Good day everyone,
i i i i i i i i i 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]
i i i i i i i i i i 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.
