18 May 2021 at 18:16
Manage discussion entry
2 Timothy 3:16-17 states,“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that
the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (NIV
1983).”Suppose Christians and ministers hold to the standard that God’s
Word has authority in their lives. In that case, this passage alone should
be the accelerant for each Christian to be informed and studied in
Scripture, philosophy, and history.
I had a professor in college make a profound statement that forever
shaped my view on the importance of being informed and studied in the
realm of Christian ministry. My professor stated that every Christian that
is in the ministry is like an ax, and the objective (shepherding, teaching
etc.) is to chop down the trees that stand before you. Those who decide
not to pursue an intimate and profound study of Scripture and theology
will be chopping down the trees using a dull ax. Those who continue the
pursuit of lifelong deep theological study will continue to sharpen their ax
and therefore be able to chop more trees down, aka: more smoothly and
effectively fulfill the ministry calling of Christianity. Therefore, it is not that
those who do not pursue to be deeply informed and studied are
disqualified but will face a tremendous feat of chopping down the forest
with a dull ax or, worse, look to lead their congregation on leadership
principles rather than the living Word of God. It is my stance that every
person, especially going into a full-time ministry role, should strive to be a
lifelong learner of Scripture, philosophy, history, etc. As Kevin Vanhoozer
states in his bookThe Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost
Vision, churches are no longer placing expectations on the theological
character of the pastor but are leaning toward a pastor that can execute
management skills and strategic plans (Vanhoozer 2021, 1). Christians
must strive to be rooted and grounded in the Word of God because the
intention of Christian ethics is advocacy on what God has called us to do
which is rooted in Scripture (Smith 2021). Christians are to be informed in
Scripture, philosophy, and history because we have an ethical obligation
in our community and the world to live out the Christian life (Lecture). In
order to be a Christian who is informed theologically, we must understand
that our Christian ethics leads us to the understanding that Scripture is
seen a relevant to all of life and our decisions and the final authority
(Smith 2021).
In living in a postmodern world, pastors must grow in wisdom in
knowledge on how they can effectively communicate and exemplify God’s
Word to this culture. The world’s perspective on the authority of Scripture
is sharply fading day by day; pastors must be able to address the
questions and allegations that there are contradictions found in the
Gospels or the allegation that there are “discrepancies between the lists
of named witnesses of the resurrection in different Gospels... and how (we
as pastors) cannot dodge the miraculous claims and the trustworthiness of
Scripture (McLaughlin 2019, 106).” Therefore, it is vitally important that
we not separate the role of pastor and theologian. Often pastors will
negate the riches of theology by stating that they want to “shepherd” the
people. That is true that they are the first shepherd of the people of God,
but all pastors should be considered pastor theologians because they are
called to engage the word of God in society and to the church (Wilson &
Hiestand 2016, 10).
References:
McLaughlin, Rebecca. Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the
World's Largest Religion. Wheaton: Crossway, 2019.
The NIV. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Bible Pub., 1983.
Smith, Fred. “Dimensions of Christian Ethics.” PACO 650. Lecture, n.d.
Vanhoozer, Kevin J., and Owen Strachan. The Pastor as Public Theologian:
Reclaiming a Lost Vision. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, a division of
Baker Publishing Group, 2020.
Wilson, Todd A., and Gerald Hiestand. Becoming a Pastor Theologian: New
Possibilities for Church Leadership. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,
2016
