The Pastor-Theologian

[Carbon]

Following is something a pastor wrote up. This pastor is in NY where my pastor and myself attended one time when he was on vacation, so my pastor preached. It was an awesome time. This is something the pastor of that church wrote, and I thought I would share it.

The Pastor Theologian: Where has he gone?
One pastor's lament

"Of all vocations, the Christian ministry is the most sacred, the most exacting, the most humbling."
Sir William Robertson Nicoll.

I could almost smell the fear as I entered the room. I made my way down the center aisle and took my seat with the others. Small talk abounded as we waited for the victim to be brought in to face interrogators. We had all been through this before and I'm sure no one believed that this would be any different. It wasn't. The scene was all too familiar to those somewhat jaded individuals who had assembled for the occasion. The victim was ushered to the front of the room and introduced. The ordination had begun.


The council proceeded as most councils do. The candidate takes an interminable amount of time recounting the testimony we had all been given in written form weeks ago. Then the questioning begins, interspersed with gems of wisdom from the assembled veterans of councils past.


"If you could be happy doing anything else, you'd better do it," the candidate is told, with either the gravity of a Doctor informing a patient that he is terminal or the levity of one taken with his own cleverness. Ha, ha, ha. What a card.


I have come to wonder why we continue to go through this process. By the time the council is over, do we really know any more about this man's qualifications for ministry than when we began?
The same questions seem to be asked at every council, and the same answers, or lack thereof, are given. Few of the responses leave the impression that they come as the result of any degree of thoughtfulness. Rather, one is left with the impression that the candidate is quoting from something with a title like Theology Made Easy. And I leave once again feeling as though we didn't do our jobs.


Every council I attend I come away more and more concerned with the state of the pastorate. It seems that in reaction to the perception of an overly academic emphasis in pastoral training, the pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme. We now have seminary graduates who know all their latest ministerial techniques and all of this year's most popular church growth strategies, but who no longer have a grasp on how to think biblically or how to do theology.


There was a time when pastors were expected to be theologians. In fact, many of the greatest theologians of the church, Luther, Calvin, Edwards, etc., were first and foremost pastors. It is increasingly obvious that things have changed dramatically. Theologians speak to one another through academic journals. Pastors are counselors and administrators and fundraisers and it is expected that neither will infringe on the others territory. We have become so consumed with the "practice" of pastoring that we are neglecting the foundation of that practice. If the day of the pastor theologian has indeed vanished, the church will be all the more poorer because of it. When theology is regulated to a back room in the ivory tower, the church will inevitably lose its moorings and begin a slow, nearly imperceptible drift into error and impotence.


Henri Massis, in his defense of the west, believes this has already occurred.
"Because it turned away from theology...not only has the west no truth to give the world, but the world throws back at its own follies."


We are witnessing what David Wells calls the "process of reduction". He refers to the reduction of the meaning of theology to reflection th the academy, and to practice in the evangelical church. We no longer ask questions of truth. We now ask, "is it successful?" If it is, however, we might define "successful," then it must be O.K. We have become of pragmatists instead of Biblicists.


Edward Farley has correctly observed that,
"in today's seminaries the theological student neither studies divinity nor obtains scholarly expertise in theological sciences, but instead trains for professional activities."


Ministry has fallen from its place of honor to a mere profession, and theology is no longer the empress of the sciences, as Luther called it, but merely courtier, hovering about on the fringes waiting for the remote possibility it may one day be needed.


We have lost sight of the fact that without our theology, the methodology is meaningless. Why should we bother to grow a church if, when the people have come, we have nothing to feed them? Why do we marvel at the shallowness of our people when we stand in the pulpit and quote Larry Burkett instead of Augustine; James Dobson instead of Jonathan Edwards?


Can you discuss the difference between the immanence and transcendence of God? The candidate was asked. "I'm sorry" he replied. I'm not familiar with those concepts." An ordination candidate, fresh from the Seminary classroom, unfamiliar with basic foundational principles of Theology Proper. He passed away.



Am I overreacting? I hope So. I hope things arent as bad as they seem. But when I look back over the history of the church, I wonder.

Once there were men whose power came from the Holy Spirit and the content of their faith. There were men who weren't concerned with the latest methodologies and faddish techniques. There were men who knew the truth of God, and proclaimed it boldly. There were men who could think and reason and communicate the deep things of God to their people. Once there were men who knew what the important things were.


Eric Hoffer said,
"true doctrine is a master key to all the world's problems. With it the world can be taken apart and put together."


Somehow we have become deceived. Someone has convinced us that the key lies elsewhere. And so we find ourselves on our knees. Regretfully, we are not on our knees in prayerful anguish over the revealed truth of God, pleading with Him for understanding that we can impart to our people, but rather, we are on our knees, groping in the dark, for a mythical key to "success" that does not exist.


The Reverand James M. Harrison.

 

[Alive]

These are some of the reasons I left an organized denomination where I had been a pastor.
The Lord was leading in a different direction. One fraught with much room for messes, but such is the way of His Church when the corrals of man are not relied on, but rather a desire for Christ’s Headship to be Central.

 

[ezra]

The pastor role has seemingly become that of the "Pragmatic Worldly Wise Man."

in some ways honestly in some ways we have traded education over anointing !!!! dont get me wrong there are several pastors that holds doctor degree. that i enjoy listening to. but they know the word to. lets face it this is very trying times as a pastor. i reopened the church i was saved in and took the call to preach in. 25 years ago it was a thriving Church. but in the process of time it had man problems.!!!! we have hireling and we have real pastors . the church i pastor had closed during covid .i got the building reopened the Church. we dont do membership on the books. you come you attend you give your part of the Church.
there are still good pastors and a good Church. i have said a pastor is as good as the pastor is. the pastor is as good as the congregation is.. its a 50/50 mixture led by the spirit

 

[TATII]

I am completely aware of the opinion that the original mandate the 5 "graces" is largely not understood by "church leadership" today...most reject it. In either case, it is to their own and the congregations demise.

For proof, all one has to do is look at the complete lack of any spiritual maturity in denominational world today, which is what is being discussed here, and this is generations old. This has created a spiritual DNA among the religious that has been blown by every wind of doctrine into perpetual confusion, division and immaturity.

This is largely because salvation has become a “destination – go to heaven”, vs. a “Father and son relationship”…where the son was always expected to grow up…into the image and likeness of His Father.

Congregations void of the graces of “apostle and prophet” are generally missing the “fatherly’ attributes of Christ among other essential Spirit aspects that the 5 graces together were given to provide to the Body of Christ.

As a result, all that is left is a pasture full of “wondering sheep” that are better characterized as slaves, orphans or both who are offering God the works of “their hands” as they exhaust themselves striving to provide and protect for themselves, thereby building and defending their own kingdoms.

Now when this “creature” is left to the guidance of a man struggling with the same...and lacking the full credentials of Christ to provide a groups of people their spiritual food drink and care, you have man/men doing what is right in his own eyes…just like ancient Israel...rebellion and disobedience.

The function of the “pastor” could never provide the Body of Christ” what all 5 graces provide…hence the denominational, congregational religious world is spiritually dysfunctional harlot at best, merely a religious version of the "world."

That which is called the modern “church” is by its prophetic name called “Babylon the great” they are not the "sons of God" and as such, there should be no expectation whatsoever for them to teach, learn or act like they are. Though it is true that she is "carrying the sons of God"...think Israel & the Lord Yahshua Christ.

She, this religious woman, pretending to be the "bride of Christ" is being true to her nature as a harlot, will deliver the seed of God just as Israel did, then she will exactly mimic the same apostasy and rejection of its King that Israel did…for the nay-Sayers just read what Paul is reported to have written to the Ephesians…it stands today…it has to or you get what is called “the modern harlot church” and it’s not entirely the “pastors” fault.

"But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN." (Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." (Eph 4:7-16 NASB)

Paul is speaking of the "Head and Body" working together as One...one corporate man called "Christ"...His appearance will be realized incrementally as we move forward to the end of this age.

 

[Keiw1]

in some ways honestly in some ways we have traded education over anointing !!!! dont get me wrong there are several pastors that holds doctor degree. that i enjoy listening to. but they know the word to. lets face it this is very trying times as a pastor. i reopened the church i was saved in and took the call to preach in. 25 years ago it was a thriving Church. but in the process of time it had man problems.!!!! we have hireling and we have real pastors . the church i pastor had closed during covid .i got the building reopened the Church. we dont do membership on the books. you come you attend you give your part of the Church.
there are still good pastors and a good Church. i have said a pastor is as good as the pastor is. the pastor is as good as the congregation is.. its a 50/50 mixture led by the spirit

The schools of men do not teach truth about God. Nor do those who learn from them. Jesus assured his real teachers that he would send them the holy spirit to guide them into -all- truth. Every religion claiming to be christian all have different truths? Why? A lack of holy spirit is why. The schools of mans dogmas is why. Jesus is with 1 single religion, not hundreds( 1 Cor 1:10= Unity of thought( all of Gods 1 truth) no division.