A Chinese protestor blocks a line of tanks heading east on Beijing’s Changan Blvd. June 5, 1989 in front of the Beijing Hotel. The man, calling for an end to the violence and bloodshed against pro-democracy demonstrators at Tiananmen Square, was pulled away by bystanders, and the tanks continued on their way.

Before you read this article please watch this clip. This is one of my favorite clips of all time: Tank Man Raw Footage

If you do not know who this man is, he is known as the tank man and the event is the protest of Tiananmen Square June 5, 1989 (the year I was born, an auspicious year!)

Every time I watch this footage or look at the clip I get chills. Yet this man remains unknown to this day. He disappeared into the crowds shortly after his “moment of self-transcendence.” Not only is this man’s identity a mystery, but so are the details of the event itself, the student protest of Tiananmen Square. The Chinese government has never disclosed the actual number of deaths. The Chinese government wants to play it off as if it never happened. They will not acknowledge that they were wrong while the students were right. Read the TIME’s 1989 cover story: here

This brings me to the point of this article stated in the sub-title: language defines reality. The one who tells the story controls the narrative. This has been repeated over and over again in history. Let me give some examples.

Armenian Genocide

I did my undergrad in Turkey. There, we were required to take a class on Turkish History. The professor was exceptional, except for one thing; she was in denial about the Armenian genocide (1915-1918; estimated deaths 1.5 million) . She taught that 1 million Armenians simply died from the difficult trek across Turkey. Even when I asked my class mates about this event, they had no opinion on it. It just didn’t happen or the fact that it happened or not did not matter to them.

Holodomor

I also lived in Ukraine for 6 years. Everyone knows about the Holocaust (1938-1945) where 6 million Jews were killed and 5 million non-Jews. But what about the artificial famine in Ukraine (1932-1933) were 7 million Ukrainians were starved to death, not because of a lack of food but because of a ruthless decree? The world did not know about it and foreign correspondents who knew kept quiet. Even today so many people don’t know about it. Watch a trailer on it: here.

Injustice like this continues to happen today. When I was in Ukraine this time last year a Malaysian airliner was shot down.

“Russia, however, denied all allegations it supplied weaponry to the rebels and has instead suggested a Ukrainian military plane had flown within firing range of the airliner just before it came down. The Ukrainian government rejected the claims.”

If Russia did not supply the weaponry, who did? It is obvious that Ukraine lacks the military artillery to bring down a plane. Moreover, that week Ukrainian planes had been shot down, so are they saying that Ukrainians are shooting their own planes? Not only that but when Media blames the “Pro-Russian Separatists” Who do you think is funding the pro-Russians? Think about it.

Anyway I write this article not so that all those reading will think the same way that I do, but so that those reading will see how language dictates reality. Communist governments have taken advantage of this. Look at North Korea, they indoctrinate their people with the idea that they are the best, that they live in plenty and that the outside world is their enemy. Their reality is spoon fed to them by their government.

The same thing happens here in the US. Everyone eats up what the media gives them. The problem is not a lack of education or resources, but a lack of interest. Ray Bradbury said, “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” My plea for those who read this is to get educated on the Armenian Genocide, Holodomor, Darfur , Arab-Israeli Conflict, Tiananmen Square, etc. Do not just eat up everything on tv. Do that brave tank man justice and hear his story. Do not let the government rob him of his identity a second time.

I want to finish with a quote from Azar Nafisi:

“I want to remind you of what Nabokov wrote when he was asked to tone down his criticism of the Soviet Union during World War II: ‘Governments come and go, only the trace of genius remains.’ That statement certainly came true for Eastern Europe. When you tell your own story, you take control over reality. In Iran, reality had power over us. And one way of negating that control was by telling our own stories. When you tell your story from your own perspective, then those people lose their power. It’s like Scheherazade, in A Thousand and One Nights. She changed the King through telling the story, and that was the whole idea of my book.”

What are your reactions to this article? Have you heard about the Tiananmen Square Masssacre, the Armenian Genocide, Holodomor or the Malaysian Airliner shot down July 2014 before? Do you agree that language determines reality? What is the story that you will share with the world? Do you  Question Everything?

Additional Reading:

5 Things You Should Know About the Tiananmen Square Massacre

My Resistance to the Cult Label

It must be noted first that the term cult did not come from me. I resisted this label for decades. Even after leaving, I wrestled with whether to use this term or not. In the past, I was “Mr. UBF” and argued intensely to defend the UBF organization for many years (2002 to 2007). I worked with Sarah Barry and others to erase negative information about UBF on the internet. I called Mr. Fisk of the NAE to argue in favor of re-instating UBF to the NAE organization. So for most of my life I hated the cult label and fought hard to remove it.

In 2008 I met John Jun at a UBF staff conference breakfast and listened to him gleefully tell me how UBF lawyers had removed the threat of Chris and his ubf-hate website. My eyes began opening to the facts.

In 2009 or so I discovered that James Kim (of Toledo UBF) had died. I was furious that no one told me so that I could attend his funeral. I was told another James Kim drove Paul Hong and Mark Gamber to the funeral. After this I decided to read the entire letters of James Kim and Rebekah Kim. I highly recommend reading these and processing them. Charles recently posted the links in a comment here.

Where does the cult label come from?

I began researching the issue online in the following years. I have now built up my priestly>nation website as a resource for links to everything related to UBF. One major resource is my list of links to newspaper articles that mention UBF as a cult, most of which pre-date the widespread use of the internet. The cult label started being applied to UBF right away in Korea and later in 1977, after missionaries from Korea UBF went to Canada.

http://www.priestlynation.com/newspapers/

There are now many organizations that have files on UBF. The primary two, in the West at least, are from Rick Ross and Steven Hassan. Both websites have a wealth of information about undue religious influence and how to cope with such influence. Both have extensive documentation about UBF.

The cult label came from the public. That is the primary way the public still sees ubf in 2015.

Cult Education Institute
http://www.culteducation.com/faq.html

Freedom of Mind Resource Center
https://freedomofmind.com/Info/

What does the term cult mean?

My first source is Merriam-Webster’s dictionary.

: a small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion and that has beliefs regarded by many people as extreme or dangerous

: a situation in which people admire and care about something or someone very much or too much

: a small group of very devoted supporters or fans

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult

The cult label conjures up a lot of emotion and images but in itself, the word cult is not bad. For example, I am a full-fledged “member” of the Star Wars cult! I love all things Star Wars. In this sense, the term cult refers to the fanaticism that can surround many things. Some see a Jesus fan-club cult in the West. These things are not necessarily dangerous or harmful; just a phenomena.

Qualities of Cults in Religion

In the religious realm, the word cult takes on a different nuance. Lifton and Singer are two of the most robust thinkers in the use of the word cult in religion. In my 24 year experience at UBF and my 4 years experience outside UBF has given me thousands of examples of how Toledo UBF and UBF HQ fits into the realm of the religious use of the cult label.

Lifton’s Three Qualities of a Cult

• A charismatic leader, who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose power.
• A process [is in use] call[ed] coercive persuasion or thought reform.
• Economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie.

Singer’s Three Qualities of a Destructive Cult

• The origin of the group and role of the leader.
• The power structure, or relationship between the leader[s] and the followers.
• The use of a coordinated program of persuasion, which is called thought reform [or more commonly, ‘brainwashing'”].

I would urge everyone to read the material on the FAQ at the Cult Education Institute and make up your own mind. The six most liberating words ever spoken to me were from John Armstrong: “I will not bind your conscience”. So while I use the term cult, everyone here is free to disagree. I only ask that we are able to discuss reasons why we disagree.

http://www.culteducation.com/faq.html

What kind of cult is ubf?

Clearly ubf was a personality cult from 1961 to 2002, the span of Samuel Lee’s influence. There are still many pockets of personality cult life in various ubf chapters where there is a strongly narcissistic leader who needs some sort of narcissistic supply to function. My term for ubf is that the organization as a whole is a destructive ideology cult. Here are seven reasons why.

1) Family neglect.

The first reason ubf is a cult is because they teach neglect of family. Using proof-texted ideas from the bible, they claim that it is more spiritual and pleasing to God to sacrifice your family and be mission-centered. ubf is now your family. Don’t believe me? Then try this. Share a testimony at ubf entitled “God’s will is to be family-centered. One word: I love my family.” And then skip a ubf meeting for a family event. You can expect to find many angry and sad faces when you return. To say you are “family-centered” at ubf means you are unspiritual, sinful and in danger of losing God’s approval according to ubf teaching. They further disrespect family by the requirement that every ubf shepherd must go through their arranged marriage process called “marriage by faith”.

2) Identity breaking.

The second reason ubf is a cult is because they are identity snatchers. They encourage you to adopt the viewpoint that your pre-ubf life is bad, sinful, unspiritual and the like. Your new ubf life is now good, holy and pleasing to God if you adopt the “Shepherd X” identity. To make a decision to be a ubf shepherd means everything to ubf people. Your pre-ubf identity is chipped away and cut out, meeting by meeting, until you lose touch with your authentic self. This is done in the name of self-denial and taking up your cross, strongly bound to more proof-texted ideas from bible verses. Dr. Hassan describes this as the cult identity, and it has just enough of “you” to make it seem real. ubf breaks you down through sleep deprivation at numerous conferences, continual indoctrination at daily meetings and repeated reminders of your shortcomings. Your identity becomes assimilated into the ubf community, as your life becomes intertwined with other members’ lives.

3) Decision control.

The third reason ubf is a cult is that the shepherds at ubf manipulate the members (called sheep) to control and check their life decisions, such as who to marry, when to marry, where to work, where to live, etc. The supreme values of most ubf people are loyalty and obedience to the ubf authorities. The leaders take control of people’s lives. Some leaders are called directors because they are charged with directing the affairs of their own chapter or sub-community within the ubf network. ubf leaders live a scripted life. Going “off script” is rarely tolerated, especially for repeated offenses. ubf leaders have a very difficult time in any situation where they cannot control the outcome.

4) Culture destruction.

The fourth reason ubf is a cult organization is that they destroy the culture of the host countries they send missionaries to. They consider American or German or Mexican culture to be bad or at best only useful for propagating the ubf culture. Being Korean is not bad. There are many good things about Koreans. But ubf missionaries from Korea have made the big mistake of imposing their own culture onto the countries where they go. A survey of people in ubf once asked people to describe their own ministry in one word. The most repeated word was simply “Korean”. ubf missionaries tend to ignore their host country culture and often speak of being “re-charged” by going back to Korea for a visit. After several years at ubf, a member discovers that they speak with Korean-english, eat Korean food and value the Korean Confucian ideas of loyalty, nobility, authority, etc. They also find a great disdain for their own culture.

5) Abuse of all kinds that is not acknowledged.

The final and most important reason why ubf is a harmful cult is because many incidents of abuse have been covered over since 1961 when ubf began in Korea. It is surprisingly well known among ubf leaders that there are incidents of sexual abuse, physical abuse, financial abuse, spiritual abuse and authority abuse. ubf teaches “covering doctrine”, which means leaders’ sins cannot be discussed or challenged in any way. They teach the notion that it is your duty to hide the abuse or sin of a leader. This flawed theology is again proof-texted from the bible with almost no reality check with the thousands of Christian authors and preachers who would expose such teachings. ubf has created an environment where abuse is swept under the rug and corruption thrives under the pretty masks of the appearance of godliness. While most ubf chapters are free of the sexual or physical types of abuse, verbal abuse and financial abuse is widespread.

6) Glory story fabrication

The ubf mindset is prone to rejecting perspectives and valuing intention over facts. mrkimmathclass is correct in that I was foolish to break into James Kim’s house. Who would do such a thing? No one ordered us to do that with a direct command. The reason we did such a thing is that we were fed glory stories–we believed the narrative that James and his family had asked Toledo UBF for help to move while they were in Houston. We believed the glory story that we were blessing them to become missionaries. At the time we had no idea about the god-father power struggles with Samuel Lee. That is why we were so confused when James and Rebekah were SO furious when they returned. Didn’t they appreciate our help? Why are they so angry and unthankful? Well now I understand because I faced the facts of that situation.

7) KOPAHN/12 slogans/shepherding ideology

We’ve already discussed the “kingdom of priest and holy nation” shepherding flaws extensively here. I have no desire to talk about such things but you can read all about these teachings that are so highly prized and even guarded by a new ubf website. If your ubf chapter has not specifically addressed these ideological flaws, you are still in the cult.

http://www.ubfriends.org/?s=what+ubf+taught+me

http://www.priestlynation.com/this-is-your-brain-on-ubf/

Why did I join? Why did I stay? Why did I leave?

In my books (which are onsale now 3 for the price of 1!) I share all about these three questions. My second book, “Goodness Found: The Butterfly Narratives” is where I process these questions directly.

I joined because of the promise of goodness. ubf offered many low-commitment/high-reward promises. They offered a noble dream of being a shepherd, which I was keen to since I had wanted to be a Catholic priest since I was 16 years old. The poured on my much praise and flattery. Mixed in with all this was a genuine spiritual awakening due to my father’s death in 1989. I had joined ubf in 1987.

I stayed for 24 years, until 2011, because the ubf ideology redefined goodness. What is good? Well going to the ubf activities is good! Everything else is bad, even family. The ubf system is primarily what I rail against, all of which fed my own desire for glory:

• Six Stages of Training
• One Cult Identity
• Three Layers of Burden
• Four Elements of Control
• Twelve Heritage Slogans

I left due to my discovery of goodness. I started reading about Spurgeon and the gospel of Christianity. The goodness of transformation by the Holy Spirit overcame me when I read Christian books. The goodness of a virtual community (like ubfriends) brought much peace and light and healing to my soul. And the goodness of LGBTQIA people who accepted me helped me re-connect with goodness again. Most importantly my wife and mother and all my family became my bedrock of goodness again.

Here is a quote from my second book:

“For the most part, I feel that I was drawn out of UBF. One could say the Holy Spirit lead me to UBF and lead me away from UBF in order to display God’s goodness. That drawing out began in 2003 when my family moved to Detroit as UBF pioneers. My time in Toledo UBF was intensely regulated the entire 16 years, being consumed by attending UBF meetings on a daily basis. But my time in Detroit was free of such meetings. For the most part, our family was left alone. The downside of this was that we felt abandoned and had no support to actually build up a Christian church. The upside was that we had no more direct supervision from UBF missionaries. We were free! I used this time at first to defend UBF ideologies on the internet. But it was quickly pointed out to me by former UBF members that my situation as a “pioneering” family was very different from normal a UBF experience. I could not but agree. And one by one, all my defenses of UBF fell apart. I desperately wanted to defend the organization that I had given my blood, sweat and tears for. As my defenses fell apart, I began seeking Christian writings and sermons. I fell in love with the work of Charles Spurgeon. I met my grandparents’ pastor several times and read some of the Christian books he gave me. All this lead me to have a strong desire for community.”

One final note

In the end it was and has been the gospel of Jesus Christ that set me free from UBF ideology and is breaking every chain!  Please read Isabelle’s book and process all these things:  “I Choose: Subtlety in Cults“

Are you entangled?

I hope no one spends this holiday season agonizing over the question of whether to leave ubf or not. That is an important question, but the lie is that this question is of utmost importance. As a friend and pastor advised me, that question is not a life or death matter. What is far more important are questions like these: Am I entangled by the contradictions in the ubf heritage? Am I making my own decision, together with my wife? Do I care about the people closest to me? Am I facing the facts about my life and telling my authentic self-narrative?

True and False Logic

Humanity is rarely so simply understood that we can apply binary thinking. We are complex and confusing creatures! Still, true/false logic is immensely helpful in untangling your mind. Consider this.

Here are five logic forms:

1. implication – if P then Q [first statement implies truth of second]
2. contrapositive – if not Q then not P [reversal and negation of both statements]
3. inverse – if not P then not Q [negation of both statements]
4. converse – if Q then P [reversal of both statements]
5. negation – there is P and not Q [contradicts the implication]

So then:

If a statement is true, then its contrapositive is true (and vice versa).
If a statement is false, then its contrapositive is false (and vice versa).
If a statement’s inverse is true, then its converse is true (and vice versa).
If a statement’s inverse is false, then its converse is false (and vice versa).
If a statement’s negation is false, then the statement is true (and vice versa).
If a statement (or its contrapositive) and the inverse (or the converse) are both true or both false, it is known as a logical biconditional.

Application: Candy Canes

Consider this absurd conclusion based on two facts:

Fact 1: Red colorings are in candy canes.
Fact 2: Red Dye #3 is a red coloring.
Conclusion: Red Dye #3 is used in candy canes.

The only way for this conclusion to be true based on these two facts is if (and only if) candy canes use all possible red dyes. Because we know this is not true (or even possible), we know that there are red dyes not used in candy canes. It is very possible that Red Dye #3 is not used in candy canes at all. Perhaps Red Dye #12 is used. In any case the conclusion is false given the facts.

Application: You are God’s servant!

Here is one of many logical fallacies that kept me bound to the ubf lifestyle. I don’t care if you are reading this and stay at ubf or leave ubf. I do care deeply that you understand this logical fallacy.

Fact 1: There are God’s servants at ubf.
Fact 2: You were called as God’s servant at ubf.
Conclusion: You must stay at ubf in order to be God’s servants.

This is literally how the importance of being God’s servant was explained to me, along with numerous bible quotes. This conclusion is just as absurd as the dye used in candy canes. The only way this conclusion can be true given these facts is if (and only if) all God’s servants exist only at ubf. So if the sum total of all servants of God are at ubf, then the conclusion is correct. If there are any servants of God outside of ubf, this conclusion is a logical fallacy.

Again, the point is not to stay or leave, but to expose the false logic used by many bible teachers at ubf to convince people to stay loyal. If you stay at ubf, fine with me. But please stay for logical reasons!

How to spot a liar?

Beyond logic, we need to learn how to identify when someone is lying. This is usually easier in person. Here are some excellent readings for determining if people are telling the truth or lying to you:

1. Look for deceptive behaviors and responses within the first five seconds of asking a question.

2. Someone telling the truth will say immediately and plainly that they did not commit the crime.

3. Liars often respond to questions with truthful statements that cast them in a favorable light.

4. Liars often repeat a question to stall for time, go into attack mode against the questioner or butter up the questioner with compliments.

5. Nonverbal cues to lying include hiding the mouth or eyes, throat clearing or swallowing, grooming gestures like adjusting shirt cuffs, shifting weight around and sweating.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/08/13/how-to-tell-when-someone-is-lying/

http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/10-ways-catch-liar

http://www.businessinsider.com/11-signs-someone-is-lying-2014-4

This is the 11th week of Seminary. The academic challenge I am getting here is very restorative to my faith. There are two classes in particular that are changing the way I view life: Introduction to Theological Research and Hermeneutics (interpretation of the Bible). These are the two first classes for any seminary student.

Through these classes I am becoming aware of the pre-understandings and value assumptions present in me. Life is not black and white; it is a million shades of gray. For example, let’s take the issue of Gun Control. There is a conflict between the values of public safety versus freedom of choice. Both these ideas are good. It is good to be safe, but it is also good to be able to exercise your freedom. In the US obviously individual freedom is valued higher and hence its is relatively easy to get a gun. To make any decision you are comparing two or more values. It is important to be aware of those values and make sure that they are based on a trustworthy foundation.

Even in the Apologetics class I am taking I see the difficulty of simply conversing with those who have a different worldview because their idea of truth is different from mine. My professor defined worldview as the thing that affects every decision, thought, action, feeling, etc. all the while being completely undetected by us. Basically it is the lens through which we view the world; without it we simply cannot see. (*Note: one can call himself a Christian but that does not guarantee a correct worldview. Those who call themselves Christian can have a wrong view of God and scripture, i.e. Matthew 7:21)

Those with different worldviews are speaking different languages. For example, when a Christian and Muslim talk in English they can be understanding each other on a surface level but not on a deeper level. In Islam there is no questioning the Quran. Islam is about submission and obedience. Muslims are not allowed to question any grammatical mistakes in the Quran. Christians, however, can question, scrutinize and criticize the Bible and we must. We must question the basis of our faith, the scriptures. If you have the chance to learn Hebrew and Greek then please take it. (If you are only reading one translation of the Bible right now you really must invest into another translation. At least, have one formal and on functional translation of the Bible. The NIV is a functional translation.) Even the definite or indefinite article in “an angel” or “the angel” can have huge theological implications.

As Christians we understand that the motive of our faith is God. Our motive of faith is: 1) What God affirms is true. 2) God affirms the teachings of Scripture. 3) Therefore, the teachings of Scripture are true. The motives of credibility, however, are all the items of evidence that lead someone to believe that Scripture is God’s word, i.e., archaeological evidence, testimony of historians, instances of fulfilled prophecy, a sense of Scripture’s majesty and an acquaintance with Scripture’s power to transform lives (House 2011, 83). The motives of credibility change with time and more research. “They [motives of credibility] give rise to only to a human and fallible faith. One needs this human and fallible faith nevertheless to obtain the motive of faith, from which divine and infallible faith springs (House, 83).” We must go upstream and check our sources and question our Pastors. St. Paul praised the noble Bereans in Acts 17:11 because they examined scripture to make sure what Paul was saying was true. We also need to practice examining the scripture.

Ravi Zacharias has written about the Quran. He wrote, “Let us consider just one troublesome aspect, the grammatical flaws that have been demonstrated [in the Quran]. Ali Dashti, an Iranian author and a committed Muslim, commented that the errors in the Quran were so many that the grammatical rules had to be altered in order to fit the claim that the Quran was flawless. He gives numerous examples of these in his book, Twenty-three Years: The Life of the Prophet Mohammed. (The only precaution he took before publishing this book was to direct that it be published posthumously) (Rhodes 1995, 83).”

Ali Dashti wrote, “The Quran contains sentences which are incomplete and not fully intelligible without the aid of commentaries; foreign words, unfamiliar Arabic words, and words used with other than the normal meaning; adjectives and verbs inflected without observance of the concord of gender and number; illogical and ungrammatically applied pronouns which sometimes have no referant; and predicates which in rhymed passages are often remote from the subjects. These and other such aberrations in the language have given scope to critics who deny the Quran’s eloquence. . . To sum up, more than 100 Quranic aberrations from the normal rules and structure of Arabic have been noted (Rhodes, 83).

I am not saying don’t read the Quran. By all means read it (Christians should be educated about all religions.) I am saying don’t read it without questioning it. Don’t read the Bible without questioning it either.

The Bible has many different translations. Some gospels have different accounts and leave certain details out or add details. Sometimes the number of characters in the story is different. (These are all normal things. When there are eye witnesses questioned about an event; they remember different things.) But the authors left clues and places to go to to get more information. In Christianity, one can voice their doubts without the fear of being persecuted, hopefully.

While studying I have realized how little I know and how little anybody really knows. Even Biblical scholars are not completely sure of everything they write. But we always function on partial information. It is how we survive. The important thing is to keep asking questions, keep searching and examining. 1 Corinthians 13:12. “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

Do you question everything? Are there any questions that have been on your mind lately?

House, H. Wayne, and Dennis W. Jowers.Reasons for Our Hope. Nashville: B & H Pub. Group, 2011.

Rhodes, Ron. Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Muslims. Eugene, Or.: Harvest House, 2002.

This is why it has been particularly hard to “disciple” me. Because I have already been “discipled” and not only that but in many cases the new teachings I have received directly contradict the old teachings. We have seen how hard it is to change someone’s mind once it has been settled, especially about people who have been strongly influenced and changed the lives of many.

The truth of the matter is that UBF is right when it says that a personal vested interest of a mature Christian can vastly impact a person’s lives. In fact sometimes it impacts their life so much they fail to see it. Like the grammar we use in our language it becomes so much a part of us that we forget it exists. Like the glass window out of which we view the garden, we know it so well we forget about it.

But then there comes a time where we hear incorrect grammar or a bird crashes into a window and we are jolted to the realization that something is present that was previously forgotten about. For me that something is Travis Peterson. In the following weeks (as time permits) I will share some lessons I have learned from Travis. I will try to have them posted every Friday. Travis was not the only person God used in my life at this time, but his teachings have come to be the most valuable in my time here in UBF.

The author makes no claim as to the exact memory of events, they will be only as he remembers them. Sometimes the lessons will be only stories, other times they may be essays on quotes from him. To many readers these lessons may be well known, to others they may provide examples for your own ministry. At the very least they will give a glimpse into what made me who I am today.

Truly,
Michael Lanier

One lesson of teaching in inner city St. Louis was this: students do not accept your authority by virtue of your position as a teacher. This was very hard for me. My mentor teacher remarked:

“You have a very old school style of teaching. You expect students to do what you say because you are a teacher and you expect them to listen to you. That may have been true 10 years ago but now a days this will not work. With these students you must gain their respect.”

My policy was to not treat them any different and continue to hold my standards high. I might relax on grading, but never on content. This was not accepted by my boss who said I should be playing games with them and “dumbing down the content”. One day a student told me a teacher had asked him about my teaching style. The student remarked “He teaches us like a regular class. If you don’t want to work he does not force you. He expects you to do your work.” My students over the course of the year came to respect me. I have been puzzled as to why, but their exit surveys revealed it was my honesty and consistency. Many teachers tried to fit in with the students to make their lives easier. This seemed not to work. They realized these teachers were “faking” to fit in. Students were used to family members lying and not holding promises but my constancy made them like me. It was not at all what I expected. They hated other teachers making content artificially easy.

This confirms an important truth, relevant to campus ministry in the 21st century that students will not respect until respect is given. This may seem obvious to you, but think of how it sounds when someone is told they have to run a decision though a leader. This is something that is likely only to be done to someone whom that person respects, and if you do something like lie, or tell someone they are going to do something without consulting him- this respect will not be given. It seems very offensive to me that someone could have a say in another man’s marriage when he has known him for a month.

Finally, I want to field an objection. Some people might feel like it is “common sense” to run life choices through their shepherd or chapter director because we do that with our parents. This sounds reasonable, and ignoring the question if we should or should not do that with our parents- we need to ask if that happens today. I know with my parents I barely talk, and I know in America many homes are broken due to divorce. The idea that a college student might run their life choices through their parents is outrageous to many people in my generation. Additionally the advent of the internet has shown many young people of my generation that their parents are many times wrong, and incredibly flawed. It has taught people not to take everything at face value. I can remember my mother telling me Dungeons and Dragons caused mental health issues. I went on Wikipedia and promptly informed her because she was wrong. Effective discipleship to Millennials cannot expect this any longer. If people believe this is biblical (and that is certainly very debatable), or even if they think it ought to be done- they need to realize this type of behavior cannot be assumed. It must be earned by respect.

Overview of the book’s content

This book reads quickly and does not go into depth in regard to analyzing various conditions or behaviors. Instead, the book is more of a how-to manual for people not in a controlling group. The book gives much advice on how to interact, communicate and intervene with someone who is committed to a controlling group. The book contains many invaluable lists and references to the work of Lifton and Singer, as ways to discern whether someone is in a harmful controlling group.

Steve shares from his own experience of joining the Moon Unification organization as a 19 year old and then later exiting from that group. Steve also shares stories from his wealth of exit counseling, giving readers a glimpse into real situations. Steve doesn’t pull any punches in this book and gets right in to teaching you how to get someone to leave a cult group. Steve improves on his prior methods and revamps his approach, noting the epic failures of the deprogramming methods of the 1970’s and 1980’s in America.

Steve dispells any notion that cults target weakminded people, and shares much advice using this premise:

“Many people have a hard time believing that bright, talented people–often educated, and from good homes–could fall under the control of a cult. They fail to realize that cults intentionally recruit smart people who will work tirelessly for the cause. Many of the former cult members I have met are exceptionally bright and well educated. They have active imaginations and creative minds. They have a capacity to focus their attention and concentrate. Most are idealistic and socially conscious. They want to make a positive contribution to the world.”- Highlight on Page 74 | Loc. 1906-10

Basic beliefs

Steve shares some basic beliefs that should resonate with anyone, and form the basis of his strategic approach to cults and controlling groups.

1. The human spirit cannot be changed or destroyed fully.

“Relationships in cults tend to be conditional, based on obedience and subservience. However, once the member passes the honeymoon phase and their servitude becomes evident even to themselves, friends and family have the potential for an ever-increasing positive influence. Time is on their side because destructive influence is never 100 percent.” – Highlight on Page 3 | Loc. 458-59

2. Noble promises and claims cannot be delivered.

“The human spirit needs to be free, and ultimately, cults do not deliver what they promise.” – Highlight on Page 3 | Loc. 458-59

“They claimed to be a community of young people struggling to overcome cultural barriers. This type of recruiting is insidious because members often speak and act with the greatest sincerity, having been subjected to the same techniques they use to recruit others.” – Highlight on Page 13 | Loc. 701-5

3. Real, unconditional love is stronger than conditional love.

“Real love is stronger than conditional love The fact that you are willing to help and are seeking professional advice means there is reason to hope The member will realize that your love is unconditional, while the cult’s ‘love’ depends on their meeting expectations and goals.” – Highlight on Page 13 | Loc. 706-8

4. Mind control is a real, discernable phenomena and not magical

“Social psychologist Robert Cialdini, in his groundbreaking book, Influence [15] , extracted six universal principles of influence—those that are so powerful that they generate desirable change in the widest range of circumstances.” – Highlight on Page 20 | Loc. 831-32

Origination of the term “brainwashing”

I was fascinated to read about Steve’s discovery that the Moonies used the same tactics Korean war generals used on prisoners of war.

“The term brainwashing was coined in 1951 by journalist Edward Hunter from the Chinese hsi nao (wash brain), to describe the process by which Americans captured in the Korean War could reverse their allegiance and confess to fictional war crimes. In the 1950s, military psychologists and psychiatrists Margaret Singer, Robert Jay Lifton, Louis West and Edgar Schein began to research a phenomenon they called thought reform, in order to devise ways to protect soldiers in the future.” – Highlight on Page 22 | Loc. 858-63

Methods of control

Steve describes in some detail what methods cults use to control. The book shares many details about Steve’s B.I.T.E. model, and how he developed the model.

“A group that changes names, insists on a dress code, lives on an isolated compound, and cuts off all contact with outsiders is likely to be very dangerous.” – Highlight on Page 33 | Loc. 1059-62

“Cults manipulate the elements that form an individual’s identity including beliefs, values, and relationships. From a mental-health perspective, the cult diverts elements of an individual’s psyche into another personality. The cult member comes to exhibit symptoms of dissociative disorder as defined in the DSMIV, the diagnostic manual for the American Psychiatric Association.”- Highlight on Page 34 | Loc. 1070-72

“A common method for shaping a cult identity is to pair a new member with an older member. The spiritual child is instructed to imitate the spiritual parent in every way.” – Highlight on Page 34 | Loc. 1075-85

Rebirthing your identity

One of the striking thoughts that hit home with me was Steve’s descriptions of breaking and re-freezing your self identity. He describes the common cult process of birthing a new identity, different from your authenctic self.

“After I left the Moonies, I found Edgar Schein’s book, Coercive Persuasion, where he described the process using Kurt Lewin’s model of thought reform: [28] · Unfreezing: breaking a person down · Changing: indoctrination · Refreezing: reinforcing the new identity.” – Highlight on Page 36 | Loc. 1111-12

Yeakley study on identity change

An amazing study that I want to read more about is a social experiment by Dr. Flavil Yeakley, regarding how people’s identities can be temporarily modified through indoctrination.

“This aspect of indoctrination was demonstrated by Dr. Flavil Yeakley, a respected psychologist and member of the mainline Church of Christ, who administered the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Inventory Test to 800 members of The Boston Church of Christ, a cult group led by Kip McKean.”

“When Yeakley correlated the data, he found that members varied widely in their personality types before they joined the group. (In statistical terms, they exhibited a normal distribution of personality types.) In the second test, members were moving towards one personality type, which matched the projected personality of the cult leader.”

“The third test showed an almost universal move toward the projected leader’s personality type.”

“As a comparison, Yeakley administered the test to members of Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian churches and mainline Churches of Christ. There was no personality change before, during, or after they joined their churches. Yeakley published the results of this study in his book, The Discipling Dilemma.”

“Although a healthy individual will grow and mature over time, his basic personality doesn’t change. Changes in personality type may indicate unhealthy social pressure. The results of Yeakley’s study shows that cults create this kind of pressure. It also verified for me the existence of a cult identity that binds the authentic self like a straitjacket.” – Highlight on Page 37 | Loc. 1137-39

Phobia triggers

Steve goes into significant detail explaining how phobias are used by cults to keep members “in” the group. Cult leaders will spin tales of tragedy and woe for people who leave or even think of leaving. He describes a common theme among the cults groups he has encountered– the groups use fear to “re-age” a person back to a child, before they developed critical thinking abilities. He describes how all kinds of fears, especially a person’s natural fears from his/her pre-cult life, are used as bonding agents.

Steve claims that it is these phobia triggers and not any kind of doctrine, that keep members enslaved. Steve notes that many cult members disagree with their group’s doctrine, having discovered early on after the “honeymoon”, that the cult group’s teachings are flawed. Yet they don’t leave due to fears, most or all of which are unfounded.

“A phobia is a persistent, irrational fear. All phobias are triggered by a cue that initiates a closed cycle of fearful images, thoughts, and feelings. The cue can be an internal or external stimulus, such as a thought, image, word, smell, taste, feeling, or behavior. This stimulus causes the phobic individual to generate negative images, often subconsciously, and sometimes to imagine impending doom. During a phobic reaction, the body’s automatic physiological ( fight-or-flight) survival response is activated. This panic response causes a number of physiological symptoms, including a racing heart, shortness of breath, dry mouth, cold hands and sometimes nausea. The most common coping mechanism is to avoid the provoking stimulus.” – Highlight on Page 151 | Loc. 3715-18

“In the Moonies, we would often be robbed of precious sleep so that we could drive to the Moon estate early in the morning. We would sing holy songs and pray for hours–individually, then in unison–before listening to a speech by Moon. That way, our minds were more spiritually open (cult lingo for receptive). In reality, we were in a trance, and certainly not thinking analytically or critically.” – Highlight on Page 156 | Loc. 3913-15

Re-discovering your “self”

The most relevant part of the book to me was Steve’s thoughts on re-discovering and connecting with my prior authentic self, the core self of my identity that remains my entire life. He describes how cult members adopt numerous “sub identities”.

“Though my idealism may have made me vulnerable to recruitment, it was that same idealism that motivated me to eventually leave the group when I realized that Moon and the leaders lied, cheated, stole, and enslaved the members.” – Highlight on Page 116 | Loc. 2905-7

“After I left the group, the sub-personalities that formed the core of my Moonie identity needed to be recognized, liberated, and integrated into my post-cult identity. I needed to find healthy alternatives for my religious/spiritual being. My warrior/soldier became engaged in combat with cult destructive influence.” – Highlight on Page 116 | Loc. 2921-23

Value of former members

Steve repeatedly mentions the value of talking about a group with former members, who have little to gain and much to be lost by speaking out.

“Talking with former cult members is one of the best ways to understand cult beliefs and destructive influence. Ex-members will often be the most reliable source of information, and may be willing to help you plan and carry out the Strategic Interaction. I suggest that you meet and interview at least a dozen former members: some from your loved one’s cult, and some from other groups. Pay special attention to those who have received counseling and have digested and integrated their cult experience. Ask them hypothetical questions: “What would happen if we took this approach?” They are a valuable resource.”- Highlight on Page 105 | Loc. 2645-48

Yet Steve is not naive and describes how cult defenders try to devalue the roles of former members.

“Cult leaders may use stories about defectors to reinforce phobias: (Do you remember Alice M? She left the group last month and we just got word that she hung herself. See what happens when you leave the protection of the Almighty?)” – Highlight on Page 156 | Loc. 3931-36

Will you read this book?

My question to our readers here is simple. Will you read this book? Perhaps your friends or family members are already reading such books?

AN ANALYSIS OF THE DISCIPLESHIP BIBLE STUDY FOR THE KOREAN IMMIGRANT CHURCH GROWTH

Here is the link to the actual document. It is a fascinating read. I just want to highlight a few points here to spur some of your own critical thinking (which by the way is not the same as a “having a critical spirit” or just plain criticism)

Seminary paper by Yo Sup Lee
Lynchburg, Virginia October, 1998
Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary

Author’s stated purpose

(page 1) “The purpose of this project is to analyze discipleship training Bible study programs developed or used by successful Korean churches and mission groups. The writer will introduce the best model of discipleship program currently practiced by Sarang Presbyterian Church. The discipleship methods will be evaluated, also biblical basis will be traced, and Jesus’ methods of discipleship training and the Korean church Bible study texts will be analyzed.”

Groups Mentioned in the paper

II. AN INTRODUCTION OF MISSION GROUPS DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING PROGRAMS

A. Joy Mission Group …………………………… 67

B. Campus Crusade for Christ …………………….. 70

C. Navigator group …………………………….. 75

D. Korean Inter-Varsity Christians Fellowship Mission group …. 83

E. University Bible Fellowship group …………………. 89

Description of UBF

(page 89) “To be a member of this group one must pledge the substance of 2 Timothy 2: 16. The actual pledge reads, “I as an unshameful laborer of Jesus Christ, will rightly handle the World of Truth, agree with the purpose of U.B.F and pledge that I will do my best for evangelizing the campus and achieving world mission.” This declaration reflects the purpose of U.B.F. There are three major points:

(1) It aims to produce good Bible teachers.
(2) It aims to evangelize campuses.
(3) It aims to achieve world mission.

Positive points

(pages 92-93)

First, their one- to-one Bible study method, which uses the principle of each person being interested in one another, has contributed to the life of the students. This method is being used in some churches today.

Second, their tent-making policy has made a significant impact on the progress of pioneering new nations with the gospel.

Third, the sacrificial stewardship of time and money by UB.F. members has been a rebuke and a challenge to many.

Negative points

First, UB.F’s inadequate concept of the missionary task has resulted in considerable lay involvement but few permanent achievements.

Second, UB.F’s lack of historical perspective results in the tendency to identify God’s purpose almost exclusively with its program.

Third, UB.F does not emphasize personal conversion experience, contrary to all other student movements.

Fourth, UB.F’s negative view of ecclesiology is well known to Korean churches and to other student movements.

Fifth, UB.F. members often seem to be too legalistic, separate and fundamental. Their ardent and subjective Bible study which are devoid of any evident concern for a dynamic and personal conversion experience may lead its members to spiritual Pharisaism.

Concluding thoughts

I found this Korean seminary student to be “right on target”. What could ubf learn from this paper? Why would ubf benefit from listening to critical thinkers?

Officially, this is the late Dr. Margaret Singer’s list of six pre-conditions for thought reform. Bolded titles were added by me. And yes, this list describes my life as a puppet on a string in the ubf system. The list helped me understand how someone like me could commit over two decades to ubf ministry.

• [1. Constantly re-orient them] Keep the person unaware of what is going on and how attempts to psychologically condition him or her are directed in a step-by-step manner.
  • Potential new members are led, step by step, through a behavioral-change program without being aware of the final agenda or full content of the group. The goal may be to make them deployable agents for the leadership, to get them to buy more courses, or get them to make a deeper commitment, depending on the leader’s aim and desires.

• [2. Keep them busy] Control the person’s social and/or physical environment; especially control the person’s time.
  • Through various methods, newer members are kept busy and led to think about the group and its content during as much of their waking time as possible.

• [3. Remind them of their weaknesses] Systematically create a sense of powerlessness in the person.
  • This is accomplished by getting members away from their normal social support group for a period of time and into an environment where the majority of people are already group members.
  • The members serve as models of the attitudes and behaviors of the group and speak an in-group language.
  • Strip members of their main occupation (quit jobs, drop out of school) or source of income or have them turn over their income (or the majority of) to the group.
  • Once the target is stripped of their usual support network, their confidence in their own perception erodes.
  • As the target’s sense of powerlessness increases, their good judgment and understanding of the world are diminished. (ordinary view of reality is destabilized)
  • As the group attacks the target’s previous worldview, it causes the target distress and inner confusion; yet they are not allowed to speak about this confusion or object to it – leadership suppresses questions and counters resistance.
  • This process is sped up if the targeted individual or individuals are kept tired – the cult will take deliberate actions to keep the target constantly busy.

• [4. Make sure they see their old life as bad] Manipulate a system of rewards, punishments and experiences in such a way as to inhibit behavior that reflects the person’s former social identity.
  • Manipulation of experiences can be accomplished through various methods of trance induction, including leaders using such techniques as paced speaking patterns, guided imagery, chanting, long prayer sessions or lectures, and lengthy meditation sessions.
  • the target’s old beliefs and patterns of behavior are defined as irrelevant or evil. Leadership wants these old patterns eliminated, so the member must suppress them.
  • Members get positive feedback for conforming to the group’s beliefs and behaviors and negative feedback for old beliefs and behavior.

• [5. Make sure they see their new life as good] The group manipulates a system of rewards, punishments, and experiences in order to promote learning the group’s ideology or belief system and group-approved behaviors.
  • Good behavior, demonstrating an understanding and acceptance of the group’s beliefs, and compliance are rewarded while questioning, expressing doubts or criticizing are met with disapproval, redress and possible rejection. Anyone who asks a question is made to feel there is something inherently disordered about them to be questioning.
  • The only feedback members get is from the group; they become totally dependent upon the rewards given by those who control the environment.
  • Members must learn varying amounts of new information about the beliefs of the group and the behaviors expected by the group.
  • The more complicated and filled with contradictions the new system is and the more difficult it is to learn, the more effective the conversion process will be.
  • Esteem and affection from peers is very important to new recruits. Approval comes from having the new member’s behaviors and thought patterns conform to the models (members). Members’ relationship with peers is threatened whenever they fail to learn or display new behaviors. Over time, the easy solution to the insecurity generated by the difficulties of learning the new system is to inhibit any display of doubts—new recruits simply acquiesce, affirm and act as if they do understand and accept the new ideology.

• [6. Ignore criticism] Put forth a closed system of logic and an authoritarian structure that permits no feedback and refuses to be modified except by leadership approval or executive order.
  • The group has a top-down, pyramid structure. The leaders must have verbal ways of never losing.
  • Members are not allowed to question, criticize or complain. If they do, the leaders allege the member is defective, not the organization or the beliefs.
  • The targeted individual is treated as always intellectually incorrect or unjust, while conversely the system, its leaders and its beliefs are always automatically, and by default, considered as absolutely just.
  • Conversion or remolding of the individual member happens in a closed system. As members learn to modify their behavior in order to be accepted in this closed system, they change—begin to speak the language—which serves to further isolate them from their prior beliefs and behaviors.

Source: Cults In Our Midst,

I thought, wow, what a concept! Christ-followers are happiest and most fruitful and blessed when we recognize the seasons of our life, the seasons of our community and the seasons of our family. As our pastor prayed for each one of us individually and we share our concluding thoughts he asked us: What’s next?  (He also asked us to be on the lookout for anyone who might want to take the class in the fall. I said “Do you have room for 8,000 people? :)

What’s next?

But that question, what’s next? sums up what I learned over the past nine months in this class my wife and I have been attending every Tuesday evening. I’ve learned to pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and to listen to people around me. At the beginning of the class I told everyone that I viewed myself as an empty shell, hollowed out with nothing inside and no idea of what God would have for me to do. As my wife and I shared our life narrative over the next several months, we shocked, stunned and amazed the other members in the class. But we also were shocked, stunned and amazed at hearing their stories and what their lives entailed.

What’s next for me and my wife? I don’t know exactly. But I do know we are now “filled up and being filled” with love, goodness, kindness, patience and an increased self-esteem and self-awareness. Here are some things I’ve learned that I feel compelled to share with our ubfriends community. I love each of you dearly.

Listen to the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Spirit is alive! Yes, you can listen to Him! And yes, the Spirit is God. What’s next for me? I answered that I will continue to listen and discern the promptings of the Spirit and let Him lead my journey in His way.

Gordon T. Smith articulates this well: “Christians of all traditions are appreciating more and more that the voice of Jesus is also present to the Christian community through the inner witness of the Holy Spirit… This inner witness is always grounded in the written witness of the Spirit–holy Scripture–and it is recognized by those who live in mutual submission within the community of faith. With these two anchors in place, Christians can know and live by the remarkable reality that God speaks to us through his Son, Jesus Christ, and that Jesus is present to us by his Spirit. We hear the voice of Jesus as we attend to the inner witness of the Spirit.”

Listen to your family and community. One of the more intriguing abilities I gained in our class was to begin to learn how to listen to people around me. I had to unlearn my “dictate and command” approach and start to listen to what people say and do. It was fascinating to begin to get to know my wife, and start listening to her, even though we’ve been married 19 years. What is my wife saying to me? What is my family saying? What is my community saying? I’ve learned in a whole new way that our journey of following Christ is not just an individual journey, but a communal journey. Together we go!

This collaborative approach to following Christ is expressed well in the following quotes from one of our lessons: “A collaborative approach seeks to accomplish goals through cooperative interaction and efforts of multiple people. We experience the joy of sharing challenges and victories, often facilitating a gradual move from a “me” mentality to a “we” mentality. Collaboration then puts a high priority upon the importance of building trusting relationships. Nothing can be more corrosive to a community, whether it is a family or team or organization, than distrust… In all of this, intentional communication is a key to nurturing healthy and empowering relationships.”

Listen to your self. Perhaps the most edifying part of the nine month class was for me to begin to know my “self”. I felt like finally, after decades of trying to be somebody else, I could begin to be myself.  Augustine’s prayer about knowing God and knowing self was highlighted in one of the classes, and has impacted me deeply.

This quote by Robert Greenleaf speaks volumes: “I have come to believe that every part of my life affects or influences my life with God. The world I live in, with its beauty and tragedy, with its creatiures of all forms and shapes, is constantly offering me messages about who I am and who God is. Everything and everyone teaches me about God, life, and myself…I try now to approach each person, event, creature with two questions: How are you my teacher? What am I supposed to learn?”

Questions

Yes, some things must come to an end. But every ending leads to a new season, a new beginning, and a new segment of our journey in the Kingdom. I want to conclude with the questions that ended the class. It was so refreshing to end with questions, not with answers! I would love to hear your thoughts. And I’m grateful you’ve all been on this journey with me together!

What have you learned about who God is and what God is like?

What has become clear to you about yourself?

What have you become aware of about who you are and who God is creatively shaping you to be?

What unique calling or purpose is God prompting you to follow?

When “shepherding sheep,” the shepherd should repeatedly and primarily employ persuasion, reason and gentle appeals. The shepherd should never resort to coercion, intimidation, shame, threats, guilt-tripping, punishment, humiliation, retribution, silence treatment, etc. Why not? The sheep/junior will feel that they have no choice but to “just obey” their shepherd—or face consequences. This is spiritually abusive. It is control and manipulation. Primarily, it miscommunicates the gospel which gives freedom (2 Cor 3:17; Gal 5:1; Jn 8:32).

Ultimately, there must be the utmost respect for the individual person’s choice, even if and especially if it goes against the wishes and direction of the shepherd or chapter director. Communicating that it is either “my way or the highway” is arrogant. It is saying to sheep/juniors, “I am God to you. You must obey me.”

This is NOT what the father of the prodigal son–the perfect shepherd–did in Luke 15:12. He respected his son’s (sheep’s) horribly destructive decision. He continued to love him with brokenness and weakness, without ever shaming him, punishing him, threatening him, or humiliating him in any way.

In brief, shepherding must communicate grace, and not UBF “law” and “core values” which is NOT the gospel.

If just this one single change and shift occurs in the way UBF “shepherds sheep” throughout the UBF world, I believe that many miraculous signs and wonders will happen by God’s grace and power.

Is this Biblical?

Should this be communicated to all UBF chapter directors, shepherds and Bible teachers  throughout the world?

Will these guidelines be accepted and embraced by UBF shepherds and chapter directors?

Knowledge. Sadly, some Christians may be quite zealous and excited, but they do not have much to say. Knowledge must be deeply rooted in the Bible and the great theological tradition. Some have said that studying theology is divisive. I would say that ignorance is more divisive. Others say, “Just study the Bible.” This is good. But anyone can very easily “just study the Bible” with a narrow, skewed, rigid, unbalanced, inflexible, tribal and sectarian way that is quite offensive to other Christians with different traditions, cultures and experience. For example, it is not generally regarded as offensive for an American to disagree with their leader. But in Korean culture, it is invariably perceived very negatively as being rude, disrespectful and an anathema.

Audience. In UBF jargon, it would be “know your sheep.” Aristotle said, “Whatever is received is received according to the mode of the recipient (not the teacher).” A good Bible teacher must know the prejudices, expectations, mood and attitude of the one to whom he wishes to communicate. It helps to know which movies, songs, TV shows, and books average people like. If you don’t know the contemporary culture well, you may be correct, but not heard. This is always a hurdle of cross generational and cross cultural evangelism.

Culture. Be attentive to the patterns and events in the world that correspond to patterns and events in the scriptural revelation. That way, you will discover what the church fathers called the logoi spermatikoi, the seeds of the Word, that can see the good, the true and the beautiful in any culture. Karl Barth, the greatest Protestant theologian of the last century, proposed an image for prospective preachers that is just as valid for prospective evangelists: they should carry the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.

TGIF. Today’s evangelists, Bible teachers, shepherds should be thoroughly conversant with the new media: Twitter, Google, Internet/Instant messaging/iPad, Facebook (TGIF), along with podcasting, and the myriad other means of communication available through the Internet.  These new media give the evangelist the opportunity to get his message out 24/7, all over the world at relatively little cost. Some old style, old school Christians are uncomfortable with this. But not interacting could lead to increasing irrelevance. This is here to stay and will only continue to explode.

We have to face the fact that the vast majority of eyes today are not glued to books or to newspapers, but to the computer screen.  Many years ago, a very successful writer said, “The first rule of the writer is to read.” Good advice. To follow it today, we have to get the message into the world where the most “readers” are found.

This is a very exciting time for Christians, in many ways as exciting as the middle years of the 1st century when the message about Jesus was brand new, or as the beginning of the 16th century when the printing press first emerged. Now is a kairos, a privileged moment, to declare the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Viva el Cristo rey! (Long live Christ the King).

Do you embrace Fr. Barron’s 5 points with a sense of excitement and challenge? Can you think of any other points to add? (Here is Fr. Barron’s full transcript of his video: The new evangelization and seminaries.)

Chapter two from Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire was for me one of the most impactful works of literature I have read in the process of becoming a teacher. A lot of what he said deeply resonated with what is becoming my philosophy of education. He distinguished between the “banking method” of teaching (which is to simply deposit information into students) from “problem-posing” education where:

…the students–no longer docile listeners–are now critical co-investigators in dialogue with the teacher…The role of the problem-posing educator is to create, together with the students, the conditions under which knowledge at the level of the doxa is superseded by true knowledge, at the level of the logos.

In order to adopt problem-posing education into my practice I have to shift my identity from “teacher” to “teacher-student” and my students’ identities from “students” to “student-teachers”. The goal does not revolve around tests and grades; rather it is to foster conversation and learning that brings forth creativity, reflection, original thought and action. I believe that this kind of experience for a young person is priceless. Challenging common knowledge will help them to genuinely engage with life and the world around them. To me this kind of education is an investment in the progress of humanity. I want to challenge kids to think beyond their conditioning. I want to create an environment that fosters creativity both from myself and from my students. And I want encourage their potential.

Kumashiro is another author whose philosophy has inspired me. The aspect of his viewpoint that I want to mention here, which is outlined in Against Common Sense, is the significance of learning through crisis. He defines crisis as “a state of emotional discomfort and disorientation that calls on students to make some change.” This occurs frequently in any classroom whether it is realizing that you have been spelling a certain word wrong for years or you are being introduced to a new perspective on American history you have never considered. What Kumashiro emphasizes as important is working through the crisis so that true learning and change occurs. If I am not intentional about fostering an environment that encourages students to face crisis by working through their emotions, seeking out more information and putting their new knowledge into action, I could be doing them more harm than good. As Kumashiro points out, if crisis is not worked through and frustration becomes too overwhelming, it can make a person more closed minded to new information than they were before. I hope to create a healthy and safe environment in my classroom where students can freely question information, seek truth, reflect honestly and develop according to their discoveries.

The third example I want to draw from is Jesus of Nazareth, the greatest teacher who ever lived. He employed both problem-posing education and learning through crisis in his teaching methods. He brought information to the table that was contrary to the teachings of the religious leaders and counter-cultural to the Roman Empire. He made people struggle internally with this new information until they either internalized it and changed their worldview (example of a positive experience in learning through crisis), they became indifferent and went on living as if nothing happened, or they violently rejected it. An example of this is in Luke 18:18-24. A rich, young man came to Jesus wondering how to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to obey the commandments. The man said he did since he was a young boy. In response Jesus told him he lacked one thing. He should sell everything he had and give to the poor. This created a major crisis for the young man. He either had to accept this new information and put it into practice or reject it. The young man left sad because he was wealthy and not  ready to take action, but his fate is never revealed. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up working through that problem and growing from it. Learning through crisis sometimes takes years.

Though my content will be much different than what took place in Luke, what I learned from Jesus about teaching is to avoid “spoon-feeding” and not to force crisis. First, what I mean by avoiding “spoon-feeding” is that I shouldn’t feed them the conclusions I’ve drawn. Instead, I should present the raw material and allow them to make their own judgments.  Jesus never over-taught. He left a gap between where his teaching ended and where understanding began so his students had to work for it. As a student, it is a struggle to learn this way, but in the end it is totally satisfying, generates true learning and fosters a healthy addiction to development. In this example Jesus’ response to the man’s question was succinct and incomplete. He simply stated “You know the commandments” and he listed a few. By holding back he made the knowledge the man was seeking more valuable. The young man’s response of “all these I have kept since I was a boy” indicated he had not reflected deeply, so Jesus pointed toward one thing he could work through to get a true answer to his question: “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” He didn’t go into an elaborate explanation about the political implications of rich people, poor people and inequality. Rather he posed a problem that would help him do that thinking himself. All people have access to Jesus’ teachings but those who really grow through them are the ones who work for answers. Therefore, in my philosophy of education I want to craft my practice so that I can help students think and struggle for answers without spelling things out for them. I want them to look within, around and above for answers, not to me. In the same way that Jesus simply posed problems and questions for people to struggle with, I hope to do the same.

Secondly, what I mean by not forcing crisis onto students is that as a teacher I should not have too much expectation for my students to have a crisis breakthrough while they are in my class. Jesus didn’t expect the crisis moment of the rich young man to be solved immediately. He did not pressure the man to change at that moment. Jesus understood that the fullness of this man’s realization might come under another Rabbi or not at all. So he did not measure the success of the interaction based on the man’s immediate response. My goal should be progress of critical thinking and reflection, but I should not expect major breakthroughs necessarily (though that would be very exciting!). I believe that only God teaches authentic learning through crisis and I am only a tool to help foster that process. With that understanding I will respect the unique journey of each of my students and try to fulfill the small role I play in each of his or her narratives.

Another aspect of Jesus’ pedagogy that I want to emulate is the way he encouraged and treated his disciples. Romans 4:17c says, “[God] calls things that are not as though they were.” Jesus called his disciples leaders, revolutionaries, and great men before they showed any sign of being these things. He saw their potential with vision. He called them out from among the rejects of society including a political rebel, a tax collector, and simple fishermen. He changed Simon’s name (which means sand) to Peter (which means rock) at the beginning of their relationship to give him tangible hope of becoming a great man. Jesus understood how important morale and a positive environment was for his disciples to overcome their weaknesses and what society had branded them as. I want to create a similar environment in my classroom. I refuse to invest only in the students who initially seem to show promise. I believe that every person has prospective to be great. I want to get to know each student until I see their unique potential and can specifically fuel their talent and confidence. I want to help them see their lives, their communities and their generation with vision, and to identify how they fit into it. I want to regard them as great members of society in spite of their reputation or how they are treated elsewhere because in fact, that is who they truly are.

And finally, I want to strive to be a servant teacher. Jesus was clearly his disciples’ teacher, but he had other roles as well. He was their friend and advocate. He earned their respect because he lived what he taught. He never asked them to do something he wouldn’t (or didn’t) do. He respected their decisions. He was incredibly patient. He learned alongside them. He was totally and completely involved in their lives. He cared about them more than he cared for himself. I also want to be this kind of teacher for my students. I want to be their friend and advocate but I don’t want them to feel like a charity case. I have to continually challenge my mentality so my relationship to them is genuine. I want to be an authentic teacher who practices what she teaches. I don’t want to treat my students as subordinates or to be condescending. I want to learn from my students. I want to suffer for my students. I want to suffer with my students. I think being a servant teacher will take a lifetime to master because only Jesus did it perfectly. But I think it is a worthy pursuit and I include it as an important part of my working philosophy of education.

So as I continue my studies in education I hope to develop my philosophy further than what I have expressed here. I am glad I was exposed to Freire and Kumashiro thus far to begin shaping my belief about how education should be done. I am also thankful that Jesus’ life has been recorded not only so I can study it on a spiritual level, but also to glean pedagogical principles from his examples.