I was reading an article I found recently called “Temptations Facing the Christian Academic” by Elmer Thiessen in a journal I believe entitled Direction and thought there were several thoughts that are relevant to any of us who are in a position where we are influencing, teaching, or educating others consistently.
Here’s a few temptations for teachers (and I believe leaders as well) that you might want to consider:
1. Indoctrination
Thiessen writes that people who are teachers are “…all in danger of abusing our power. Teaching can degenerate into indoctrination. Indoctrination, understood pejoratively, involves the abuse of a teacher’s power.” (60) One form of abuse of power among leaders is indoctrination, where the teacher uses their authority and power to bend those under their influence to their agenda or will. An extreme form of this would be the cult leader, but many of us have encountered people that revile in their doctrine to the point where their teaching is centered around their doctrinal or political agenda as opposed to the greater good for the learners.
I believe history and the local news tells us that many people are very impressionable and are swayed by a variety of things. Thiessen comments that we “tend to exaggerate human freedom.” (60) Teachers can use their authority and position to do great good or great damage, regardless of whether they had good intentions or not.
2. Facilitating Dependence Rather Than Maturity
Thiessen writes, “The aim of every teacher should be to make himself or herself redundant, to have students become their own teachers.” (61) There is a temptation of people with that kind of power to keep themselves central to the learning and development process. This is common temptation for those in the ministry because of how good it feels to be needed and to be making a difference. The bottom line is that teachers/leaders can keep themselves central to the learning process and short-circuit the actual desired outcome. Leaders and teachers need to empower others and make themselves expendable as it relates to the learning process. They need to work themselves out of a job, not teach and lead to ensure their job security. This is servant leadership.
3. Worldliness (Quest for Fame and Self-Importance)
Thiessen frames this temptation in light of the temptation of academic types to crave recognition by peers and even measures of fame. There’s a general craving in our society to be famous, but I see this temptation quite evident among ministry leaders and pastors as well. The explosion of social media has increased this temptation in my mind, but the temptation leaders and teachers face is to use their authority and platform and influence to gain more personal significance. Whether it’s to hit the speaking tours, book tours, or whatever other venues there are today, it’s a temptation to use what we have to try to gain more and that is not always a good thing.
There are others such as arrogance and isolationism, but I’m curious what you think about these temptations. Do you think some of these are more prominent than others for today’s leader?
Do you see yourself succumbing to any of them in your own position of influence?
Are there other temptations that are significant not mentioned here that you would add?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
What's interesting for us in the field of college ministry is that we, like the Christian academic, have an easier time than most abusing our authority – but for different reasons. In the case of the academic (or Christian "celebrity"), their position can make the three things you talked about happen more quickly.
But in our case, it's our audience that's more susceptible (than most audiences) to falling into this. So as college ministers, we can fall into these traps without much warning. As we've seen in the history of college ministry, there's no easier place to start a cult – so what does that mean for not-quite-cults?
Thanks for calling for big-time wisdom here. On a college campus, indoctrination looks an awful lot like biblical literacy, dependence looks an awful lot like spiritual thirst, and a mass following can be too quickly assumed to be the fruit of our labor in the Lord.
I might add, especially for our world, Facilitating True Depth vs. Gnosticism.
Thanks for the thoughts Benson. I appreciate that given how much you've seen on the ground level across the country. This stream of thought can be somewhat frightening because it calls us to continually be able to self-evaluate with an open mind, which requires a measure of character that often eludes many of us.
I've particularly been bothered in the past by how dependence is equated with "teachability" or spiritual thirst as you mentioned. We end up developing leaders according to who puts up the least resistance to our efforts to get them to do what we want them to do because they're "faithful, available, teachable." We do need big time wisdom because many assumptions that have been passed on in ministry need to be re-evaluated, especially as we continue to see and experience the fruit of those assumptions.
I love the phrase "not-quite-cults" too
Great thoughts, Brian. I have fallen into all three of these traps before. When I read your dissection of these issues, it all seems so clear: “Of course I would never want to do those things!” But as you stated, in real life the nuances are much more subtle. I don’t have any grand thoughts to add. But you’ve really given me a lot to chew on…thanks!