Christ, Culture, & Critical Thinking

Well, I am finally back to write a post. As you may or may not know, I am completing a master's degree in educational psychology. This represents a two-year journey coming to a close - Praise the Lord! While I love learning and studying and researching and writing, it is very difficult to balance the other part of life that I love (i.e., family, friends, and fun) with school. I am a bit of a perfectionist (surprise, surprise) when it comes to coursework, so this journey has been quite challenging. More than anyone, Steve and the boys are ready for me to be back in body, mind, and spirit (cooking and playing will be nice, too). They have been very supportive (well, Steve has, anyway) during these two years, but we are all counting the days until I am done on June 12! A summer off of work and school sounds dreamy at this point!

My master's project is a literature review culminating in an educational model providing faculty development for online instructors to support critical thinking skills in higher education. So what? - You ask.... Well, actually this topic falls in line with the processing I am have been blogging about for the last 3 months. I believe it is a lack of critical thinking that contributes greatly to problems faced in our culture. So often we leave the deep thinking to those with letters behind their names, those in powerful positions, those with articulate views, or simply those with the loudest voices. Even worse, many people rely on the opinions of Hollywood stars and the media more than their own common sense (if they have any, that is). It is quite disturbing, to say the least.

Each of us can not be experts on every controversial topic; but, I believe, God does place passions within the Christians' hearts that draw us to particular areas of engagement. We need to seriously obey His guidance when it comes to these passions. We must contribute to the body of Christ as He leads. Such obedience involves critical thinking.

Critical thinking is directed, disciplined, monitored thinking. It involves intentional effort focused upon continually improving the quality of one's thought by taking control of processing a subject or problem (Paul & Ellis, 2006). Taking control means reading and researching multiple sides of an issue, being open-minded, and skillfully synthesizing facts and opinions, while recognizing that there will always be additional facts and opinions in the future. More importantly, as a Christian, it also means giving God one's agenda and one's bias; and it means seeking His Truth within this pursuit more than man's cultural persuasion. Critical thinking is challenging, but under God's leadership and revelation, it is incredibly fulfilling.

Read Acts 4:13 (NIV) - "When they saw the courage of Peter and John, and realized that these were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus."

This scripture gives me confidence in pursuing critical thinking for the glory of God. While I truly enjoy learning, I do not need to wait for the letters behind my name to have a voice. This is particularly poignant for me because I work in an institution of higher education. In such an environment, it is commonplace to be "looked down upon" because of the education one lacks. I believe we all have examples of this experience in our lives. And, SO DID PETER & JOHN!!! They were fishermen standing before the religious council proclaiming Christ's teachings. Backing up a bit, Christ did not choose the religious leaders and the politicians of the day to be his disciples - He chose ordinary, unschooled men!!!

Let this scriptural example give you confidence to pursue the passions Christ gives you. Pursue critical thinking and prepare yourself to share with those around you. Critical thinkers care about the message, they care about all sides of the issue, and they seek to effectively communicate in ways that Christ followers, and those who do not choose Christ, may take note and listen (i.e., move beyond personal bias; uncover the foundational issues; address the issues based on substantiated facts and revelation; and do so in an intelligent, respectful, and loving manner). Oh - love does not equal peace, folks. The enemy is not going to idly sit back and respect the message.... no matter how it is presented.

I Corinthians 16:13-14 (NLT) - "Be on guard. Stand true to what you believe. Be courageous. Be strong. And everything you do must be done in love."

This world does not belong to the enemy - it belongs to its Creator. As children of the Creator, it is our responsibility and privilege to know Him better than our culture. He will show us how to engage the culture in Christlikeness. Do not rely only on the powerful, the loud, the educated, the charismatic, the entertaining, the passionate.... Do not be deceived by these characteristics and achievements - God works through all who depend on Him.

God continues to teach me so much, but I just do not have time to process it all on this blog. I pray you will continue to hang in here with me so we can continue to journey together. I will be back....

"Let the words of Christ, in all of their richness, live in your hearts." Colossians 3:16-17

Reference

Ellis, R.P., & Elder, L. (2006). The miniature guide to critical thinking: Concepts and tools. Dillon Beach, CA: The Foundation for Critical Thinking.

See also www.criticalthinking.org