Mentoring Paradigm 1: Mentoring the foundation of life
Our inaugural study of our post-Omega series. In this reflection Edmund Chan defines the layers that make up our lives:
1. The substructure is "who we are, what we do when no one sees". The Christian looks for "a life of worship lived before God in the fear of Him, held together by humility, wisdom and perseverance". This "is the work of a lifetime"
2. The structure, he defines as the areas we need to guard us in our pesronal life. This means the time we spend with family, spiritual friends and the community of God's people.
3. The superstructure is the outward accomplishments of our life and ministry, built by competence and skill... established by working excellently. It is noteworthy that this is not wrong in and of itself, but that our superstructure should be fully supported by the strength of the substructure and structure.
I asked: is this categorization Biblical? These are not terms found in Scripture! Yet the Bible indeed makes reference to internal factors as the foundation or life-giving source of our lives. We are to be 'trees planted by the water' (Jer 17:8, Ps 1:3).We are branches attached to the Vine (Jn 15:5). We are not only to 'do', but to 'be' as we 'do'. This life foundation is formed by trusting the Lord (Jer 17:8) by obeying His word (Matt 7:24). The underlying assumption behind the trust and obedience is radical God-centeredness. Our highest joy and greatest treasure is in the LORD.
We can see so much of ourselves in the story of Saul in1 Sam 13:1-14. He failed to wait as instructed for Samuel (v.8). So he sinned by being disobedient (v.13). His actions were guided by the difficult circumstances in which he found himself (v.5-7, 12, 8), not by trust in God's ways and timing. He felt that he needed to make a religious gesture even though he had no personal connection with God in the offering he made. When questioned, he responded (v. 11) by i) blaming Samuel indirectly, ii) quoting the direness of circumstances and iii) claiming that he had to make a hard decision. The last implies that, given the same situation, he had no choice but to do things his way even though he knew his action was questionable. 'He would have done it again'. There is no hint of contrition. He even justified his actions with religious language (v.12 "I have not sought the Lord's favour). How like Saul we are!
Saul's lack of a personal relationship with God manifested in a life of habitual disobedience that results in his descendants losing the throne (v.12), and he himself rejected as king over Israel (15:26). Yet the cautionary part of the tale is that Saul ruled over Israel a good length of time (v.1). He ruled, fought battles and generally would have appeared like a perfectly competent king, except to those who knew him well. His reign ended in madness and violent death, but till the end it would have been hard for many to see the lack of substructures and structures that doomed him.
We spent some time talking about how so many people we know are in work situations where work consumes them, leaving no time to build substructures and structures. Amelia said that when bosses and colleagues see that we can be 'pushed', they will 'push' us harder in terms of placing more work on us. Joyce shared that she tries to protect staff under her by taking on more load on her own shoulders. We all realize that in a competitive work environment, drawing lines where our work is concerned can likely result in loss of performance bonuses or promotions.
Let us strive to be people who, when people know us better and better, will respect our integrity more and more, instead of them losing respect for us when they see us for what we really are like!
We celebrated Wen Jin's birthday! (late)
1. The substructure is "who we are, what we do when no one sees". The Christian looks for "a life of worship lived before God in the fear of Him, held together by humility, wisdom and perseverance". This "is the work of a lifetime"
2. The structure, he defines as the areas we need to guard us in our pesronal life. This means the time we spend with family, spiritual friends and the community of God's people.
3. The superstructure is the outward accomplishments of our life and ministry, built by competence and skill... established by working excellently. It is noteworthy that this is not wrong in and of itself, but that our superstructure should be fully supported by the strength of the substructure and structure.
I asked: is this categorization Biblical? These are not terms found in Scripture! Yet the Bible indeed makes reference to internal factors as the foundation or life-giving source of our lives. We are to be 'trees planted by the water' (Jer 17:8, Ps 1:3).We are branches attached to the Vine (Jn 15:5). We are not only to 'do', but to 'be' as we 'do'. This life foundation is formed by trusting the Lord (Jer 17:8) by obeying His word (Matt 7:24). The underlying assumption behind the trust and obedience is radical God-centeredness. Our highest joy and greatest treasure is in the LORD.
We can see so much of ourselves in the story of Saul in1 Sam 13:1-14. He failed to wait as instructed for Samuel (v.8). So he sinned by being disobedient (v.13). His actions were guided by the difficult circumstances in which he found himself (v.5-7, 12, 8), not by trust in God's ways and timing. He felt that he needed to make a religious gesture even though he had no personal connection with God in the offering he made. When questioned, he responded (v. 11) by i) blaming Samuel indirectly, ii) quoting the direness of circumstances and iii) claiming that he had to make a hard decision. The last implies that, given the same situation, he had no choice but to do things his way even though he knew his action was questionable. 'He would have done it again'. There is no hint of contrition. He even justified his actions with religious language (v.12 "I have not sought the Lord's favour). How like Saul we are!
Saul's lack of a personal relationship with God manifested in a life of habitual disobedience that results in his descendants losing the throne (v.12), and he himself rejected as king over Israel (15:26). Yet the cautionary part of the tale is that Saul ruled over Israel a good length of time (v.1). He ruled, fought battles and generally would have appeared like a perfectly competent king, except to those who knew him well. His reign ended in madness and violent death, but till the end it would have been hard for many to see the lack of substructures and structures that doomed him.
We spent some time talking about how so many people we know are in work situations where work consumes them, leaving no time to build substructures and structures. Amelia said that when bosses and colleagues see that we can be 'pushed', they will 'push' us harder in terms of placing more work on us. Joyce shared that she tries to protect staff under her by taking on more load on her own shoulders. We all realize that in a competitive work environment, drawing lines where our work is concerned can likely result in loss of performance bonuses or promotions.
Let us strive to be people who, when people know us better and better, will respect our integrity more and more, instead of them losing respect for us when they see us for what we really are like!
We celebrated Wen Jin's birthday! (late)
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