This week, Who Needs Theology<\/i> by Grenz and Olsen came to mind.\u00a0 I was reminded if their concerns that Christian theology in the West could deteriorate into a \u201cmere \u2018folk religion\u2019 (unreflective believing based on blind faith in a tradition of some kind), relegated to the realms of sheer subjectivity and emptied of public credibility.\u201d1 \u00a0But then the thought came to mind, \u201cwhat if \u2018folk religion\u2019 at the grass-roots is actually where the most accessible, practical and meaningful theology should be undertaken?\u201d\u00a0 I think Simon Chan would lean in that direction.<\/p>\n
Chan notes how \u201celitist\u201d theologians construct theologies about<\/i> \u201cthe poor and marginalized \u2014 the Dalits and Minjung \u2014 (yet) seldom do we find views of the grassroots themselves being taken seriously; rather, what we see is how the theologian views the grassroots and how they might fit in to the theologian\u2019s grand scheme of things.\u201d2 \u00a0I can\u2019t help but connect those dots back to Grenz and Olsen and those that they represent, you know, people like me?\u00a0 Do they represent \u201celitist\u201d theologians?\u00a0 Those that stand outside of another culture and theologize about them?\u00a0 Is that the best we can offer?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also thinking of another famous Chan, one named Francis.\u00a0 His story is well-known so I don\u2019t need to rehash it here but what is important is to look at the steps he took to engage in real, public, practical theology\u2026\u00a0 He moved in.\u00a0 He moved from the comfort and prestige of white suburbia where social outreach meant giving from his surplus to \u201cthose people\u201d and \u201ctheology from below\u201d meant watching the movements of the underclass \u2014 the American \u201cDalit\u201d \u2014 as they mire through the filth of life\u2026\u00a0 He became a grass-roots, American theologian.<\/p>\n
My understanding (seen through the lenses of my functional hermeneutic) of Matthew chapter 16 demands that I become a practical, public theologian from right where I am positioned in life.\u00a0 My understanding of God has to be shaped within the context of the people, the communities, where he has placed me.\u00a0 We, Jesus\u2019 ekklesia are called from the communities man to act on behalf of those communities.\u00a0 How can I best act on behalf of my community if I don\u2019t first come to understand how the people of this community see God?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I am called to leave my land and move into the ghetto, no, I think I\u2019m just supposed to begin to more diligently look to my surroundings and allow my theology to be shaped within that context\u2026\u00a0 At the grassroots.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1. Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson, Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the Study of God. (<\/i>Downer\u2019s Grove: IVP, 1996). 10, 27.<\/p>\n
2. Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: a Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1998), Kindle Location 265.<\/p>\n
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