What fascinates me about my sharing mentor Victor
T
hough not having the sharing style myself, I have learned a great deal from Victor—both for myself and for my work—about what it means practically to share your faith. Not just to pass on what you have received, but to share it in a way that enables others to share it. That is Victor‘s real point. To share something is addition. To share something in a way that the receiver shares it with someone else leads to multiplication. And perhaps the most important aspect of this perspective is that the invitation to join this multiplication process is not placed somewhere at the end of a discipleship process, but right at the outset. You can only take part if you share. Actually, your own participation is essentially expressed by the act of sharing. This is a lesson that all of us need to learn, whether we have the sharing style or not.
Graphical representation of the sharing style: It is essential to understand the positioning of this style within the Trinitarian Compass. Christians with a sharing style should take into special consideration the two opposite styles (sacramental and sensory) as these throw light on the dark side of the sharing style.
On the one hand, the sharing style belongs to the red style family; on the other hand, to the ethical style family. Depending on its leaning toward one of its two neighbor styles, it can manifest itself in a more Scripture-driven or ascetic variety. For Christians with a sharing style, it is most natural to express their spirituality through passing on the love of God to others. The strength of this style is its focus on people outside of the church; the peril is in not appreciating Christian traditions and symbolism (iconoclasm).
Christians with a sharing style don‘t need church buildings in order to feel close to God. They experience God most strongly when they can pass on to others what they have received from God.
To those approaching the sharing style from the opposite side
If your own spiritual style should be the sacramental or sensory style, there is a certain probability that the very things that I share in this chapter in reference to my mentor Victor, don‘t speak to you at all. Especially if your own spiritual style is the sacramental one, you will hardly be able to identify with Victor‘s experiences. You may even be saying, “That is no longer church as I understand it.” However, the topic of our discussion is not getting you to join Victor‘s team. Instead, we are talking about your own spiritual growth in your own spiritual style exactly at the place where you have your spiritual home. The goal is for you to appreciate the strengths of your own style, while clearly recognizing the potential perils.
What is the danger of your style? The answer to this question differs depending on whether you have the sacramental or the sensory style, but in either case it could be that your spirituality is so much focused on your own experiences that you aren‘t even aware of the fact that countless people are unable to experience God as you do. The fact that an artistic expression of faith is appealing to you, may lead you to the conclusion that, at least with a little bit of effort, it should be appealing to everyone else. You may honestly be convinced that the doors of your spirituality are wide open to “everyone.” But in reality, only very specific people find their way through those doors.
Some Christians may even express forthrightly, “We don‘t have to adapt to the needs of the unchurched, they should adapt to the existing forms of Christianity. We don‘t approach other people, but expect them to approach us. We don‘t question ourselves, but expect others to question themselves.” Countless believers are unaware that while they are experiencing their own way of worshiping God as natural and valuable, they are unconsciously creating unnecessary barriers to the Christian journey of others.
If you come from the sacramental or the sensory style, you could learn a lot from representatives of the sharing style. Consider the question they ask: “Where do we have barriers—unnecessary barriers—that may hinder an outsider from encountering God?” If only a few people become Christians, representatives of the sharing style usually don‘t see the problem as residing in the outsiders (“Unbelievers!”, “Hostile to traditions!”, “Culturally uneducated!”), rather, they begin to question themselves. In what ways are we insensitive? In what ways are we too strongly focused on our own spiritual well-being? Where do we expect others to become “Jews,” metaphorically speaking, before they can become Christians?.
Further topics in the above chapter of the full version of the book
Victor, my mentor for the sharing style - "I am not a Christian" - Avoiding unnecessary barriers - Ministry in the Muslim world- Not concerned with church traditions - No "purely academic" question - The core of the sharing style: Experiencing God by giving away - The two wings of the sharing style - The strengths of the sharing style - The perils of the sharing style