Family Loyalty vs. Family Intimacy

I'm currently reading A Different Kind of Teacher by John Talor Gatto. I'm totally engrossed. Especially as he talks about the history of compulsory schooling in America. (Schooling, says Gatto is not necessarily education.) Here's an excerpt which may be hard to understand if you don't have the context, but nevertheless I post (underlining and bold text added by me):

Between 1880 and 1920, strict regulation of American society became a leadership imperative. Explanations for this phenomenon begin once again with the alarming effects of mass immigration on the morale or American leadership. It is not an extreme reading of evidence to say genuine panic existed -- fear that ancient ways of distributing wealth and authority might be in jeopardy.

A striking evidence of this panic is contained in accounts of academic behavior during the period. To cite only one case, President William Walker of MIT declared in speeches and writings that the large, close families of immigrants were provoking intolerable racial competition, leading to something he called "racial suicide" among the so-called Anglo-Saxon races. Between 1900 and 1910 the theme of racial suicide was a common topic in all leading popular magazines.

This fear of racial suicide was provoked by an unusual "closeness" of immigrant families. Puritan leaders had always described family intimacy as sacrilegious, favoring family loyalty in its place (for the prosperity loyalty brought in its train). In the large affectionate broods of Irish and Italians, and in their relative indifference to material rewards when compared to the rewards of family life, a mortal threat was perceived.

August Comte's Positivist lessons dismissing family as an anachronism then mingled with a widespread hatred of the dangerous culture of immigration to produce a national agenda of state imposed conformity. The push to this end was motivated by more than just theoretical considerations; violent strikes against management in coal, steel, and railroads signaled that the danger from these people was more than long-range, it was very close at hand.

School books and other texts to sell myths of conformity followed hard on the heels of compulsory schooling. And toward the end of these second phase of mass immigration, another Communist revolution occurred, this time a successful one. At that exact historical moment, the compulsory education laws were given teeth.* Widely ignored after the initial flush of enthusiasm passed, the laws were now made unavoidable. The power of the state was placed at the disposal of school authorities, and the new mass government schooling institution began with a vengeance to separate children and families, assisted by the creation of many another astonishing new institution to assist in the deconstruction.

* He must be talking about approximately 1918.

Of key interest to me here is the distinction he makes between family intimacy and family loyalty. On the one hand you have families which have adopted the program of conformity imposed on them by the partnership of the secular state and big business (families which are pursuing "personal peace and prosperity" as Francis Schaeffer would say) and on the other hand you have families which are imbued with their own diverse dreams and myths as apart from those of the state (including those families which are faithful to the Triune God).

I can think of some large homeschool families which fit this picture of the intimate family to which Gatto is alluding. Perhaps some small one's too. :) And why homeschool families per say as opposed to Christian school families? Well I'm not sure I can answer that question. However, my understanding of education is progressing right now. I've gone from completely regretting my homeschool education and wishing that I had gone to a school like Logos in Moscow to now wanting to create a high school that would combine the best of homeschooling (family, time for reading, contemplation) and schooling (community, competition, submission to authorities outside the home.)

Consultative Selling

I was recently introduced to Neil Rackham's book, SPIN Selling by a successful sales executive in my company, a man with a very large girth. A man who's belly is so large it proceeds him in his sales calls by at least half and hour and nearly wraps up the business before the rest of him arrives. He is not an ordinary individual by any means, but a person of character, who wears his prominent abdomen with grandeur, not unlike my celebrated pastor Doug Wilson. I'm sure he's proud that it stands out. Why hinder such a successful protuberance?

He began his presentation on SPIN selling by saying that everything we have learned about selling was bunk. Asking "open-ended" questions, using closing tactics, "always be closing," all nonsense, at least when we get to the big opportunities in business, the sales that really matter. It has been demonstrated, he said, by scientific observation of salespeople that when selling small ticket items, like pest control services or cleaning brushes or cell phones, frequent closing does lead to success. It prompts buyers to think of objections, which can be answered. However, when dealing with big ticket items and expensive ongoing services, which occur often in B to B, success decreases with use of these "tactics."

Okay, that might not be too surprising. You wouldn't ask a woman the first day you meet her if she would like to be married at 3 pm, Saturday, and then continue to ask each time you see her. "Oh, by the way, would Tuesday at 5 work for you then? Is there a conflict? Oh, I see. Oh, you want to be married in Death Valley, Nevada, Friday at five? Okay see you then!" But how does one in fact lead another person to a certain decision, to chose something beneficial for them, something that they need, but just don't know yet? Rackham says you just have to ask people a lot of questions. You have to really, honestly care about them enough to take your mind off of your presentation, your features, your benefits and begin to understand their needs so that you can either custom tailor your solutions for them or, in the event that your product is not right for them, find one that is or just not sell it.

The questions may be divided into four groups and this is where the term SPIN comes from. I think the acronym is unfortunate, because I've always thought of that word negatively, but here they are:

S - Situation Questions
P - Problem Questions
I - Implication Questions
N - Need-Payoff Questions

Situation questions are not just small talk, but questions related to something that is common to your and your prospects environment. For example, in the course of my day, I might ask a merchant, "So did you notice your funding being delayed by Columbus Day?" The point is to set the context in which the details of the business you are about to discuss have meaning. That is the first stage of questions. My aforementioned sales manager calls it "the church of what's happening now," borrowing a phrase from Flip Wilson's comedy sketches.

Problem questions are simply those that uncover problems or "pain" that a potential client may be experiencing. For example, a doctor would say, "Does it hurt when I press here?" But a salesperson in my industry could say, "I noticed you're using a Hypercom T7P-Friction. Does the slowness of the printer bother you when you have a line of customers?" But these questions are not enough, because often people are used to the problems they deal with. Implication questions are required to help people see where things could go if they don't make a change. For example, my sales manager told the owner of a fast food restaurant that, while he was watching his drive through line for a few minutes, a couple of potential customers had driven off when they saw the line of cars. The implication question gently asks what the consequences of this could be over time.

Finally, Need-Payoff questions are those that enable a client to see for himself the advantage that you offer and put it in his own words. When you say it yourself, people do not listen, but when THEY say it, it's gospel. In the previous example of the fast food restaurant, my sales manager asked the owner a series of questions: "How much is your average ticket? How much profit do you make on that?" By then putting a dollar value on the customers that were driving away, he showed him that having a credit card terminal near the drive up window would speed the line up enough to more than pay for the device in just a few weeks.

So that is SPIN selling. In order for it to work you much approach each potential client with the knowledge that can help them, but resist telling them. Do not, as my sales manager calls it, "show up and throw up." Graphic, I know. Instead, ask excellent questions. Below is a short video in which Neil Rackam says that the salesmen of the future will all need to understand this. He could be right.

Against Pew-Sitting Christians

Notes on Corporate vs. Individualistic Salvation:

Does God save people as groups or does he hunt them out individually? That is a false dilemma. He does both. Jesus saved John Bunyan, Martin Luther, the Apostle Peter, you, me, etc. But he also saved the Children of Israel from Pharaoh at the Red Sea. And at Calvary he purchased the Church and is sanctifying her and beautifying her to this day.

At my congregation today, Christ Church, which I love very much, we sang this hymn:

The churches one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
She is His new creation By water and the Word.
From heav'n He came and sought her to be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her and for her life He died.

There it is: "for her life He died." Such a beautiful hymn and one that few would wish to read in the quiet of their homes if they knew the joy of singing it in church. Christ died not just for each of us separately, but for the Church.

Of course, this is also a scriptural truth, as well as one embodied in hymnody. Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word." Here we see that Christ not only gave Himself for the Church, but He is engaged in sanctifying the Church. This would seem to suggest that a follower of Christ cannot grow in sanctification unless he is engaged in the life of the church.

Some will object, "I wasn't saved when I was sitting in a pew!" Okay, that may be true, but I would argue that the Bible teaches we were saved to sit in a pew, though that is a dismal way of putting it. We are saved to that, but to so much more. Consider the previous chapter in Ephesians:

"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:11-13).

According to this verse, Pastors (individual pastors whom we can know personally) are a gift from Jesus, a gift from God. And lest we think that televised sermons are an equal substitute for this gift, Paul says that the pastors are for the purpose of building us up until we have unity, that is, unity with other saints. God wants people to have unity. But what does that mean? It means we are equipped for the "work of service." It means simply that we serve one another. It's not enough to be a hearer of the Word. We must be doers of the Word.

Now there are many ways to serve one another. And there is no reason to believe that Paul is speaking of "religious" ways of serving people, by offering sanctimonious words or belting window-rattling gospel solos. One way that we serve is simply by smiling at people and spending time with them. People need the esteem of others. It's one of the most basic necessities of life, without which we will die. If anyone doubts this, consider an older man whose wife has died. By degrees widowers often spend more and more time alone. They stop keeping up their appearance; they don't clean their surroundings as often or take care of their bodies as they used to. And eventually they stop eating right. Death is hastened. Consider also the homeless. We know that people become homeless and stay that way, because they are alone. Somehow they stopped reaching out to to others and others stopped reaching out to them.

Another way that people serve each other is materially and not just by giving to the deacons fund, but by doing business with one another. Scriptures prohibit Christians from being unequally yoked, which would include going into business with a non-believer. But it is scriptural for believers to go into business with other believers. This is one way that we can provide for one another's material needs, by making deals, by shaking hands. Yet another way we may serve one another is by guiding and leading each other. Businesses need CEOs. Schools need principals and teachers. And folk dances need callers, etc. All of these rolls are ultimately for the purpose of "building up the body of Christ." God made us both kings and priests (Rev. 1:6). The kings are those in business called to support the Church in one way. And the priests are the pastors and teachers, etc., called to serve the Church in another way. Both are needed in the Church. And finally, another way to serve others is through seeking and imparting wisdom. There are those who do not play a direct role in leadership, but who are scholars and so serve others through their research and writing.

Of course, no one will be relegated to just one category of service. All will partake in each category to some degree. But the point is that we all must serve one another and, according to the scriptures, the place that we learn this is in church. Christ died for the Church and, by inclusion, you and I. When we go to church, worshiping in faith, we are not merely sitting in a pew, but a mysterious spiritual reality is unfolding. We are being equipped to serve, equipped for our callings in which we serve both saints and unbelievers. Equipped to serve our families. And Christ is fashioning us again into mature men. Men who "measure up" to even Christ.

Is it possible to be saved outside the church? Sure, the thief was saved on the cross. But why would you want to be? The Church is the whole point. She is the Bride of Christ.

On Cities, Credit Cards and Church Music

I’ve been thinking lately about city versus agrarian culture, credit cards, and church music. What do these three things have to do with one another? I’m glad you asked.

It started with me listening to James B. Jordan speak about the differences between folk and city culture. The city—and all Americans, including those outside official city limits, partake of city culture—is a place where many hands are constantly bringing us all that we need and want for life. Our food is grown and harvested, transported and prepared by many people we have never met. Our homes are built for us, streets paved, newspapers printed, and, not to mention, our sewage is removed, a very essential service without which we could not long live in the city. And all that is asked of us to partake of these amazing benefits is that we ourselves serve in some unique way. So when we think of people cooperating and serving each other, perhaps there is no better example than people living in a city. Yet there is something lost in the transition from agrarian to city culture as well.


Whereas in the city, people are constantly doing things for one another by mutual consent, in agrarian culture they often do things with one another out of necessity. People bake all their bread at one time in the fall in a common oven, or they raise a barn together or share harvesting equipment and the traditions of harvest. In agrarian culture people go to the market and market day and its accompanying traditions become unifying aspects of their lives, creating community. But in the city we don’t have markets. We have supermarkets. And these do indeed have distinct advantages. We save time by not having to negotiate prices for each item that we buy. And this creates more time for cultural activities, dominion activities, such as building great architecture or sending a man to the moon. But something is lost as well. We are not likely to get to know one another by going to the supermarket. Someone might help you bring your groceries to your car, but that’s about it.

And so there has to be a new way of creating community in the city and Jordan says that the solution, believe it or not, is the Church, the body of Christ, and specifically singing in the church. If you’ve ever been to a charismatic church where they sing enthusiastically for prolonged periods, you know that these are often more racially and economically diverse and one reason for that is that singing breaks down barriers. In the Mosaic covenant, worship was silent, but when we get to the point that Israel is no longer a tribe, but a nation with its own capital city, then there is singing in the temple. And Paul says that our worship in the new covenant is to be like that, with “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” in other words with instrumental music and singing as it was in the temple, only more and more glorious.

So all this is what Jordan says about cities and church music. That is to say, in the city, community has to be at least somewhat deliberate. I can choose whether or not to go to church and whether or not to open my mouth in praise to God when I get there; whereas in agrarian culture for your own survival you really didn’t have a choice weather to live alongside others. In the city we can choose whether to be hermits or to live incredibly rich lives partaking not only of others services but of their fellowship as well. Community dies, but it comes back in more glorious form. Sound familiar? No that doesn't just happen to Gandalf.

As a conservative, I’ve often heard my counterparts decrying the other half as those who live in cities and wouldn’t it be nice if global warming would happen and all of the coastal cities would be drowned by glacial melt; then they really would be the blue voter blocks. But the truth is that the New Covenant really is for cities. The New Covenant was inaugurated in a city, in Jerusalem, and it spread primarily by cities, the great city of Antioch being an early center of Christianity. And eventually the people of the New Covenant overwhelmed and occupied the greatest city of the classical world, all by peaceful means. In fact, the word pagan is derived from the Latin pagus, meaning "country district." Historically, those without faith in God were more likely the villagers, the rustic people, and, if you wanted to find Christians, you went to the city.

The interesting thing about the city though is that it does have potential for greater evil or greater good than an agrarian situation. A dog doesn’t have much capacity for great evil or great good. A child can be much worse and much better, a wayward teenager worse still, but not so capable of both evil and good as a person of great cunning and intelligence, such as Tolkien’s Saruman. Likewise, in the city the avenues of evil are so readily available to us that we are required to possess more heart religion than was necessary back on the farm.

Consider the credit card. Recently I began working, rather by accident, in the payment card industry. People today have the ability to either use a credit card wisely, continuing to budget, and keeping track of transactions while earning "rewards," or, at their whim, they can take home lots of things that they haven’t earned yet. I’m not saying that people should use credit cards. It would probably be better if everyone had enough financial discipline to use only debit cards, but even if you don’t have a credit card in your wallet, you can apply for a one anytime, anywhere, such as at the same counter where you are purchasing your new refrigerator, which costs $75 more than you have on hand. The credit card is both a convenience that about 80 percent of American households have chosen to use and a prison you if you’re not careful. In the same way, thanks to the Internet, we can sit in our home office, working with business people all over the world, providing for our family, or we can use that same home office and computer to gamble all our money away, thanks also to the clever payment card. Great fortune or ruin is a click away, in more ways than one I might add. That is the modern city for good or for ill. So why does God put such dangers in our playpen? Well the answer is that this is no longer the playpen. This is the New Covenant and we are expected to behave like spiritual grownups, having received the Word. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

Some people have argued that paying for consumer items in installments can only lead to irresponsibility, that it is a sin, a violation of the puritan ethic. But others have argued that it has the ability to teach people greater financial responsibility, learning to calculate and to budget in order to meet monthly payments and eventually make them go away. Whatever the case, it is certain that the ever present ability to spend beyond one’s means requires people to be made of a new kind of material. In the city, we simply cannot survive without heart religion or at least the residual benefits of it, which is what we may have today. But this just goes to show what fertile soil for the gospel are these paved streets. Look around. One day by God’s grace, through the Holy Spirit, and the sovereign rule of our Lord and Savior, we will live in a city paved with gold where everyone will worship the Son. And we will sing His praises in huge choirs accompanied by some epic orchestras. That’s the future of the city. As for the future of credit cards, well, they are made of plastic.

(About the photo: The big city that I have lived in the longest is Washington D.C. Actually, I didn't live in the city itself, but in Fairfax, Virginia. Wouldn't it be nice if the city planners had put a church at the center instead of the Washington Monument and made it taller than the capital? Your answer to that question will tell you a lot about yourself. A church instead of the Washington Monument? That would never happen in America!)

We're all in "full time ministry"

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." (Colossians 3:23, KJV)

When I was in Texas last summer I met a man named Jerry Ramos, who leads a men's fellowship and prayer group at his house. He has an amazing testimony about how the Lord miraculously lead him out of Satanism. He also sends out a "Word of the Day" by email almost every day. Here is an example:

The Word !!

1 Corinthians 15:58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. (NLT)

The Thought !!

You may feel, "It's not worth it!" today. God knows your efforts and struggles. Don't lose heart! Everything you do for the Lord is worth it. Speak His Holy Word…for It will never return void.

The Question !!

When is the last time you quoted Scripture out loud? How about in response to someone’s question or outburst?

When was the last time you felt like giving up? How did you handle it?

It's so good to be reminded that we are ALL doing the Lord's work. Frequently Jerry's WOTD is just what I needed to hear at that moment from scripture. Thanks Jerry for your ministry and thanks God for using Jerry!

MBTI Prayers

Reportedly, the following prayers have been around for years, but this is the first time I've seen them. They're so dead on!

A word about personality typing: One thing I've realized is that if you want to know and understand your own personality, taking a test may not be the best option. It's better to understand the concepts behind the test by reading a book like Please Understand Me II by John Keirsey and then think about them over time with regard to yourself and people you know. I know this because my own test results have changed over the years. (The latest is that I think I'm either an INFP or an INTP.) Not only does the book help you understand people as individuals, but it explains how the types relate to one another. And without this understanding, knowing your type is not very useful.

Another thing you will discover is that some people are hard to type because they have such full and rich personalities. They are very creative (love to dance, research, make music, etc.), a perceiver (P) strength, and yet they are well scheduled and discriminating and are excellent teachers, judger strengths (J). Introverts can learn how to fill out their latent capacity for extroversion and extroverts can learn how to hold back when necessary. Some NFs can also be thoroughly guided by logic (I think of my pastor, Doug Wilson) and perhaps some NTs can also be intuitive sorts of people as well.

And another interesting thing is that people can compliment one another over time. All of the types are relative. For example, when I am at home, I am definitely the extrovert of the family and also seem to have my mind made up about everything (J), but among my friends and acquaintances, I am definitely more of an I and a P. Well, here are the prayers. Enjoy!

ISTJ - God, help me to begin relaxing about little details tomorrow at 11:41:32 am.

ISFJ - Lord, help me to be more laid back, and help me to do it exactly right.

INFJ - Lord, help me not be a perfectionist (Did I spell that right?)

INTJ - Lord, keep me open to others’ ideas, wrong though they may be.

ISTP - God, help me to consider people’s feelings, even if most of them are hypersensitive.

ISFP - Lord, help me to stand up for my rights (if You don’t mind my asking).

INFP - Lord, help me to finish everything I sta

INTP - Lord, help me be less independent, but let me do it my way.

ESTP - God, help me to take responsibility for my own actions, even though they’re usually not my fault.

ESFP - God, help me to take things more seriously especially parties and dancing.

ENFP - God, help me keep my mind on one thing - Look, a bird - at a time.

ENTP - God, help me follow established procedures today. On second thought, I’ll settle for a few minutes.

ESTJ - God, help me to try not to run everything, but if You need some help, just ask.

ESFJ - Lord, give me patience and I mean right now.

ENFJ - God, help me to do only what I can and trust You for the rest. Do You mind putting that in writing?

ENTJ - God, help me to slow downandnotrushthroughwhatIdoAmen.

Who's really doing science Mr. Robinson?

The following C.S. Lewis quote reminds me of Frank Bruce Robinson, leader of the "new religion" which he called Psychiana, headquartered right here in Moscow Idaho. He didn't believe that people needed to go to church. But here Lewis compares the local church to a scientific instrument for learning about God:

God can show Himself as He really is only to real men. And that means not simply to men who are individually good, but to men who are united together in a body, loving one another, helping one another, showing Him to one another. For that is what God meant humanity to be like; like players in one band, or organs in one body.

Consequently, the one really adequate instrument for learning about God is the whole Christian community, waiting for Him together. Christian brotherhood is, so to speak, the technical equipment for this science--the laboratory outfit. That is why all these people who turn up every few years with some patent simplified religion of their own as a substitute for the Christian tradition are really wasting time. Like a man who has no instrument but an old pair of field glasses setting out to put all the real astronomers right. He may be a clever chap--he may be cleverer than some of the real astronomers, but he is not giving himself a chance. And two years later everyone has forgotten all about him, but the real science is still going on (Mere Christianity, 165).

Not too many people remember that Frank Bruce Robinson was once the largest employer in Moscow and had quite a following around the country of people who had heard him speak or purchased his 20 lessons, but the local churches live on.