Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Department

Seminary

First Advisor

Roger Nam, PhD

Second Advisor

Dana Allin, DMin

Third Advisor

Dan Lioy, PhD

Abstract

While we have discussed home churches and missional community involvement in recent decades, we have done little to acknowledge that the vernacular Tim Keller calls us to is nearly impossible to achieve in a culture that is deeply entrenched with biblical mythologies. How do we speak without raising walls of assumption, judgment, defensiveness, or anger? How do we assess the criticisms or hurt of others if we cannot identify our own? Jesus did not ponder IQ or EQ. He knew his God-given purpose and emotional character so deeply that he was able to operate out of those foundations without pausing to ponder His next best step. Jesus’ example presses us to step into a third quotient that is best referred to as “Audience Quotient.” AQ is our ability to focus fully on another: to love as we have been loved, to see as we are seen, and to teach and disciple as Jesus taught us to do. It is time we train university and church leaders to transcend from IQ to EQ to AQ, aspiring to a Jesus Quotient that aligns with the Great Commission in ways that will help us to (re)sign the church3 as a safe place for renewal, energy, peace, and joy, rather than the hypocrisy and judgmentalism that has maligned its name for generations. This dissertation outlines the premise for a nonfiction book that will serve as an introduction to and guide for understanding IQ, EQ, and AQ among pastoral and bivocational church leaders. Section 1 considers the myopic view of the twenty-firstcentury church, locking us into a prison house of linguistic pitfalls and pharisaical hypocrisies; Section 2 examines mislaid attempts of the Reformed Church in recent years; Section 3 proposes a new examination of Audience Quotient, pointing leaders closer to Jesus’ example of empathetic leadership; Section 4 outlines the artifact in Appendix A; Section 5 includes an artifact specification that addresses purpose, audience, and marketing; and Section 6 is a discussion of the dissertation process, followed by the artifact itself in Appendix A and a Bibliography of resources referenced.

Download

Included in

Christianity Commons

Share

COinS