“斜教”发生理论

这几天一直在旅行之中。遇到一件烦心的事情,暂时还没有解决。除此之外,大体上还是愉快。 临行之前,和一个小朋友讨论John Locke Essay Compitition,她选择的题目是“Small Religion and Big Cult”。Cult一词在汉语语境中的含义与英语不太一致,无论是翻译为邪教还是异端都不太恰当。一般而言,Cult指的是某种定型的、有一批参与者的崇拜仪式活动,比如我们在圣经注释中常见英语作者使用“Temple Cult”来指代犹太教的圣殿崇拜,其中的cult并无贬义,而是中性的描述。 ...

July 15, 2023 · 6 min · eddy

事工哲学(158)| 桓侯不应、桓侯不悦、桓侯体痛、桓侯遂死(传道人自我关顾的四个步骤)

随手引用一组数据。从前也引用过,不过这一次是2022年的updates。采用二手数据来源,https://www.pastoralcareinc.com/statistics/ 工作时长:90% 在55-75小时,还不能算996。(**90%**of the pastors report working between 55 to 75 hours per week. (Pre-Covid-19)) 工作心态:84%是加入007待命(84% of pastors feel they are on call 24/7.) 对家庭的影响:80%认为做传道人对家庭有负面影响,包括而不限于孩子们不愿意去教会。(80% believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families. Many pastor’s children do not attend church now because of what the church has done to their parents.) 隐私:65%觉得没有隐私,全家都没有隐私。只能做全职表演艺术家。(65% of pastors feel their family lives in a “glass house” and fear they are not good enough to meet expectations.) 人际的疏离:23%觉得在家里是陌生人(23% of pastors report being distant to their family.) 个人时间:78%是度假也会被任务和期待打扰的(78% of pastors report having their vacation and personal time interrupted with ministry duties or expectations.) 休息:65%觉得过去5年没有得到足够的休息(65% of pastors feel they have not taken enough vacation time with their family over the last 5 years. ) 内疚:28%为平时办一点私事没有报备教会而内疚(28% of pastors report having feelings of guilt for taking personal time off and not telling the church.) 繁忙:35%认为教会的要求太多,挤占了家庭时间(35% of pastors report the demands of the church denies them from spending time with their family.) 积怨:24%的传道人家庭对教会有积怨,觉得服侍伤害了家庭(24% of pastor’s families resent the church and its effect on their family.) 配偶:22%的传道人配偶报告说,事工会将不切实际的期待投射到家庭之中(22% of pastor’s spouses reports the ministry places undue expectations on their family. ) 期待:66%的会众期待传道人是道德楷模(66% of church members expect a minister and family to live at a higher moral standard than themselves.) 神学教育:53%的传道人报告说,神学教育没有充分预备好他们将来的服侍(53% of pastors report that the seminary did not prepare them for the ministry.) 意外:90%的传道人觉得服侍的工作和自己从前的想象大为不同——我以为是在讲道和圣辅,其实是在政治斗争和充当垃圾桶(90% of pastors report the ministry was completely different than what they thought it would be like before they entered the ministry.) 讲道:45%的传道人每周要用10-15个小时来预备(45% of pastors spend 10-15 hours a week on sermon preparation.) 互联网依赖:85%中度-重度依赖(85% of pastors report the use of the internet and other resources have improved their study time compared to when they first started their ministry.) 说谎:50%说他们每天有一个小时祷告(50% of pastors state they spend 1 hour in prayer each day.) 匆忙:95%没有时间与配偶一起祷告(95% of pastors report not praying daily or regularly with their spouse. ) 收入:57%的传道人难以维持生计(57% of pastors believe they do not receive a livable wage.) 工资:57%的传道人无法有效地诈骗信徒钱财(57% of pastors being unable to pay their bills.) 经济:53%的传道人无法安全退休(53% of pastors are concerned about their future family financial security.) 压力:75%至少有一次压力下崩溃的危机(75% of pastors report significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry.) 自卑:80%的传道人和84%的传道人配偶觉得不够资格(80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses have felt unqualified and discouraged as role of pastors at least one or more times in their ministry.) 过劳:52%面临不切实际的期待,发际线后撤严重(52% of pastors feel overworked and cannot meet their church’s unrealistic expectations. ) 杂乱:54%的传道人觉得这个角色工作繁杂(54% of pastors find the role of a pastor overwhelming.) 冲突:40%在最近一年内与会众发生严重冲突(40% report serious conflict with a parishioner at least once in the last year.) 夜总会:每周4-5个小时无效会议(75% of pastors report spending 4-5 hours a week in needless meetings.) 抑郁:35%对抗抑郁,或者害怕做不好(35% of pastors battle depression or fear of inadequacy.) 疲劳:26%感觉疲劳**(26%** of pastors report being over fatigued.) 灵性枯干:28%缺乏维持灵性的手段(28% of pastors report they are spiritually undernurished.) 孤单:50%以上觉得难以找到同工(Over 50% of pastors state the biggest challenge is to recruit volunteers and encourage their members to change (living closer to God’s Word).) 自我形象低落:70%(70% of pastors report they have a lower self-image now than when they first started.) 没有朋友(主你是我最知心的朋友):70%(70% of pastors do not have someone they consider to be a close friend. 缺少支持:27%在危机之下无处可去(27% of pastors report not having anyone to turn to for help in a crisis situation.) 试探:81%感受到过性方面的试探(81% of pastors have been tempted to have inappropriate sexual thoughts or behavior with someone in the church but have resisted.) 调情:17%短信调情(17% of pastors report inappropriately texting with a church member at sometime in their ministry.) 色情图片:34%服用(34% of pastors wrestle with the temptation of pornography or visits pornographic sites. ) 满足感伴随:57%在服侍的满足中,感觉深深的失望、压力和疲劳(57% of pastors feel fulfilled but yet discouraged, stressed, and fatigued. ) 脆弱:84%渴望亲密关系(84% of pastors desire to have close fellowhip with someone they can trust and confide with.) 体重管理:50%以上患病、超重、缺乏锻炼(Over 50% of pastors are unhealthy, overweight, and do not exercise.) 职业评价:传道人近乎底层职业,仅比汽车销售人员高一点(The profession of “Pastor” is near the bottom of a survey of the most-respected professions, just above “car salesman”.) 会众减少。Many denominations are reporting an “Empty Pulpit Crisis”. They do nto have a shortage of ministers but have a shortage of ministers desiring to fill the role of a pastor. 没有安息年:71%的教会没有(71% of churches have no plan for a pastor to receive a periodic sabbatical.) 教牧辅导:66%没有平信徒提供的辅导支持(66% of churches have no lay counseling support.) 工作描述:30%的教会没有工作期待和描述(30% of churches have no documentation clearly outlining what the church expects of their pastor.) 执业风险:10个里面只有1个可以正常退休。(1 out of every 10 pastors will actually retire as a pastor. ) 这是美国的数据,根据*The Fuller Institute, George Barna, Lifeway, Schaeffer Institute of Leadership Development, Christianity Today, and Pastoral Care Inc.*等机构的调查报告。 ...

July 7, 2023 · 7 min · eddy

德先生和罗先生

上个月和Emma一起度过15周年水晶婚纪念日,笑谈我们刚结婚的时候,我祷告常常会将主祷文的开头念错,“Our Father in Law…”,觉得怎么念都顺口,在旧约神学上似乎也不是那么离谱,毕竟,颁布了十诫的Law先生是最为重要的特征嘛。 ...

July 3, 2023 · 4 min · eddy

神学翻译杂谈(56)| 预算、成本与时间

做了一期“跨文翻译工作坊”,聊到最近一本书的翻译。因为事先没有做质量控制,此书的译稿里有许多需要修改的地方。我用了大概三周的时间来对20万字进行了仔细修改,每天都加班到深夜,也停下了去健身房,甚至在家教育也有些松懈…… ...

July 1, 2023 · 7 min · eddy

和合本翻译研究 | “两造”

(一)语言演化 语言总是在不断演化之中,以“肉眼可见的速度”,在每一代之间演变。在我的有生之年,已经有许多年轻人在语言上抛弃了我,绝尘而去——“绝绝子”是这个意思吗? ...

June 28, 2023 · 4 min · eddy

神学翻译杂谈(55)|“福音派的思想丑闻”

Mark Noll此书出版于1994年,差不多可以做30年纪念版了。很不幸的是,我从前尽管知道此书,但从来没有提起兴趣来阅读,以为其中所谓,我大概都已经知道。当然,我所学习的各种神学院课程中,没有一本将此书指定为必读或选读,或者要求提交阅读报告,也是一件值得花时间思考的事情。 ...

June 21, 2023 · 5 min · eddy

事工哲学(157)| 大都市与提摩太的坚守

拿但业对他说:「拿撒勒还能出甚么好的吗?」腓力说:「要不你来纽约看看!」 中文播客之中,据说最热门之一是“不明白”(bumingbai)。而我听得比较多的是不相信(unbelievable)。 ...

June 8, 2023 · 2 min · eddy

事工哲学(156)| 大都市与精神生活

这段时间,或者说上次的“五金建才”之后,一直在思考大城市植堂的问题。 来自边远小城的提摩太和来自文化中心大数的保罗,在进入都市植堂之后,表现完全不一样。有的时候,我们会用性格差异来解释,比如提摩太后书中的“刚强起来”——对了,如果感兴趣,当然可以读一下这篇“出来与起来”。但在我看来,提摩太的胆怯或许更多是文化背景差异造成。 ...

June 2, 2023 · 8 min · eddy

时间压力下的证实性阅读与探索性阅读

最近在听“unbelievable”,辩论很有趣,几乎想要自己开一个中文版的播客了。 这几天在外旅行,顺便阅读N.T.Wright的“The Day The Revolution Began”。 阅读有趣的地方在于,总是可以从好的作家那里得到需要值得反思的问题和方向。Wright讨论了一个重要的神学议题,得救是从“地狱”去“天堂”,还是恢复上帝对人本来的呼召,让新造的人成为新天新地之间有君尊的祭司? ...

May 26, 2023 · 5 min · eddy

What’s Run with You, Again?

……圣者曾如此说:你们得救在乎归回安息;你们得力在乎平静安稳;你们竟自不肯。你们却说:不然,我们要骑马奔走。所以你们必然奔走;又说:我们要骑飞快的牲口。所以…… ...

May 23, 2023 · 3 min · eddy