Superiority

The spirit of Christianity should be one of the best antidotes against all of these limitations, and such is particularly true in reference to the fourth one listed. Significantly, in the context of a list of special gifts and admonition that they should be exercised accordingly, there is included this admonition: "Be of the same mind tow&d one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation."39 Yet, experts in educational matters often fall short in this as well as other limitations. Dubin's warning should be well taken:

This lack of humility often makes experts fail to see the obvious when it is in front of their noses. It is in this connection that the executive or administrator, if he keeps himself from being "taken in" by the expert's air of superiority, can often save himself from bad advice.40

Ignorance of nonspecialists.

Some specialists, it is said, want to keep others ignorant. The nonexpert's or consumer's ignorance of "specialized services (for example, medical or legal advice) helps to preserve the privileged position of a specialized dispenser of these services."41 It follows, then, according to Dubin, that "Experts not only try to keep the layman ignorant, but also assume that he is ignorant because he is a layman!"42

Does the minister of education want to keep others ignorant? This may seem to be a stupid question on its face. The educator is in the business of helping others to learn, and he must of necessity be highly capable in this field. But it does not follow that he will want to educate others in his own particularly specialized field.

For example, he should know curriculum, its overall aim, educational philosophy and learning theory around which it is constructed, also how it is graded and how to administer it to the church Bible school. But he may be willing to discuss such matters only with fellow ministers of education.

Possibly he has insights to curriculum improvement that he could share with those in position to include them in a future textbook, such as an editor or publisher. But instead he may guard this knowledge as a "trade secret," believing that -- right or wrong -- his knowledge is so valuable that if too many knew about it then there would be too many competitors (evidence also of a feeling of superiority). He himself may someday want to write his book or series of literature, so he withholds his "knowledge" from others.

This (sinful) human limitation of desiring to keep others ignorant may also be found in administrative relations with the preacher and elders. Strange as it may seem elders have been known to employ, knowingly, incompetent "ministers of education" because they were afraid a well-trained specialist in this field would either "show them up," "take over," or for some other fear.

Sometimes it is the preacher that encourages the employment of such a person, because he wants to dominate the minister of education or make him his "errand boy." Usually, the basic reason behind all such behavior is a feeling of insecurity-and from the standpoint of ability this may be justified in some cases.

Christians are all to help one another and this includes, particularly, helping each other to succeed. The true, well-trained minister of education will always consider it his main business to help others to be their best in whatever Christian vocation they choose to be -- elder, preacher, department coordinator, teacher, special consultant, or whoever in whatever place one tries to serve the Lord.

If there be any "minister of education" who would try to belittle or himself take over the preacher's position, he is not worthy of the name "Christian" let alone to be Christ's minister in this specialized field of education. The same holds true for such errant behavior of any preacher, elder or any member of the church.

Recommendations.

The final point made about expert limitations, the sixth, was that they are likely to confuse the importance of their knowledge and facts with the significance of what they recommend be done with them. The illustration is given that:

The government bureau expert is likely to view the legislator as standing in the way of accomplishment. The president of a company may be considered stubborn because he falls to follow the advice of his industrial relations specialist.43

There are many examples of this same point that could be made in business, public education, and church work. In churches of Christ the elders may be considered to be the "top administrators." Others may help them with advice, counsel, guidance, but it is they who must take the lead, make the final decisions, and be responsible to the Lord for their oversight.44

The minister of education and those who work with him will certainly make many recommendations to each other, and some will be passed on up to the elders. What are the elders to do about to such recommendations? These recommendations often have back of them much concerned thought, being the product of sincere deliberation they are often the result of hours of group discussion, independent research, and experience. The elders are expected to act either with a firm "Yes . . . good . . . let's do it," or if they do not so act. . . what then?

First, the staff specialists should recognize that their position is a limited position, one in which they are not expected to have the total view nearly so well as the overseeing elders. The elders' decision should be accepted and respected.

Second, the elders should give evidence of sincere, studied consideration of every recommendation they receive, from specialist or non-specialist.

Next, elders as administrators should have a clear grasp of the overall structural plan of organization, aims, job assignments, and should have worked out a general, flexible pattern of communication. In respect to the latter, the elders must understand communication as a two-way process: sending and receiving, stimulating and responding, reciprocating and alternating.45 Elders should take care to establish rapprochement, to explain and educate, to condition and/or convert, to give directions, and to be able to refute when necessary.

Louis A. Allen, drawing from research done in 230 leading business organizations in the United States, makes an observation that has some important implications for the communicative relationship involved here.

Effective relationship between line and staff are often difficult to establish. To overcome this, staff should understand the conditions underlying the acceptance of advice. A basic line-staff relationship requires that line be accorded primary accountability for operating results. Staff must have the option of offering advice when it is needed, and line should give such officers serious consideration. The option of refusing the advice and service proffered must lie with line; however, both should have the right of appeal to the common line superior.46

While the distinctions and relationships of line and staff will be brought out in the next section of this study, they are not altogether foreign to organizational structure in churches of Christ (though care is advised in attempting a direct transfer from world concepts to Christian use).

Line refers to personnel in an organization who are accountable for primary objectives, those who are more authoritative. Staff is primarily advisory. Thus, in application to the church of Christ situation the above line superior" in the church, unless it be considered as the head of the church, Jesus Christ.

Another helpful concept for administration to understand and apply in relation to receiving recommendations from staff specialists is what Edward C. Schleh called the "rule of double credit."47 First, Schleh says, if staff accomplishes something in its own field it should get full credit. However, when the results overlap between line and staff, the rule of double credit quotation could be translated or transferred to correspond closely to elders (line) and minister of education and those who work with him as specialists (staff). Thus applied, all but the last clause can be applied in a rather meaningful way to the problem under consideration. There is no "common should apply. That is, "both should get full credit for whatever is accomplished, this just as if either one had done it by himself alone."48

Following this rule, Schleh says, will keep either side from feeling that they have to brag to get credit. And the rule should actually be carried through from the top all the way down the line.

Applying this business man's outlook to the Christian organism, the church, the Scripture in the First Corinthian reference comes to mind: "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. "49 Schleh's hard and fast rule of separation of line and staff otherwise hardly defines these relationships as applied to the church.50

Human affairs.

Another limitation of the staff specialist is his "trained incapacity for dealing with human affairs."51 Surely this would rarely be applicable to education specialists who are Christian oriented. If there are some to whom this limitation does apply, then it would be quite certain that that specialist has lost contact with the real heart and soul of the ministry of Christian education.

One must not allow himself to become so focused upon mechanical detail, whether it be in administrative strategy or in a study of the word of God itself, so that he fails to develop and maintain a sensitivity for relating to his fellow man. A Christian educator, of all persons, must come to know God in Christ as he engages with his fellow man in searching both the scriptures and the many facets of human existence for knowledge.

Robert K. Merton further pointed out that the staff specialist has "an ethical sense of limited responsibilities."52 He applied this "ethical sense" to such instances as scientists and engineers who hold is absurd that they "should be thought accountable for the social and psychological effects of technology, since it is perfectly clear that these do not come within this special providence."53 It is the engineer's "job" and not his concern to consider any ramified social effects. This occupational code focuses the attention of engineers upon the first links in the chain of consequences of technological innovation and diverts their attention, both as specialists and citizens, from succeeding links in the chain.54

In Merton's article there seems to be a fair and clear word of warning to the staff specialist with Christian ethical concern. The minister of education stands on the frontier of a dynamic movement within the church. The movement rests squarely upon Bible education through which the church is seeking to minister to a rapidly changing world.

The belief of this writer is that the church must stand against the tidal waves of changing doctrine, the manifestations of which are far too numerous and complicated to even begin to include in this study. Yet, there is also a broad area of activity in which there is room and freedom for innovations and changes. This latter realm may be called the realm of methods, of concern with how to get things "done properly and in an orderly manner."55

In either realm, leaders in the church must be careful not to focus only upon the "first links in the chain." There are consequences often too distant and dim to predict with any accuracy, but as successive links in a chain they will tie in and relate to some "first links" that were forged by some educational staff specialist. Here, especially, it is important that staff specialists and line administrators work in close harrnony to combine their talents in planning wisely for the present and future.

Some of the problem areas have been identified and briefly considered. Problems peculiar to specialists were found to exist in the New Testament church. Such problems become challenges and opportunities when viewed in the light of all members of the church being of one organism or body knit together by love. Trained incapacities," often identified among scientists and industial engineer specialists, were viewed as concepts transferrable to a Christian context. Yet in most cases the incapacities would be gready lessened. Or entirely eliminated by the Christian faith and environment.

Elder-administrators, who are the chief leaders In churches of Christ relate to ministers of education and th eir aides as line to staff, though some modification may need to be made. Whenever each understands the other, recognizes their need for each other, and supplements or helps bear each other's incapacities then incapacities become capacities. The organism is at work developing Christ-like persons.

The last two articles in this series of six will be a study of organizational structure for the minister of education in light of the study of the staff specialist.

FOOTNOTES

39 Romans 12:16.

40 op cit., p. 194.

41 Wilbert E. Moore and Melvin M. Tumin, "Some Social Functions of Ignorance," p. 788.

42 Dubin, op cit., p. 194.

43 Dubin, op cit., p. 194.

44 I Peter 5:1 - 4; Hebrews 13:17.

45 Hardwick and Landuyt, op cit., pp. 372ff.

46 Allen, op cit., p. 10

47 Edward C. Schleh, Successful Executive Action, pp. 128ff.

48 Ibid., p. 128

49 I Corinthians 12:26.

50 This will be further brought out in the next article.

51 This limitation is pointed out by Max Weber, Therstein Veblen, and others. Merton refers to this -- Merton, op cit., p. 79ff.

52 Merton, op cit., p. 192.

53 Dubin, op cit., p. 192.

54 Ibid.