Konda, while I agree there is an incongruity that exists between theologically informed
individuals and those who just fill a position in ministries and churches today there is one thing
in your post I would like to respond to and expand on. You mentioned near the end of your post
that a, “theological Christian is completely equipped,” and I believe this as a blanket statement is
overstepping a bit and can be dangerous. To state that one is completely equipped insinuates
arrival at a destination when in fact arrival does not occur until we reach the end of our earthly
life and are about to be with Jesus. Paul supports this understanding in 2nd Timothy 4:7-8 where
he tells Timothy just prior to his execution, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the
race, I have kept the faith.”1 As pastor theologians we must never lose sight of the fact that we
have not arrived and the assigned reading bears this out by presenting the positive of a God focus
as well as the negative of self-focus. When man leaned more on the intellectual side when
interpreting the theological side during the Enlightenment, effectively separating what should
have never been divided. Academia got too big for their theological britches and being
theologically informed took a backseat to temporal intelligence instead. The insidiousness of this
methodology and results in our country is communicated by Vanhoosier and Strachan who
explained that, “in one generation, America went from a nation featuring a carefully guarded
pastoral office – to mark by learning, communal stability, and staunch theological preaching – to
one in which disestablishment reigned and highly gifted populist communicators dominated. The
same time, the increasing secularized American academy expanded to make territorial claims
over the intellectual life of the country.”2 I have personally met and unfortunately worked with
people in ministry who were under the false impression that they had “arrived.” I have seen what
can happen when pride and arrogance infect a theologically informed individual who has lost
sight of their mission and lost touch with the God they are supposed to serve. McQuilkin and
Copan correctly identified this as nothing more than idolatry. This false view, “can squeeze God
out in the name of science or philosophy or religion. Or perhaps the pursuit of knowledge
becomes an all-consuming intellectualism which leads to pride and alienates others.”3 It is
important to be work towards being theologically equipped but humility must be a constant
companion on the journey.
Bibliography
Vanhoozer, Kevin J., and Owen Strachan, The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost
Vision, Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Academic, 2015.
McQuilkin, Robertson and Paul Copan, 3rd Ed. An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in
the Way of Wisdom. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014.
1 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL:
Crossway, 2008).
2 Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Owen Strachan, The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision
(Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Academic, 2015), 88.
3 Roberton McQuilkin and Paul Copan, 3rd Ed. An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the Way of
Wisdom. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014), 190.
