{"id":14973,"date":"2017-11-03T08:30:28","date_gmt":"2017-11-03T15:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=14973"},"modified":"2017-11-03T08:32:40","modified_gmt":"2017-11-03T15:32:40","slug":"pondering-context-from-a-taxi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/pondering-context-from-a-taxi\/","title":{"rendered":"Pondering context from a taxi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sitting in Bangkok traffic for over an hour can be frustrating, but it has given me time to ponder how to be a critical thinker without being overly critical, yet emphasize what is critical. I don’t know how many of you would admit with me that you looked at the rising scale on the Elder’s Stages of Critical Thinking Development 1<\/sup><\/a>and tried to figure out where you placed yourself? \u201cCritical thinking is, in this context, no<\/span><\/span>t<\/span><\/span> merely <\/span><\/span>an <\/span><\/span>academic affair. It is a learned skill that promises realistic, beneficial pay-offs in all kinds of human activities2<\/sup><\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Often Christians have been accused of shying away from difficult conversations. Elder says, \u201cCritical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it.\u201d3<\/sup><\/a> This week I have been in meetings talking about how to contextualize the gospel to places in what are referred to as, closed countries. With representatives from eleven nations, we discussed challe\"\"<\/a>nges that we were facing. I was humbled to be in the room listening and learning about struggles and concerns that made my heart hurt as tension between culture, religion and government pull people in different directions.\u201cTired of the false promises and disappointments of grand narratives, logocentric theories and dogmatic doctrines, we yearn for people who can make sense of complexity, and offer \u201ccommon sense\u201d answers to difficult questions. This is the goal of critical thinking\u201d 4<\/sup><\/a> I spent a week with some critical thinkers stretching my perceptive of ministry.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How can we as scholars and either present or future critical thinkers challenge ourselves and the norms around us? Context has more to do with the gospel than just making sure one is not proof texting from scripture. It has to do with understanding the culture that you are speaking to and understanding your own preconceived ideas and how they influenced you. \u201c… humans do not naturally consider the rights and needs of others….As humans we liv\"\"<\/a>e with the unrealistic but confident sense that we have fundamentally figured out the way things actually are, and that we have done this objectively.\u201d 5<\/sup><\/a> It is easy to see and contextualize the gospel as it fits into our understanding of the world. Contextualizing the gospel is more than sharing our personal preferences; clothing, times and styles of worship, even that everything is clearly black and white. Contextualizing the gospel means seeing this world and the cultures with it as redeemable by God and being completely aware that we may be totally surprised by what that redeemed culture will look like in the end.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I say all that because ancestor worship was a discussion that was brought up by both the Asian and African representatives. Where can certain aspects of culture be redeemed and where do we have to separate things that do not glorify God? Each of us have a knee jerk reaction with topics like ancestor worship, but if we are critical thinkers, then how do we respond to a discussion like this? As an American who has not participated nor grown up in a family with this background, my opinion shouldn’t be sought out for cultural understanding. Do I have an opinion? I am an American. Elder defined an egocentric person as, \u201cThe uncritical tendency to place one\u2019s culture, nation, religion above all others.\u201d6<\/sup><\/a> So entering into a discussion with the understanding that God is redemptive and I am teachable helps me see a culture, that I do not fully relate to, with a critical mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

In China, the actions of one affects the reputation of the family. When someone dies, how they are honored is critical. Honor is not equal to respect. Chinese hear honor and they think, I will give my life and all my possessions if necessary. Understanding the context of truly honoring someone helps a westerner begin to understand what it means to honor grandparents even after they pass away. Part of the funeral process is for those family members to come before the casket, kneel and worship with incense. Som\"\"<\/a>e church leaders, many who are western, have said you can’t bow in anyway to those that have died. Can you image the shame it brings if a person says publicly they will not bow? What is heard by the community is that they do not honor, love nor respect their family. Following Elder’s Essential Intellectual Traits7<\/sup><\/a> has reminded me that truth comes from what we can learn and is not seen through the lens of our culture. <\/span><\/p>\n

Is there something done on the day of a funeral that is redemptive? After talking with many believers about how to honor family and not worship the dead, they have come to this solution. They publicly kneel when called to do so and pray quietly for the salvation of their family. Privately, they explain to the family what they did and that their prayer was to ask God to bring His love and peace to each member. This act has brought more conversations about spiritual issues within the family than the adamant defiance of excluding oneself from even considering the complexities of critically thinking.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is frustrating but important for critical thinkers to be and to stay aware of that not all persons with whom we communicate with are skilled in critical thinking or do not always exercise their critical thinking skills at every communication event.\u201d 8<\/sup><\/a> Unfortunately<\/span><\/span> in the west, we have and continue to look for the easy answers. <\/span><\/span>However, as we seek the ultimate authority, we can’t turn away from the messy <\/span><\/span>cultural and <\/span><\/span>spiritual<\/span><\/span> issues <\/span><\/span>leaders need to address.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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1<\/a>Paul, Richard & Linda Elder (2014). A Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking, Concepts and Tools<\/em>. 7th<\/sup> ed. Thinkers Guide Library.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2<\/a><\/span>Doughty , Howard A.. R<\/i><\/span>eview Essay<\/i><\/span>.The Limits of Critical Thinking. <\/i><\/span>The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, Volume 11.3, 2006, article 11.p 2<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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3<\/a>Paul, Richard & Linda Elder (2014). A Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking, Concepts and Tools<\/em>. 7th<\/sup> ed. Thinkers Guide Library. 29<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4<\/a><\/span>Doughty , Howard A.. R<\/i><\/span>eview Essay<\/i><\/span>.The Limits of Critical Thinking. <\/i><\/span>The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, Volume 11.3, 2006, article 11.p1<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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5<\/a>Paul, Richard & Linda Elder (2014). A Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking, Concepts and Tools<\/em>. 7th<\/sup> ed. Thinkers Guide Library.202 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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6<\/a>Ibid 269<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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7<\/a>Ibid 165<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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8<\/a><\/span><\/span>Petress, Ken. “Critical Thinking: An Extended Definition.” Education 124, no. 3. 2004. p 463<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sitting in Bangkok traffic for over an hour can be frustrating, but it has given me time to ponder how to be a critical thinker without being overly critical, yet emphasize what is critical. I don’t know how many of you would admit with me that you looked at the rising scale on the Elder’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[290],"class_list":["post-14973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-elder","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14973"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14985,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14973\/revisions\/14985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}