GodViews

You'd think that Christians would know instinctively how to get along. Disagree about theology, differ about interpretations, dicker over dogma, sure, but at least stand to be in the same room with one another. All too often, however, it just doesn't work out that way. It is bad enough when folks from different Christian faith traditions argue, but how horrible it is when those from the same background start slinging accusations of demonhood at each other. No wonder the last thing Our Lord said when He was among us in the flesh was a reminder to love one another, He knew how messed up we can be.C.S. Lewis tried to approach this problem from the direction of showing how much all Christians can agree on, in "Mere Christianity". John Haberer goes at it from a different direction, by talking about the preconceived worldviews, or as he calls them, 'Godviews', the different personality types that come to Jesus. By understanding the five Godviews, someone can see why that other guy at Church Council just won't look at things in the "right" way.The five Godviews? (The following are my simplifications of Haberer's types.) There are the Confessionalists, who want to discover the Truth, to whom the details of theology are the main expression of faith. The Devotionalists, who hunger for God, who live for the Joy found in prayer and worship. The Ecclesiasts, aka the church builders, who focus on the faith community (further subdivided on those who focus on the local parish, those who focus on the denomination, those who focus on the Universal Body of Christ). The Altruists, who find the call in serving those in need, in serving the Jesus among us. The Activists, those whose call is in establishing justice NOW. No one is purely one of these, but most of us are mostly one of them. Haberer shows us how to recognize the different types and how one type will almost automatically dislike those of a certain other type. Example: A Devotionalist might insist that the parish soup kitchen include prayer and witness before, during, and/or after the food, whereas an Altruist might insist that the food be handed out without a message attached, lest a hungry person avoid the meal for fear of being evangelized. Both are sincere, both are good Christians, and both often think the other is only pretending to be a believer. It is in easing the tensions between Godviews that Haberer's book excells.Who can use this book? Anyone in a church which has disagreements about anything, which means just about all of us. If we are going to obey the command to love one another, and avoid the hurtful behavior Saul and Barnabas displayed toward one another when discussing John Mark, we need to know how others look at faith. We will still disagree, this isn't a guide to conflict resolution, but rather a guide to conflict management.