Feature
The Pastoral Obligation To
The Task Of Theology
by Todd L. Miles
At the end of the Apostle Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, he gathered together the elders of the church to tell them good-bye. The pastor-teacher-evangelist-church planter reminded the Ephesian leaders of his work over the years, telling them that he had not shrunk from declaring to them the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:26). Paul charged them to pay careful attention both to themselves and the flock which constituted the precious church of God. It was Paul’s burden to warn the elders to be alert because fierce wolves would arise from within their ranks, attempting to draw away the disciples through twisted words (Acts 20:29-30). Challenges to the church would come from within and without, but the elders were responsible to protect by teaching, preaching, guarding and guiding. In short, Paul was calling the Ephesian elders to a theological task.
In the post-Christian West, theology has fallen into disrepute. Often seen as a hindrance to authentic relationships and ministry, theology is dismissed as irrelevant to the pastor and minister. At a recent meeting of missionaries, one of the participants, while praying, asked that we would not “use theology to bash people over the head.” Clearly, this is not what Paul had in mind. Yet, some Emerging Church leaders treat theology with a disdain that borders on contempt. What has happened?
Everybody Is A Theologian
Everybody is a theologian. From seminary-trained pastors and academicians, to Bible-reading Christians, to occasional pew-sitters, to pagans who walk down the streets of any Pacific Northwest city, everybody we encounter is a theologian.
Let me explain. Though some may define a theologian as someone formally trained in the doctrines of the Western Church (usually at the graduate level by an Anglo-Saxon male), such a definition is entirely misleading because it ignores the task of theology. Theologians are those who practice theology. Theology is the task of applying the powerful word of God to the questions of life. Everybody has thoughts and convictions about God. The reason for this is God’s revelation of Himself is expressive and powerful. He will not be shut out of His world. From the grandeur of creation (Rom 1:20) to the moral compass of the conscience (Rom 2:14-15), all people have true knowledge of God (Rom 1:21) for which they are, self-consciously, morally culpable (Rom 1:32). What is more, peoples’ lives are directed by their convictions on the nature of reality, and beliefs about answers to questions regarding God, His character, His governance, and his judgment. The answers may be conscious or sub-conscious, semi-accurate or just plain wrong, honoring or idolatrous, exalting or blasphemous, orthodox, heretical, or some combination thereof. But the question is not whether one is a theologian; the question is one of faithfulness.
Pastors Must Be Theologians
If theology is not relegated to the ivory tower, but is in fact the normative experience of all, how much more so should those who are called to shepherd the church of God be intentionally theological? Consider Paul’s parting words to Timothy. As the young pastor’s mentor, Paul exhorted Timothy to “follow the pattern of sound words” spoken by Paul and to “guard the good deposit entrusted” to him (2 Tim 1:13:14). In fact, he was to take that which Paul taught him and “entrust it to faithful men” who would be able to teach others also (2 Tim 2:2). At the end of the letter, Paul exhorts Timothy to “preach the word” because there would come a time when people would not “endure sound teaching” but surround themselves with teachers to cater to their desires (2 Tim 4:2-4).
So important to the life of the church is the task of contending for the faith, and thus the ability to teach is fundamental to the role of the elder. A quick survey of the requirements for elders and deacons in 1 Timothy 3 are similar, with the notable exception that the elder must be able to teach (1 Tim 3:2). In Titus 1:9 Paul requires that an elder “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”
The Lord Requires We Think Rightly About All Things
Paul instructed the church in Corinth to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). How does one “take every thought captive to obey Christ?” Is it just a matter of thinking about the right things? After all, did not Paul instruct the saints in Philippi to think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, etc. (Phil 4:8)? The faithful pastor does not have the privilege, nor the time, to limit the subjects of his thought to such things. He is called to think rightly about all the different subjects in all the different circumstances to which the Lord calls him. We do not obey the mandate to take every thought captive to Christ by merely limiting our thoughts to the right things. Rather, we have to think rightly about all things. This is a difficult task because worldly wisdom is not usually synonymous with godly wisdom. The Lord declared through Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, decleares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa 55:8-9).
Thinking rightly about all things is never more important than when it comes to the leadership of the Lord’s precious church. Why is this so? If we are not intentionally biblical and theological in our decision-making, then it is all-to-easy to make decisions according to different criteria. In many churches, the pastor is under pressure to keep the pews and coffers full. The postmodern Western church is all-to-often populated with consumers rather than servants. In the desire to maintain numbers, pastors are tempted to take the pragmatic route. Decision-making can deteriorate to the pursuit of cultural relevance in the impossible quest to keep people happy. But the Lord calls His pastors to something far greater than the pursuit of numbers. Elders have to teach the church to think the thoughts of God. As shepherds, elders have a theological task.
