Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Part Two
I want to share with you the book report part two, Peter Scazzero’s book. Here I concentrated two parts; first the symptoms of emotionally unhealthy spirituality and second the antidote/ solution. Many of the symptoms the author mentioned here are related to our ministry. Italics are quotations from the book.
12 Things UBF Taught Me (4)
“Manger spirit” – The manger is perhaps the most recognizable Christian symbol, next to the cross. ubf taught me “manger spirit” and gave a whole new meaning to this symbol. Sometimes this was expressed as “manger ministry”. And the teaching is about the manger, literally. This teaching was not about Jesus directly, but about imitating what Jesus did. Jesus was born in a manger and became the Savoir of the world. Likewise, I was taught that I too could become a “savoir” and “be a blessing” only when I imitate the manger.
12 Things UBF Taught Me (3)
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Campus Evangelism” – The third point in the ubf heritage is about college campus ministry. I normally combined “World Mission” and “Campus Evangelism” in to one slogan “World Campus Mission”. But really there are two slogans here. Campus evangelism refers to some specific lifestyle choices that are eventualy required of bible students in ubf (called “sheep”).
12 Things UBF Taught Me (2)
“Do world mission” – The second point in the ubf heritage is World Mission. I learned that World Mission is something you do. The idea is that people in the world are in terrible shape. The “world” was defined as everyone outside ubf. All those worldly people are from many different countries, and the worst of them are on 561 American campuses. [Note: The 561 number came from a old Navigator survey that found 561 major campuses in America at the time.]
I’m Done…Writing Testimonies
In 2007, 27 years after being in UBF, I woke up one morning and said to myself, “I’m done writing testimonies for the rest of my blessed Christian life in UBF!” I uttered this to myself because I have written at least one testimony a week, every single week without fail for 27 years. But it does not mean that I no longer share. In fact, I share at weekly meetings just as much. I just do not read a written testimony but share orally. To some I share and speak too much! Pray for me to learn self-control and speak less (Jas 1:19) and give others a chance to speak!
12 Things UBF Taught Me (1)
“Go back to the bible” – The first and most obvious thing ubf taught me was to read the bible. I wasn’t taught to study the bible as in seminary school. It was more of a command to stop worrying about my problems and go seek answers in the bible. Don’t become defeated or fatalistic about your life. Don’t struggle with people or problems, wrestle with God through the bible with a holy struggle. Don’t spend too much time dealing with inter-personal conflict, but go and read your bible. Don’t engage in godless chatter. Be quiet and read the bible.
UBF Doctrine – Introduction
What does ubf believe? What are their doctrines? The answers to these questions have been ellusive at best for over 50 years. Some people point to ubf’s Presbyterian roots. Some point to Samuel Lee’s lectures. Some claim ubf is just a “mainline evangelical church”. But none of these accurately describes what ubf officially believes. There is no official doctrine statement. There is no “core values” document. What we have is the “missinoary pledge”, but that doesn’t begin to explain what ubf officially teaches or believes. In some sense, ubf is a “one-legged stool”, focusing on orthopraxy while ignoring or marginalizing orthodoxy and orthopathy. The best we have (insiders or outsiders) is the ubf heritage list.
A Korean Critic
Critical thinking. Can a Korean do it? Could a Korean display the healthy attributes of a critic? After spending tens of thousands of hours with Koreans in ubf ministry for over two decades, my conclusion was, “no way”. But once again, I am proved wrong! Koreans can and do think critically. Here is one good example. In 1998, a Korean man named Yo Sup Lee wrote a seminary paper that reviewed the discipleship methods of Korean parachurch groups. One of the groups he studied was ubf. I find his analysis remarkably accurate.
If UBF Would Listen…
Over the past few weeks there has been more than usual comments and articles that I, who love to read your stuff, can’t keep up! The cynical part of me remembers what UBF leaders would say about the recent increased activity on UBFriends: “This is happening because of Satan’s severe attack to hinder us from preparing our whole hearts for the 2013 ISBC.” Regardless, I thought that the recent comments by namuehling, Joshua, and Brian Karcher articulated clearly what the UBF system did to them—and to nameless and countless other exUBFers who find it too painful to revisit their woundedness while in UBF. Of course, UBF contributed some benefit to them by the work of the Holy Spirit. But the sad and painful reality is that over the last five decades, UBF has also caused much wounding and abuse in the name of shepherding, which may take years to address (when we are ready to address them), not to mention correct.
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