The purpose of this portion of our study is not to prove that the specialist or expert creates problems for administration, and hence to suggest that it might be best If he were not used. This is manifestly impossible and unde sirable. The early church had its experts. The preacher himself is a specialist. And, it is believed as argued in the first section of this study that there Is an increasing need for a variety of specialists in the church.

The important matter with which the church must be concerned is how to fit him into the overall structure of the church program, or, as is the particular concern of this paper, how to administer the staff specialist, or minister of education in particular, in the educational program of the local church. Therefore, the main questions that will be raised will be those which have to do with administration. For example, is there something about specialization that makes difficult problems arise for the elders who are the administrators in churches of Christ?

The church of God in Corinth had among Its membership nine certain areas of specialization, which were coupled with such general specialists as apostles, prophets, and teachers.25 In respect to these nine specialists-miraculously endowed In this case-there were certain problems. Generally speaking, these experts began to feel themselves to be more Important than they actually were. One specialist would say to another specialist, and even to the whole organization, "I have no need of you."26

This led the Spirit which was in the apostle Paul to elaborate upon the concepts of the church being the body of Christ, that there were many members in the body each needing the other, and that there should be no schism or division within the body. Rather, "the members should have the same care for one another."27

If church members will but view themselves as members of an organism, that being the organism in which the love of Christ rules,28 the very basis of harmonious, cooperative and coordinated effort will have been established. Many problems can then be regarded as tension-stimulators, the type which within the human body and mind motivate men to think, learn, and create. Problems become challenges which stir men to get up, eat, go to work, and even to seek strenuous exercise. All of this for the increased health and welfare of the whole body.

What is intended to be stressed is that the specialist, special as he is, is not any more a special Christian than any other member of the Lord's church. He is one who possesses certain skills and knowledge not possessed by anyone else in the church except a like specialist. As a member of the organism the specialist is, as has been noted, one who is to help and support others within the organism who do not have the time, skill, or experience to carry out the task for themselves. He is, therefore, a vital member of the body, the church.

With the preceding brief background of an important biblical point of view now In mind and this reminder of an earlier caution about transferring institutional and secular evaluations and judgments into church situations and for Christian interpretations, attention is now turned to some research findings concerning specialists in business and public education.

Experts, by the very virtue of their expertness, are characterized by what has been termed by Thorstein Veblen as "trained incapacity." As Robert Dubin puts it:

"The intensity of his training in one area means training in other areas is usually neglected. The intensity of concentration upon the problems of one area means that consideration of surrounding areas is often limited to the 'all other things being equal' approach. To the administrator or executive who coordinates the work of different kinds of specialists, all other things are not equal. They must be considered as important variables in a total situation.29

Fritz J. Roethusberger has used the expression, "limitations of a specialist logic,"30 which must be understood and taken into account by the administrator. These limitations are largely summed up in the list developed by Harold Laski,31 Robert Dubin and Robert K. Merton.

These are, in brief: (1) the expert sacrifices common-sense insights to the intensity of his experience in his special field. (2) He has a marked aversion to new ideas. (3) In taking the subject of his specialty as the center of importance, he seldom sees things in their entirety. (4) He often feels a superiority that is likely to be associated with his position. (5) Tending to have a strong identification with fellow specialists, any evidence and arguments marshaled by nonexperts is viewed with suspicion. (6) He is likely to confuse the importance of his knowledge and facts with the significance of what he recommends be done with them. (7) The specialist is often inapt in dealing with human affairs.

How do these limitations or incapacities relate to staff specialists in the educational program of the local church and to the minister of education in particular? Before attempting an answer it would be wise to recognize two important facts. First, these limitations are human limitations, not technical ones; therefore, they are human problems, not problems that can be solved by organizational manipulations.32 As noted earlier, it is not possible to get rid of specialists, nor is it desirable. Also, human beings are not only a part of, but the heart of-they are-the church. Developing un-Christlike persons into Christlikeness is the church's business.

A second important fact is that while the above descriptions of the characteristics of specialists hold true for many, they do not for all. Many specialists- ministers of education, preachers, song directors-have been able to overcome their deficiency in training. By their growth in Christian maturity which includes spirituality, humility (which has the root meaning of "teachability"), and the grace most helpful in human relations, love, they are able to carry the load and maintain the honor (and burden) of specialization.

In a sense, the "specialist's limitations" are but "human limitations." Any and all may be affected in various degrees by them. Dubin notes that there is a "specialist's logic" characteristic of each specialist, and even suggests that there may also be an "administrator's logic. "33 It would seem logical also to assume that there might be an "every person's logic" the chief characteristic of which is provincialism, or narrowness.34 It affects all, specialists and nonspecialists.

Common Sense.

A common problem for all is the attainment of common sense. "Common sense, says Dubin, "is based on broad experience that goes beyond a field of special training."35 Ordway Tead believes that common sense, or generalization as he prefers to call it, can be developed by training.

"The higher one goes in administrative activity the truer it is that one has to be a specialist in the ability to generalize effectively. This means possession of a capacity to abstract general conclusions out of multiple bodies of not too clearly related facts, and then to think in general terms long enough to translate the correctly formulated generalization, conclusion or solution into the wise handling of some new set of specific, factual proposals. "36

He further notes that "training in orderly habits of thought, in analytical skill, in imaginative induction of hypothesis"37 is an educational possibility. However, it can readily be accepted that such training would be one of the "other areas usually neglected" in the intensity of the expert's training.38

New Ideas.

The second listed "trained incapacity" of the specialist should not be as pronounced in the minister of education as it would be among others, scientists for example. Educationally minded persons should be alert and looking for new ideas. An educationally minded person is himself engaged in "selling" new ideas.

However, within the Christian educator's own limited "field of mental vision" of activity it is easy for him to fall into the pitfall of institutionalizing or traditionalizing customary practices and ideas of how, when, and where things should be done. Thus it will be most difficult to get many ministers of education even to consider, as som~ are suggesting, that the traditional "Sunday School" method of teaching in the church may not be the best for this age.

A study of the history of religious education should reasonably convince one that no form is sacrosanct, not even the Sunday church school. But how many who are working with the Sunday school would be open to honest consideration of other possible methods of Christian education, be they specialist or non-specialist?

Whole View.

The inability of the specialist to see his own field of endeavor as a part of a whole seems closely related to the problem of common sense or generalization discussed earlier. Educational specialists should not fail to realize that their program is just one of several programs in the church. The minister of education must see the total picture; he must constantly be aware of the total church and, as much as possible, every Christian-life-program.

Furthermore, he must consider the demands of the church and all specialists in education in relation to the needs of the pupil. This "blindness" characteristic of specialists will perhaps apply more to the departmental coordinators and consultant experts. The minister of education as one in the role of assisting the elder/administrators as well as being an expert educator, should help these specialists keep the overall view of church activity in mind. (In the next drticle other "trained incapacities" common to many specialists are presented: superiority, ignorance of nonspecialists, making recommendations, dealing in human affairs, and professional ethic.)

FOOTNOTES

251 Corinthians 12.8-10, 28.

26See verse 26.

271 Corinthians 12.25b.

281 Corithians 13; Ephesians 4.11-16.

29Dubin, op cit., p. 186.

30Fritz J. Roethlisberger, Management and Morale. p. 156.

31"Harold J. Laski, "The Limitations of the Expert," p. 162; Dubin, op. cit., p. 193; Robert K. Merton, "The Machine, The Worker, and The Engineer." p.105.

32Or as Durbin has warned, there is no such thing as "10 rules for this and 14 steps for that. Such rules are the height of impracticability. They confuse rather than enlighten. This is especially true when one becomes the slave of the rules, when one thinks only of the rules and not of the situations to which they are supposed to apply, how they are to apply, what they are to accomplish, or why they accomplish it. In short, in being rule-oriented, there is real danger of behavng pathologically in relation to the rules." Dubin, op. cit., viii.

33 Ibid., pp.188,189.

34C.T. Hardwidk and B.F. Landuyt, Administrative Strategy, p.68, wnte; "i'rovincialism is probably a common phenomenon in the administration of all types of organizations. It is generated to a large degree by the intense desire to succeed. The term 'provincialism' connote, narrowness. It, therefore, seems logical to apply it in business to mean a degree of narrowness on the part of the administrator with respect to his own objectives, with respect to those of his associates and most importantly with respect to the relation of both categories to the goals of the company as an entity" This is "the other side of the coin" from the specialists, operates from him also.

35 Dubin, op. cit., p.193.

36 Ordway Tead, The Art of Administration, p. 197.

37 Ibid.