{"id":225,"date":"2006-02-09T10:49:00","date_gmt":"2006-02-09T14:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/?p=225"},"modified":"2006-02-09T10:49:00","modified_gmt":"2006-02-09T14:49:00","slug":"growing-people-gods-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing People God’s Way?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have a habit in our slice of the world. I think it’s the conservative in us. We see the old as the only good. We distrust change. We have difficulty discerning so we keep the bathwater and the baby.<\/p>\n

And then in our preservation, we attach God’s name to it and further reify the old, humanly constructed, and perhaps clich\u00e9d or even dangerous. That dirty, cold, stinky water is somehow called holy just because it’s there.<\/p>\n

1940s infant care becomes “God’s way,” despite its proven medical dangers.<\/p>\n

Misogynistic pictures of marriage become “God’s ideal,” despite their abusive bent.<\/p>\n

Imperialistic ideologies becomes “God’s plan,” despite their lack of moral justification.<\/p>\n

19th-century violent parenting approaches become “God’s command,” despite their lack of biblical support.<\/p>\n

Our views of management are no different. Theory X manangement has become “God’s best,” despite its human construction, its impracticality, and its complete lack of biblical support. Theory X<\/a> assumes that people are stupid, lazy, and selfish. They have to be made to work. Threats, coercion, and micromanaging are the only way to get anything done. Control is the key.<\/p>\n

That’s the way most companies were run in the past. Think Henry Ford and Rockefeller. And when we forget that that’s a human management style, we think that it’s God’s management style. We think that leadership is about control. We think our charges are lazy and fleshly. We think that punishment is the only way to motivate them. We even corrupt the beautiful example of Christ’s servant leadership to mean that we serve those “above” us and lead those “below” us.<\/p>\n

But that’s just not in Scripture. There’s no org chart in the New Testament. None. There’s no “boss” in Paul. There’s Christ washing the disciples’ feet. And you can’t even fathom that in Theory X. No, in Theory X, you’d have to hire an intern to do that dirty work.<\/p>\n

And, in fact, when Paul addresses organizational management<\/a>, he gives the harsher “rebuke” to those most often thought to be “above” the other in the relationship. Parents must not provoke their children to wrath. Husbands must love their wives like Christ loved His church. Masters, don’t threaten (i.e. don’t do Theory X) because your Master in Heaven doesn’t respect your position as much as the world does.<\/p>\n

And yet we’re the biggest Theory Xers when God is so clear that that’s not His best. We create more elaborate org charts. We avoid Matthew-18-conflict management and hide behind the secrecy of the bureaucracy.<\/p>\n

No, God wants us to shepherd. And a shepherd gently nudges, closely carries, prevents missteps, and cleans off dingle-berries. He doesn’t threaten or punish. He knows that his sheep are just sheep, and he’s not after control. Controlling and coercing a sheep is just foolishness. Instead he guides, always knowing that God is, too, gently nudging, closely carrying him too.<\/p>\n

If we’d just be a tad self-reflexive, if we’d just be a tad more informed, we’d be more likely to see the world’s ways for what they really are — shipwrecked replacements for God’s best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have a habit in our slice of the world. I think it’s the conservative<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-think"],"yoast_head":"\nGrowing People God's Way? - A Time To Laugh<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Camille Lewis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2006\\\/02\\\/09\\\/growing-people-gods-way\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2006\\\/02\\\/09\\\/growing-people-gods-way\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Camille Lewis\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82\"},\"headline\":\"Growing People God’s Way?\",\"datePublished\":\"2006-02-09T14:49:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2006\\\/02\\\/09\\\/growing-people-gods-way\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":550,\"commentCount\":7,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Believe\",\"Think\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2006\\\/02\\\/09\\\/growing-people-gods-way\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2006\\\/02\\\/09\\\/growing-people-gods-way\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2006\\\/02\\\/09\\\/growing-people-gods-way\\\/\",\"name\":\"Growing People God's Way? - A Time To Laugh\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-02-09T14:49:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2006\\\/02\\\/09\\\/growing-people-gods-way\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2006\\\/02\\\/09\\\/growing-people-gods-way\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2006\\\/02\\\/09\\\/growing-people-gods-way\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Growing People God’s Way?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Time To Laugh\",\"description\":\"He has made everything beautiful in His time.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82\",\"name\":\"Camille Lewis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Camille Lewis\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/author\\\/cklewis\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Growing People God's Way? - A Time To Laugh","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Camille Lewis","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/"},"author":{"name":"Camille Lewis","@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#\/schema\/person\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82"},"headline":"Growing People God’s Way?","datePublished":"2006-02-09T14:49:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/"},"wordCount":550,"commentCount":7,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#\/schema\/person\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82"},"articleSection":["Believe","Think"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/","url":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/","name":"Growing People God's Way? - A Time To Laugh","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-02-09T14:49:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2006\/02\/09\/growing-people-gods-way\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Growing People God’s Way?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/","name":"A Time To Laugh","description":"He has made everything beautiful in His time.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#\/schema\/person\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#\/schema\/person\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82","name":"Camille Lewis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Camille Lewis"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g"},"url":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/author\/cklewis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}