scarcity
Welcome to the conversation.
If you have read some of the other things I have written about how amazing God has made people to be you will know this is a passion for me. I am energised when I think of what people can contribute to making the world more human.
At the same time I can be disheartened by the numbers of people I meet who do not think they have anything to offer and as a result have become passive. Jenifer Fox writes of the American educational system: ‘The alarming message it presents is that there is not enough to go around for everyone to be successful’ (Your Child’s Strengths). These words stood out for me. In the British culture there is an assumption that only some will succeed and the rest will have to put up and serve.
The thinking is that there is only so much success to go around, that it is a scarce commodity, and this way of seeing things is found in the culture-at-large and in the churches. We have such a limited formula for measuring success - probably formulated by people who are good at the things that are included in it. But what if success isn’t scarce?
What if the truth is that we just don’t know what it would be like to live in a world in which everyone succeeds? What if such a world is possible? What if this has always been a significant part of the mission of the church … restoring humanity as the living image of God? What if the church is God’s R&D department, a picture of what success ought to look like to the world?
The unfortunate truth is that the church more often reflects the culture in which it finds itself, which in a 1,001 ways - more implicitly than explicitly - is saying there is scarcity and only a few succeed … and it begins early in life: ‘We’re unwittingly sending disapproving messages to children all the time. In general we do this through the systems we have in place, and specifically with the conversations we have, or do not have, about the expectations and requirements we have laid out for their future success. I call this focusing on weakness’ (Jenifer Fox).
That some wake up to wanting more comes out in what can be unhealthy ways. See the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands, hoping to get the final stages of the X Factor, or Britain’s Got Talent (insert your own country). I say unhealthy because there is still only one successful entrant, and whilst others have their few minutes or hours of fame, the truth is that fame is for a lifetime in God’s life-in-all-its-fullness plan.
Of course, it must be added that this kind of fame looks different, as Jesus made clear when he announced that he had not come to be served but to serve, but then he added that he offers life in all its fullness, and completes our joy in life lived for others.
What do you think? Scarcity? Or can everyone succeed?
If you want to do something of a bible study through this lens then have a look at 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, asking: Why are the people supporting one or other of the apostles? Is it possible to conceive that the apostles as celebrities in the eyes of the people? Why do you think this result s in the kind of bad behaviour Paul mentions? What would it look like if they all realised that they also were co-workers with God, and identified the part of the work they were meant to be involved in (preparing the ground, sowing seed, keeping the weeds out, watering, etc.)?
August 15th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Everyone needs to be given hope and encouragment to espire to what potential God has for them, they may not see it so it is our job to help them identify what is possible and where we can work along side them to achieve with others God’s purpose, for the community, for the church, for a better world.
Giving hope and support is the starting point.
August 15th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Thanks for this, Angela.
The point you make that we must see for others what they do not see themselves is so crucial. May we be very creative as we see for others so they come to see. This was a dynamic aspect of the early church and Jesus movements through history that we must discover anew.
May God open our eyes then, hey?
August 18th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Hi Geoffrey its me with another ramble!
You say “I am energised when I think of what people can contribute to making the world more human.” I have to say that I am too, but I am also horrified by how people can treat and control each other.
In God’s eyes we are all equal, however as we know, in human terms we are not. Different cultures treat this in different ways. Islam restricts women. In India the caste system works against groups such as the Dalits. In the UK we now even have ‘Post Code lottery’ which changes our access to education, NHS treatment etc because of where we live.
There is of course the Peter Principle which says ‘employees within an organization will advance to their highest level of competence and then be promoted to and remain at a level at which they are incompetent.’ Its a sad fact that this happens not only in paid employment, but also in our churches, stifling the real reason for the church.
God never intended us all to be the same, that’s why he made each of us a unique being with different talents and gifts. As He said about Jesus, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”, I think he also wants to say this about all of us, as any father wants to say about his children. He knows that we are all capable of success at our own level if we are loved, guided and encouraged. However far too often we lack this love and strive for things we cannot achieve because of the pressures of the society in which we live. And that is when it goes pear shaped! Almost like eating the forbidden fruit!
May God truly open our eyes!
August 18th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Geoffrey I just had to ask this question as I saw the anti-spam word for the next comment, which was ‘edu’.
How has education affected our success or lack of it?
August 19th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Hello Peter,
In your first comment you have said it well. When I refer to being human I am referring to the humanity that Jesus portrays - and makes accessible - not the humanity we have become, which, as you say, is manipulative and self-serving a lot of the time.
The education system might be said to have a very narrow way of serving up the skills needed for children to succeed at what they are good at: it hits some and misses others. Does this mean that these children are failures at what really counts, or does it mean that we have not adequately embraced the truth of our differences and that genius can look like many different things. I am reminded that ALbert Einstein didn’t speak until he was three, was never good at maths, and couldn’t communicate in writing.
Now, think about churches. How narrow are they when it comes to helping people “succeed” (a word that sounds heretical in the context of church)? Look how bored so many of our people are, we just don’t use that word for adults. I think I’ll have to write a separate blog on this one.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Hi Geoffrey
The anti-spam word for this comment is ‘enjoy’. How appropriate is that?!
At lunch time today I was listening to a discussion/phone in on the Jeremy Vine show on radio 2. They had a guy in the studio, can’t remember his name, (you can listen again on the BBC i-player), well know screen writer etc.
They were discussing the exam system and he was really saying we need to excite, enthuse and encourage students, not cram, cram, cram for the exam!
As you say we all learn and move on at our own pace. I have a Thai Christian friend who was brought up in China and who did not have any real education till he was 8 or 9. He is now an internationally acclaimed professor of dentistry, with a real enthusiasm for his work and for Jesus.
It strikes me this is exactly what Jesus calls us to do as we spread the Gospel, to excite, enthuse and encourage. To encourage people to ’succeed’.
But.
How many churches do you know that are like this? Not many!
How many churches do you know where people do not enjoy the worship experience? Where the thought of enjoyment is frowned upon! Too many !
Waiting for you next blog!
August 21st, 2008 at 9:58 pm
The anti-spam word is ‘enjoy’ again. Is Someone trying to tell us something!?
August 26th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Thanks, Peter. We do not know how to begin to imagine such a world, but what if a group of people began to explore the possibilities. At the moment I am reading a really helpful book when it comes to this kind of thing: Jenifer Fox’s ‘Your Child’s Strengths’.