An Invitation to Theology
My tribe has a favorite slogan, “Everyone gets to play.” This means, as the priesthood of believers, all are equipped to do the things Jesus does. Who Needs Theology by Grenz and Olson, is not just an introduction to theology, but a combination of a theology primer and manifesto declaring that everybody gets to do theology. In fact, whether we know it or not, everybody DOES theology. And for the authors of this book, theology is the answer to everything.
Experience
After a 13 hour flight from China to California, my in-flight neighbor, as we taxied to the gate at LAX, asked me to keep him in my prayers. Of course, I automatically, without thinking or really meaning it, said I would. But then I did something he didn’t expect. I asked him if I could pray for him right then and there. He didn’t even pause for a second, but simply answered “yes, please.” So I started praying. For Grenz and Olson, we were practicing theology and good theology grounds christian living (Grenz/Olson 43). As a teacher and pastor, Grenz/Olson would say I was practicing “Ministerial” theology. As a Muslim who professes Jesus as his favorite prophet, my neighbor was practicing “Lay” theology (Although, he did possess a deeper knowledge and understanding of the Bible than many Christians I’ve sat next to on planes).
Lament
Now-a-days, churches look to a variety of qualifications in their potential pastoral candidates with theology at the bottom, if at all, of that list. I think this is true in America because the job description for the pastorate has changed. When my grandfather pioneered a Lutheran church in my town right after World War II, all he had to do was take care of all the Lutherans in Sunland-Tujunga. The same was true for each denomination in town. The Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Catholics, simply attended to their denominational church in town and they pastor-chaplain-ed them. These pastors were expected to be professional, if not academic, theologians specializing in their tribal polity. The burden of expectation of the next generation of pastors fell less on theology and more on church growth. And now, today’s pastors are expected to be leaders. One of the largest interdenominational and international conferences each year is called, “The Leadership Summit.” Notice it is not called, “A Theological Summit.” Even Martyn Percy lamented to us in Hong Kong about the amount of leadership books written each year!
I lived this lament first hand last year when a local church interviewed me regarding a potential merging of churches. During the 3 hour interview with the board and another church committee, there was not a single question regarding my theology. In fact, the biggest concern of the long evening was my style of financial leadership. This process proved Who Needs Theology’s point: most christians cling to their opinions (lowest category) and would rather not engage in theology (doctrine & dogma).
Solution
This book is a quest to convince people to be proactive about doing theology. To help us get excited about theology the authors basically state that the answers to all church problems are answered by doing good theology. Do you want to please God? Do theology (Grenz/Olson 47). Sick of poor theology? Do good theology (Grenz/Olson 51). Tired of people basing life on various opinions and not church dogma? Do theology (Grenz/Olson 73). Are you part of the contemporary church? You need theology (Grenz/Olson 102). Looking for a way to place truth over and above personal experience? In search of a way to live your Sunday belief structure on a Monday morning? One word: theology (Grenz/Olson 123, 126).
Theology asks what we must be, say, and do (Grenz/Olson 94). This is the invitation for every christian. Good theology points to Jesus (The Truth) based on the Bible, theological heritage of the church, and contemporary culture. Theology must be relevant and easily understood by the christian and non-christian. For example, offering to pray and lay hands on a stranger on a plane. Part of the task of theologians is to take seriously new insights of various disciplines. My hunch is that this is why we are reading books like the Pink and Valentine volumes. Visual ethnographies and social geographies, albeit “secular,” speak to the “problems, longings and ethos” of our contemporary culture (Grenz/Olson 99). Theology must be done in, and speak to, our current culture of fear (Valentine 178). John chapter 1, and the Jesus who is the perfect word and image of the Father must be preached in our current time and place where visual images are figuring increasingly in the critical and practical work of scholars amidst the paradigm and belief that there is “no such thing as pure word or pure image” (Pink 33). Theology, Help!
About the Author
Aaron Peterson
I am a working priest which means that I am a husband(to Lisa), dad(to four wonderful children), senior pastor and church planter(The Hub Vineyard Church), and high school social studies teacher(Verdugo Hills High School LAUSD). I am currently working towards a DMIN in Leadership & Global Perspectives @George Fox Seminary.5 responses to “An Invitation to Theology”
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AP,
Good post. When lamenting, you stated that “theologian” is at the bottom of a pastoral search committee list. Why do you think the priority shifted? How do we prioritize theology in the church? Is their a balance within theological context? In other words, can a pastor be both a theologian and a leader? Why are do some pastors drift away from theology?
You probably cannot answer all my questions, but your post got me thinking, so I thought I would get your insight.
Blessings Brother.
J
Thanks Aaron; You hit a home run on this statement “Everyone gets to play”, to me this said it all. We must encourage our church family to remember that there aren’t any superheroes in the kingdom of God and that all of God’s people should participate in areas of ministry. This is a natural outworking of Ephesians 4:11-16 in which leaders/ministers are gifted to the church in order to equip them to build each other up for ministry. The kind of God we serve is important. The world needs the God who is not the God they want. Theology can straighten out our wants to accord with who God is, and then bring us near to him in Christ. We need a theology that is not only God-centered but also Christ-centered. Your post was real talk coupled with critical thinking! I give you an E for excellent. Rose
“Everyone gets to play.” I love this restatement of the priesthood of all believers. The Vineyard conferences I attended through the years showed that John Wimber really practiced that.
Thirty five years ago my wife got a job teaching at a Christian high school. The bulk of her interview for the job focused on alcohol and her uses of it. Not too deep.
My question for you: with the AWESOME opportunity you had to pray for your airplane neighbor, did you feel the freedom to pray in Jesus’ name? WELL DONE by the way to seize the moment. More reflection of the Vineyard culture.
Aaron, thank you for a very insightful blog. I hadn’t thought of the change of emphasis in pastoral ministry throughout the years from the pastor as a “chaplain” to a “church growth expert” to a “leader.” I was shocked to read about your interview experience (even though I can see how financial management can make or destroy a church-just like theology!) I found your correlation between Valentine’s and Pink’s books very clever. As you, I also see them as a window to contemporary culture that we need to listen to in order to make our theology relevant. Thank you also, for introducing me to a key value of your church ‘tribe;’ a very important value indeed! In my church context (non-affiliated non-denominational) I do not get to see many of the trends that you have observed. In our case, we do require a ThM for our Senior Pastor position, and our ordination process does have a serious biblical/doctrinal examination. Yet, one of the things that I’ve learned, is that just because a person has a Master’s in Theology (the longest degree program in the field… 4 full years; 6 semesters of Greek and 4 of Hebrew) does not mean that the person has the skills of a good theologian. So, we’ve learned not to assume that the degree is enough. Your blog is a reminder of our need to make theology an important element in our hiring process. How knows, maybe we will come up with some kind of theology-skills grid to use in the application!
Aaron,
Love your post…we’ve done a great job as church in knowing theology and what we’re supposed to do as theologians. Our challenge has been to practice good theology. I use to struggle with praying in the most ackward places because it wasn’t convenient. I would applaud those who did and laugh at others who did. That’s always been our challenge as Christians…practicing good theology ALL the time. The authors have definitely challenged me to ensure that even though I might feeled educated in theology, I need to practice good theology. I must commend you for praying on the spot without hesitation. You practiced good theology as a theologion.