Good day everyone,
In 1 Tim. 3:1-7, there are many qualifications which are laid out for
those who wish to be elders in a local congregation. Among them are two
of specific interest: a prospective elder must be able to teach and must
not be a new convert. In order for one to teach in the way that an elder
would be expected to, there must be an intimate understanding of biblical
theology as well as theology proper. So often, it seems, there are many
churches who are so eager to encourage a prospective minister in the
calling of ministry one might claim to feel that they are sensing that the
ordination or the sending out to plant a church should not wait another
second. This is a sentiment that seems to be shared throughout much of
modern Christendom. This author grew up in a context where theology
was almost viewed as a dirty word because it would scare people off or
bore them into leaving the church or Christianity in general. Kevin J.
Vanhoozer warns of the dangerous scenario that the modern church has
found itself in by explaining, “Theology is in exile and, as a result, the
knowledge of God is in ecclesial eclipse. The promised land, the gathered
people of God, has consequently come to resemble a parched land: a land
of wasted opportunities that no longer cultivates disciples as it did in the
past.”[1]
If one does not know about who God has revealed Himself to be
and how He interacts with the universe in general and humanity in
particular, one will live inside of an insipid soup of convoluted catch
phrases and platitudes that offers no help and no hope to anyone. In
short, a lack of theology leads to an inevitable lack of saving faith. This is
not a comment on the ability of God to save a person, rather, it is a
condemnation of the modern pragmatism that has gripped much of the
Church in the West specifically. Along the lines of this point Josh Chatraw
underscored the importance of importance of being a competent apologist
to fulfill the Great Commission by writing, “It seems that the early church
saw apologetics as an imperative in pastoral ministry. It was, to
emphasize the point, part of the pastor theologian’s identity. It could be
that this ancient vision could save the modern church from the perils of
both the pragmatic “get ‘er done” approach and the “all talk, no action”
approach to Christian witness.”[2]
[1]Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Owen Strachan,The Pastor as Public
Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision(Grand Rapids: Baker Academic,
2015). Introduction. Kindle.
[2]Todd Wilson and Gerald Hiestand, eds.,Becoming A Pastor Theologian:
New Possibilities for Church Leadership(Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press
Academic, 2016). Kindle. 182.
