Teaching Ownership to Students

Picture from flickr

I was talking to Sarah recently about how to teach ownership to students and children.  I have no children of my own, but I do (eventually) want to teach in some capacity.  I have my history credential, but there are no jobs this year.  The question remains how teach Christ’s message to children and in the same breath teach them about ownership?

The Christmas photo reminds me of many Christmases where my brothers and I would fight over who gets to light the candles at Advent.  It also brings back many memories of fights over shared toys and anger when my brothers would destroy “my” legos or when games on the super nintendo would get erased and we would have to start over.  Needless to say, I was taught from a very young age the idea of ownership and sharing.  But how would Jesus have us live and think of ownership?

It is here that I turn to the book of Luke (9:3-6):

He said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’ They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

Jesus sends the disciples out with nothing and they are required to depend on others.  It is quite a thing to lose your independence in America.  I have only seen a few people really lose it in my lifetime and it would seem now they have no choice but to obey him.  I don’t think this passage is talking to everyone for all times, but I do think there is a kind of message in the text that reminds us that the “independence” we often talk about in America is not what Jesus had for the apostles.  He taught them utter dependence on the communities they were to live in.  Perhaps we would be wise to follow in those footsteps.

Perhaps we would be wise to depend and trust one another in a Christ filled community.

Perhaps we would be wise to play together in a way that ownership becomes secondary to friendship.

Perhaps we would be wise to begin the project of really getting to know each other.

Karl Barth and the Question of Obedience

I have just finished reading The Call to Discipleship by Karl Barth (you can see my review of the book here).  It is a succint read into the thoughts of Barth on the question of what it means to be a disciple of Christ.

Barth begins by saying about the man who said to Jesus he would follow him wherever he went (Luke 9:57-58).  Barth says:

He is obviously one who has presumed to do this on his own initiative.  And his [Jesus'] answer is the terrible saying about the foxes that have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, ‘but the son of man–whom he is going to follow–hath not where to lay his head.’  He does not realize that it is that he thinks he can choose.  He does not know how terrible is the venture in which he commits himself in the execution of this choice.

No one of themselves can or will imagine that this is their way, or take this way.  What Jesus wills with his ‘Follow me” can be chosen only in obedience to his call: ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water’ (Matt 14:28).  Without being bidden by Christ, he could not do this.  It has also been noted that there can be no conditions.  The man mentioned [above]… lacked true discipleship, not merely because he offered it to Jesus as a matter of his own choice, but because he also made a condition: “Let me first say farewall to those at my home.”

I have never been a fan of Calvinism (and that is not necessarily what Barth is arguing for here), but I think that the idea of choice goes to show how well off we are.  A famous phrase in America is that we want to change the world.  As with almost all phrases which have been repeated over and over again in an American mantra, they mean almost nothing.  How do these people want to change the world?  Perhaps some would say they want to change the world ‘for the better,” but to what better end do they wish to change the world and why do they think they have the answer as to why their world is best?  Choice and change are all a result of comsumeristic tendencies that have killed many disciples in America.  At this time of Christmas, we need to consider how we might obey without putting conditions on our obedience.

…..links for your linking pleasure 2……..

1. Some thing that Joe Biden will play good cop while Obama’s new chief of staff will play bad cop.

2. One person writes on why Obama should include McCain in his cabinet. I think this is the BEST idea I have head in a while and hope that others will encourage Obama to do the same.

3. Will females be represented on Obama’s Cabinet?  This is question we all should be watching closely for in the announcements next week.

4. With the holidays coming up, Jonathon brings up the catch-22 involved with retailers this Christmas.  On the one hand, we don’t want to be consumed by consumeristic tendencies, but on the other hand not buying will hurt our economy overall.  See the New York Time Article on the economy for more.

5. Over at FP Passport, I am happy that Obama is considering a regional approach to Afghanistan, but am still angry that he is considering a bailout for automakers (Jordon Cooper seems to share my anger…while you’re there also look at what Starbucks would look like if it were a church).  I would encourage everyone again to read about the famine in Afghanistan and get president-elect Obama to help fix the conditions which lead people towads terrorism in Afghanistan.

6. Lord, we pray for Wilmington and the 7,000 who have lost their jobs in this unfortunate layoffs at DHL.  Please help Clinton County recover this and get them back on their feet.

7. The New York Time also deals with the catch-22 of foreign policy having to do with Pakistan and the Taliban.  Now that Pakistan is actually taking action, the times reports that it is much more difficult for Pakistan than they originally thought it would be.  They have to destroy elaborate tunnel system to get to the Taliban.  This would not be so difficult if they could resort to what the times calls “the scorched early policy,” but this type of fighting alienates the neutral Pakistanis and throws them further into the hands of the Taliban.  If we support Pakistan by giving them more resources, they will use it for more money in a war that, even with full sustained military action as in the region they are in now, is much more difficult to “win” because of the elusive nature of the enemy.  The soluation?  Humanitarian aid and decisions made by non-western leaders from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Taliban.  This is the only way to get the aid in to the people who need it most.

8.  The extreme home make over Haifa Street Edition.  At least there seems to be some good news in the world. =)  Read the essay on it here.

9. The president of Iran sent a letter to congratulate Mr. Obama upsetting conservatives and receiving praise from moderate politicians.  It will be interesting to see how things turn out for Ahmahenjad in the upcoming election in Iran.  Lord, we ask for your divine presence to be in Iran.  We ask for your spirit to speak to these people.  We ask for your power to present in all of these situations.

10. Father Stephen quotes Kallistos Ware’s Cosmic Christ and it is worth reading to get an Eastern Orthodox perspective on creation.

11.  More talk about Shane Claiborne at Evangelical Political Analysis.

12. Alan Creech gives a timely post on St. Martin in the midst of veterans day.