Recent Highlights

THE CALLING OF THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER

In his article 'Setting the vision: The calling of the Christian teacher in the twenty first century world', Trevor Cooling considers what it means to be an effective holistic Christian teacher. This leads to an exploration of the concept of vocation and a re-evaluation of the missiological focus of the church. The narrowness of the categories of church-recognised ministries is seen to be a product of the sacred-secular divide into which churches have stumbled.

Teaching as a Christian vocation is examined using the framework of the believer's primary calling to be faithful to God and the secondary callings which are the means by which Christians express that faithfulness, including among other things their career(s). The primary calling of the Christian is not to a specific occupation for life (the traditional understanding of the missionary calling and ordination) but to a lifelong journey of 'introspection' where one looks to serve others and engage in kingdom building in occupations that enable you to be the person that God has made you to be.

The article argues for a pneumatological understanding of fit and fulfilment as pre-requisites for teaching as a Christian vocation. The helpful distinction between what is distinctively Christian and what is uniquely so empowers the Christian teacher to work cooperatively with others in a plural environment to bring about transformation that corresponds with the coming new creation.

You can follow Trevor Cooling's thinking in his article in the current issue of the Journal, Volume 51, Number 3, December 2008, pp.17-32.