One aspect essential for Christians that have been long overlooked is growing in
the knowledge of theology. We have become accustomed to attending church and
simply being told what to believe. In many believers, there is not that longing for a
deeper understanding and comprehension of the theologies found in the
Scriptures. As pastors, we have gotten used to being taxi drivers to our
congregation in the sense that we wait for them to get to us and drive them to
where they want to go and not where they need to go. In all of this, we are losing
the fire and passion for a deeper understanding of the nature of God and His
Word. Kevin Vanhoozer says, “The idea of the pastor as a theologian—one who
opens up the Scriptures to help people understand God, the world, and
themselves—no longer causes the hearts of most church members to “burn
within” them (Luke 24:32).”1
In addition, we have been driven by our desires to be relevant to the culture and
those around us that we have lost our commitment to being students of His
Words. We are more prone to teach only on the things that sound good and are
attractional as oppose to the whole counsel of God. Robertson McQuilkin, in his
book about Biblical Ethics, ask the question, “What study could be more important
for Christians than fulfilling the purposes of God for their lives—a will that is for
our good and our well-being (Deut 6:24; 10:13)?”2 k Hence the necessity to study
and to learn about Theology. As times continue to get more problematic and
difficult to embrace, it should be our desire and commitment to be the type of
people that stand on solid ground. Without Theology, we are like a leaf that is
drifted away by the winds of our culture and society. We settle with the role of
being taxi drivers to our people as oppose to shepherds that teach and directs
their sheep in the direction that they need to go. Kevin says, “Every pastor is
responsible for communicating Christ and for ministering God’s Word, at all times,
to everyone, and in many ways. Ministering the Word of God to the people of God
is the pastor’s lifeblood.”3
1 Kevin J Vanhoozer and Owen Strachan, The Pastor as Public Theologian:
Reclaiming a Lost Vision (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, A Division of
Baker Publishing Group, 2020), 1.
2 J Robertson Mcquilkin and Paul Copan, An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking
in the Way of Wisdom (Downers Grove, Il: Ivp, An Imprint of Intervarsity Press,
2014), 23.
3 The Pastor as a Public Theologian, 3.
