{"id":29551,"date":"2022-11-16T10:36:53","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T18:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=29551"},"modified":"2022-11-16T10:36:53","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T18:36:53","slug":"wax-on-wax-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wax-on-wax-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Wax on, wax off."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWax on. Wax off.\u201d The famous training method of Mr. Miyagi in <\/span>The Karate Kid<\/span><\/i>. This training involved the young Daniel learning from the seasoned, experienced master through seemingly senseless, menial tasks. But, unbeknownst to Daniel, he was, through relationship and menial drills, becoming a master of martial arts himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eve Poole, in her book <\/span>Leadersmithing<\/span><\/i>,<\/span>[1]<\/span> argues that this is how leaders are formed. Rather than sitting through courses and lectures, one can learn leadership by seeing it like any trade, which requires hands-on training and learning from a master.<\/span> [2]<\/span><\/p>\n

This way of learning was sidelined through the industrial revolution.<\/span>[3]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are two implications I will highlight from Poole\u2019s leadersmithing (the forming of leaders through a lifetime of apprenticing). The first is the development of pastors, and the second is discipleship to our master in the art of Kingdom living.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Training Pastors\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

In reading Poole\u2019s work, my mind immediately leaped to the implications for my NPO, which is focused on the need for training the next pastors for the Northwest District of the ICFG (International Church of the Foursquare Gospel) denomination. The harsh reality is ICFG is experiencing a high number of pastors retiring, and a low number of pastors ready, or willing, to step into pastoring. This is not unique to ICFG.<\/span>[4]<\/span> The main ICFG university, Life Pacific University, is not, according to Dr. Tammy Dunahoo, producing the pastors at the rate it once did in the institution\u2019s early years.<\/span>[5]<\/span> Again, ICFG is not the only Protestant tradition that is seeing a decline in enrollment and pastors being produced. Dr. <\/span>Chloe Tse Sun<\/span> points out that majority culture (white, western) is seeing a decline in church attendance and seminary enrollment as the non-majority culture seminaries are growing in enrollment.<\/span>[6]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is where Poole\u2019s argument for leadership (and in this case, church leadership) being developed through apprenticeships has merit. Dr. Efrem Smith, Pastor of Midtown Church in Sacramento, wrote about the apprenticeship model of training pastors in the black church, \u201c<\/span>We prayed together and went through the scriptures together, and he talked to me about what it means to be a pastor. In other words, he not only taught me; he modeled the role of pastor to me. I shadowed him wherever he went as a pastor.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>[7]<\/span> This is what apprenticing\/leadersmithing can, and, I would argue, ought to look like for training up church leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Apprenticing under Jesus<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The invitation to discipleship is an invitation to apprenticing under the tutelage of Jesus, the master of Kingdom living. As with other apprenticeships, this involves practices, which can have an ethos of \u201cwax on, wax off.\u201d Dallas Willard writes,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>We can, through faith and grace, become like Christ by practicing the types of activities he engaged in, by arranging our whole lives around the activities he himself practiced in order to remain constantly at home in the fellowship of his Father.\u201d<\/span>[8]<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing up, I was incredibly passionate about basketball. But playing in a game was a lot more fun than practicing the seemingly pointless and uninspiring ball-handling drills. But I knew through these practices I became a better player. The game did not begin when the clock started. It began when I was alone in my backyard \u2013 just me with my basketball \u2013 doing drill after drill. As one who hates fasting, I remind myself that this is training for living a life of perpetually being \u201cat home in the fellowship of [my] Father.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Apprenticing involves a relationship with the master (Daniel\u2019s relationship with Mr. Miyagi; our relationship with Jesus) and engaging in the drills the master sets (\u201cwax on, wax off\u201d; spiritual disciplines like fasting; Poole\u2019s <\/span>Critical Incident<\/span><\/i> that create muscle memory for leadership<\/span>[9]<\/span>). This is a never-ending apprenticeship, for leadership is not a title or position one \u201carrives\u201d at. It is a <\/span>lifetime endeavor of growing into the leaders we are meant to be.<\/span>[10]<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/span> Eve Poole, <\/span>Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership<\/span><\/i> (London\u202f; New York, NY: Bloomsbury Business, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2017).<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/span> Ibid. 58, 68-69.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/span> Ibid. 58.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/span> This has come from interviews I have had over the past couple of years with denominational leaders. Notes on the interviews are available upon request.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/span> Tammy Dunahoo, \u201cCultivating a Disciple-Centric Growth Culture in the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel,\u201d <\/span>Seminary Doctoral Programs<\/span><\/i>, February 1, 2021, https:\/\/digitalcommons.georgefox.edu\/dmin\/426, 7-8.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/span> Chloe Tse Sun, <\/span>Attempt Great Things for God: Theological Education in Diaspora<\/span><\/i>, Theological Education between the Times (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020), (kindle loc. 644 of 2161).<\/span><\/p>\n

[7]<\/span> Efrem Smith, <\/span>The Post-Black and Post-White Church: Becoming the Beloved Community in a Multi-Ethnic World<\/span><\/i> (S.l.: Fortress Press, 2020), 111.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8]<\/span> Dallas Willard, <\/span>The Spirit of the Disciplines – Reissue: Understanding How God Changes Lives<\/span><\/i> (Zondervan, 1990), ix.<\/span><\/p>\n

[9]<\/span> Poole, <\/span>Leadersmithing, 111<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[10]<\/span> Ibid. 181.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWax on. Wax off.\u201d The famous training method of Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid. This training involved the young Daniel learning from the seasoned, experienced master through seemingly senseless, menial tasks. But, unbeknownst to Daniel, he was, through relationship and menial drills, becoming a master of martial arts himself. \u00a0 Eve Poole, in her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"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":[2452,2451,2091,2090,2453],"class_list":["post-29551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-apprenticing","tag-karate-kid","tag-leadersmithing","tag-poole","tag-training-pastors","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29551","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\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29551"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29552,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29551\/revisions\/29552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}