Monday evening, at 8 p.m., the second preparatory meeting was held to set up a sector level meeting within the church. At the meeting, I.G. Kang and D.S. Jeong researched and presented how London’s All Souls Church and New York’s Redeemer Church were doing education/training on workplace and faith. The rest of us listened and discussed on the topic.
There are two main aspects of education that can be considered in relation to the sector level meeting. The first is a personality understanding of “work” that people in all areas should know in common, and the second is a philosophy or practice that each area should have specifically. However, if you look at the curriculum of the two churches today, the first one is somewhat designed as a curriculum, with a small number of seminars or student training, while the second one is not.
Since both churches are internationally recognized, the pool of talented people should be wide enough to create a curriculum, so I was sad to find out there is no solid curriculum.
In order to have many churches to use and to popularize the process, it is necessary to have a curriculum so that the process can be easily transferred. A few experienced instructors or related recommendations are not enough.
Still, as Redeemer Church has defined 15 areas and recommended books needed for each area, it might be necessary to read through them and create a system based on reading. If it can be done, we can set up leaders in each area, educate them, and set up a meeting around them.
The true contextualization of the gospel is not to create the outer shell of the gospel, but to create an evangelical philosophy that is applicable and provides direction within each area.
Beyond physical distinctions (activities in church buildings) or religious-type in-work meetings (worship, prayer, Bible study, and evangelism based gathering) in the world, we can then teach functions/values that God originally intended in each area and let people live through. After all, it is up to the pastor to prove God’s will in all areas. Just as Dr. Francis Schaeffer taught Christianity across philosophy, art, medicine, and movies in many ways, the church should help prepare Christians to live as witnesses in the world outside the church.
If I think about why I couldn’t do this earlier, it’s sad that time has passed too fast. However, I want to create a step by step process that establishes God’s big picture, unique personality philosophy, and ideas in each area based on my understanding of the Bible that I have developed so far.
“Lord, give us your wisdom and teach us well.”