Comments on Assignment 1: Monotyping

"Monotyping" is a new concept that involves looking past generalities to focus on specifics. It urges us to transcend the typical in favor of the personal.

"Monotypes" or "monotyping" is a response to stereotypes or stereotyping. It is primarily an internal editing device that serves to remind us that when we think in terms of the "typical" we are usually really thinking in terms of the "stereo"typical.

The massive torrent of information and knowledge available in our age has created a need to generalize, to think in terms of "models," bigger patterns that fit individuals into general categories.

In every case, those models exist to abstract from the specific to the general. They help our theoreticians and scholars get their arms around large volumes of information.

We have models for economic systems ("Communism," "capitalism," etc.) that really describe the nature of billions of small transactions. We have models for political ideologies ("Democrat" or "Republican," "conservative" or "liberal") that really describe the sum total of hundreds of individual positions and decisions.

We have models for faith ("charismatic," "evangelical," "liturgical") which of course include our denominations. Every faith model simply describes the aggregate of hundreds or thousands of faith habits, practices, and beliefs.

The necessary evil of "models" is that they pull our attention toward the general concepts and away from the individual ideas, practices, or people they describe. The lurking danger of relying on models is that they give the intellectually lazy an excuse to embrace stereotypes.

For example, we have mental models for "teenagers" or for "youth culture." When we think of a "typical" teenager or a "typical" young person, we can very easily slip into stereotypes.

Of course, young people share certain behavior and developmental characteristics. That is part of the human experience. However, our tendency to focus quickly on the "type" leads inevitably to missing the individual behind the "type."

If we are disciples of Jesus of Nazarath, we must do as the Teacher did. And Jesus always kept His focus on individuals, except when He was excoriating the Pharisees or the "generation" that did not recognize Him.

So we too must focus on individuals, on audiences of one, especially in ministry. After all, ministry is, in the end, about making a difference in lives. And the most profound differences are made one life at a time.

Monotyping refers to the simple notion that each person is an audience of one. Each person's place, pace, and face are finely honed and shaped by God Himself.

As ministers, we must transcend the idea that our "ministries" are about organizations, programs, and head counts. Our "ministries" are gifts from God, given to us as privileged trusts, for the purpose of touching lives, one at a time.

Monotyping honors God's intention to treat each of us individually. The bible says that He gives each of us a unique name, and knows each of us intimately. In His eyes, we each have our own "type."

Monotyping also honors the increasing capacity for customization in our lives and work. We use technology to customize almost everything from refrigerators to ebooks. We embrace customized menu preferences and Amazon store pages.

The body of Christ should do no less.