Theology, allow me to RE-introduce myself.<\/p>\n
It feels like I\u2019m being introduced to theology all over again.\u00a0 I knew her once really well but life happened and we grew apart.\u00a0 I am reflecting on the timeline leading up to and immediately following my completion of the MA in theology (remember, it\u2019s practical!<\/i><\/b>).\u00a0 My program concluded concurrent with my stepping into a high-level district leadership role for my tribe that quickly became all-consuming.\u00a0 Doing theology in a community of leaders from across the country had, prior to this job, been refreshing to my soul with immediate, practical (there\u2019s that word again) application for our theological reflections always close at hand.\u00a0 But it seemed that the moment I stepped behind the desk as the \u201cDirector of Missional Vitality\u201d things became heavy, really<\/i> heavy.\u00a0 I no longer had time nor energy to engage in theological reflection.\u00a0 \u00a0 There were much more pressing matters at hand.<\/p>\n
There was real<\/i> work to be done!\u00a0 There were churches to be started and others to be closed.\u00a0 \u201cTime to cut the fat!\u00a0 Prune to fruitfulness! Remove the dead weight and replace it with new, productive churches!\u201d was the mantra, and I was just the man for the job.\u00a0 Theology be damned. \u00a0 I abandoned an old friend, traded her in for status.\u00a0 I was unfaithful.<\/p>\n
Theology had once been a place of thoughtfulness, a place where I and my friends could wrestle with deep issues like:<\/p>\n
-How the heck is the work of atonement efficacious for those who lived pre-Christ?<\/p>\n
-How could Abram\u2019s obedience be accounted to him as righteousness when righteousness can only come through the death and resurrection of Christ?\u00a0 Is there something to this whole \u201clamb slain before<\/i> the foundations of the Earth\u201d thing?<\/p>\n
-Can we see and celebrate a creative God bending his own rules just enough to slide a loophole or two in so that pre-Christ people can find a way of escape without that whole, very thin Abraham\u2019s Bosom argument?\u00a0 (That one never was very satisfying to me\u2026)\u00a0 I mean, how exactly do justice and mercy intertwine?<\/p>\n
In that wrestling we found comfort in knowing that no matter how much of this stuff we actually figured out, we really only succeeded in uncovering a whole new set of mysteries to be explored!\u00a0 And we stood more in awe of God and his unfathomable ways.\u00a0 So, I\u2019m meeting my old friend again, hoping she will have me back.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cJon, meet theology.\u00a0 Theology, meet Jon.\u00a0 I think you know each other already\u2026\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I do know theology.\u00a0 As the fogginess shrouding my remembrances begins to lift I recall that I loved the way sound theology brought creativity and wisdom to bear on how we remember our history and traditions; how we engage with God, the church and world; and how we think and cogently express those thoughts.1 \u00a0I remember how she refused to be solved, but instead, would allow just enough of herself to be understood to make us understand that we required more.\u00a0 Theology lovingly strong-armed us into a \u201cwillingness to admit that [we didn\u2019t] know what [we didn\u2019t] know [which] is as valuable as ascribing to what [we] believe [we] know.\u201d2 \u00a0As we embraced our weakness, we leaned into God\u2019s strength.\u00a0 Theology did that for us.<\/p>\n So, I am being re-introduced to theology and I sure am excited!\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of like when you go to the family reunion after several years and bump into that cousin that you think is really cool. (NOT the creepy one from the married-in side of the family that hugs just a little too long\u2026)<\/i> You remember how much you enjoyed spending time with her and you commit to exchange contact information so you can get together for coffee and see if there is room in your lives for each other.\u00a0 I\u2019m finding room for theology again.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 Thankfully she is willing to forgive my unfaithfulness and allow me back in the fold.<\/p>\n 1. Ford, David F. Theology: A Very Short Introduction<\/i>. (2nd Ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), Kindle.\u00a0 Loc 309. Theology, allow me to RE-introduce myself. It feels like I\u2019m being introduced to theology all over again.\u00a0 I knew her once really well but life happened and we grew apart.\u00a0 I am reflecting on the timeline leading up to and immediately following my completion of the MA in theology (remember, it\u2019s practical!).\u00a0 My program concluded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[506,197],"class_list":["post-2814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp5","tag-ford","cohort-lgp5"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2814"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2819,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2814\/revisions\/2819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
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\n2. Mary Pandiani, \u201cBeware! Theology Without Wisdom is not Theology\u201d DMINLGP.com<\/i>, October 23, 2014, accessed October 23, 2014, http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/beware-theology-without-wisdom-is-not-theology<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"