I really like this Pastoral Servant Leadership class, primarily because Dr. Muthiah teaches so well! He's such a wise and exemplary professor; one whose behavior & preach is equivalently reflected like an ordained clergy! *Maybe he is?! I really like his teaching style; shows how much effort he puts into the curriculum.
We talked about how to teach smart people to learn, because well-educated people do not experience much failures. Their educations and successes have built into this defensive reaction that when challenge comes, they automatically shut down their learning system and tend to blame on others and thus are not learning at times where they need it the most. This was described in a business setting in the article, but it applies to even the churches we have today. How perfect and ideal do the churches seem like, yet is this safe for congregations to allow mistakes? Do the churches transparent enough to accept/admit people's vulnerabilities, including leaders like pastors, worship leaders, deacons or just anyone? And how would the congregations' responses be? I'm not sure how much does this apply to Chinese churches like mine, but I began to see & exam more and deeper if we're fostering a safe environment for people to accept who they are, where they are and the space they can grow into.
Sexual education is quite a no-talk topic in church, but I felt more concerned about it than before. Sexual harassment is often a huge issue in the States but not quite so in Asia. Am I becoming too Americanized? Yet I'm more conscious about it now. Ask for permission before I hug, is at least one step that I'll work toward to. Give people the option to say 'no' is a great way to help others setting the boundaries, at least I believe is so helpful and necessary for the children! =)
We talked about how to teach smart people to learn, because well-educated people do not experience much failures. Their educations and successes have built into this defensive reaction that when challenge comes, they automatically shut down their learning system and tend to blame on others and thus are not learning at times where they need it the most. This was described in a business setting in the article, but it applies to even the churches we have today. How perfect and ideal do the churches seem like, yet is this safe for congregations to allow mistakes? Do the churches transparent enough to accept/admit people's vulnerabilities, including leaders like pastors, worship leaders, deacons or just anyone? And how would the congregations' responses be? I'm not sure how much does this apply to Chinese churches like mine, but I began to see & exam more and deeper if we're fostering a safe environment for people to accept who they are, where they are and the space they can grow into.
Sexual education is quite a no-talk topic in church, but I felt more concerned about it than before. Sexual harassment is often a huge issue in the States but not quite so in Asia. Am I becoming too Americanized? Yet I'm more conscious about it now. Ask for permission before I hug, is at least one step that I'll work toward to. Give people the option to say 'no' is a great way to help others setting the boundaries, at least I believe is so helpful and necessary for the children! =)
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