jewel of a city.

Blessings,
jth