Field Training

Many of you know that between stints in the ministry I was in Law Enforcement.  Throughout my career I attended several different types of trainings including two Police Officer Training Academies and a Reserve Officer Training Program.  There was; however, one training program that will forever be stamped in my brain – the Field Training Officer (FTO) program.  During FTO officers learn a “hands-on” approach to policing in their community.  Good FTO programs utilize adult education models, but the goal of some FTO programs is to merely “fit” the recruit into the Law Enforcement culture and replicate the local agency’s preexisting way of doing things.  A common failing of some programs is they forget that men and women come into the profession with a wealth of personal experience.  Rather than enhancing these skills to flourish within the agency, trainers often try to retool a person into being the same thing everyone already is.  I acknowledge an overarching universal rule of law, the presence of certain parameters which apply to all officers and a basic code of ethics that must be followed, but by allowing people to utilize their individual talents and passions everyone – the officer, the agency and the community – benefits.
The reason for this bit of information is not to educate you on the limitations of the Law Enforcement training system, rather it is to get us to take a look at our roles in the church.  It is natural to want everyone to do things the way that we want them done (and have always done them).  We have expectations for the talents that best serve the church and to tend to train people – especially new converts – in how “we” do it.  What would happen if we were to let people be themselves? As with any assimilation program there are certain basics that must be practiced by everyone, but would we ensure more passion and greater success by allowing people to utilize the inherent talents they bring with them into the Lord’s service?   We readily agree that a unified congregation doesn’t have to share the same physical characteristics, so why should we expect that everyone would demonstrate the same talents?  When Paul encouraged unity in the Ephesian church he wrote,
“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.” (Ephesians 4:11-13)
Each of us must find our own personal way to participate in the Lord’s work.  As we pursue that objective let’s encourage others to find the best way for them to fit into the His service.   When we work together, through our individual passions, we can change the world!  

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