What use is theology?

Recently I was asked what positive contribution theology made to ministry. Of course, there must be some sympathy with the question. Theology can often seem dense and confusing. It feels like it takes understanding the Christian faith beyond the grasp of the average person. It seems to reside in a world of dispute and academia.

And evidence seems to support the criticism. Studies have shown that there is an inverse relationship between the number of years of formal theological study and the growth rate of the churches those professional ministers lead. For example, in countries where access to formal theological training is very limited, e.g. China and South America, the church is exploding.

Yet there are also counter examples. Pastors like John Piper and Tim Keller in the USA are former seminary professors who have been very successful pastors while using their theological training.

What do we mean by theology?
Formally, theology is the study of God (theos). God is the ultimate reality. Our challenge in ministry is to live and lead in conformity with that reality.

How do we discover reality?
The fallacy of modernism is that reality is discovered using only the scientific method. As the limitations of this approach were discerned we fell into the second fallacy, that of post-modernism - which held that knowledge of reality is lost and all we are left with is a collection of personal perspectives which are equally valid.

The Biblical position is that God (as ultimate reality) has revealed himself to us through his written word, the Bible. Although our understanding of that revelation (and more general revelation) will always be limited and imperfect, we can approach an approximation of that reality by engaging with that revelation.

The term "hermentuetical spiral" refers to the process whereby we propose a theory of reality based on our present level of understanding and then test that theory in light of the revelation. Our theory will be affirmed or adjusted based on the feedback we receive and that will allow us to propose other theories. Over time our understanding shifts more in line with revelation, approaching absolute reality like an asymtote.

The Community of Discoverers
We are not the first people to seek to discover reality, or to live in light of it. Other Christians have worked hard at advancing and understanding the revelation too. Some have summarised their findings into propositional statements that are designed to reduce the complexity of the whole picture of reality into simple points that we can grasp quickly.

These propositional statements are like a quick sketch of a full rich oil painting. They reflect the true picture but they do not completely contain the full richness and majesty of the whole painting.

In Student Life we summarise the gospel (in the Knowing God Personally - KGP - booklet) into four simple points which we cover in 12 small pages. But the four questions addressed by these points (the nature and purpose of God, the nature and purpose of human beings, the nature and purpose of Jesus Christ, and how we are to respond to the previous three points) have occupied the most brilliant minds for centuries and have produced hundreds of thousands of pages of writing. Their efforts were to try to portray that reality with greater depth and clarity.

Theology missing the point
Theology that ignores the issue of how we live or lead in light of reality misses the point of why we do theology. That is not to say that every theological discussion must be immediately applied. There is great value in having academics work hard at refining some point of theology and correcting other misconceptions which have distorted or misrepresented reality.

Personalising Theology
But in ministry, theology is the study of reality and must be applied to life.

Each of us who have shared the KGP with someone else know that the ideal presentation is not one that sticks verbatim to reading through the propositional statements written on the page. We constantly ask ourselves the question, "how do I personalise this presentation to connect best with the person I am sharing with?". That leads us to adding our own explanations or illustrations of the various points.

Assuming we are confident that the propositional statements accurately reflect God's revelation, the question becomes, "how do we know our additions to the presentation are accurate representations?" The answer is that we must know more than the propositional statements. Our grasp of the big picture must be richer and deeper than the simple statements in the booklet.

The more of the picture beyond the booklet we know, the more confident we can be when we adapt our presentation of the simple concepts to the present situation.

The Danger of Theology
The danger of having a grasp of the big picture is that we try to convey all we see or know as we present the gospel. This is the same problem that teachers have all the time. After hours and hours of study, a good teacher knows far more about what they are speaking about than they will have time to cover in a talk. They have to be selective about what to present so that it meets the needs and abilities of the audience.

The simple sketch picture, as I describe the booklet, is very useful for giving someone a quick overview of reality. We cannot lose that simplicity, no matter how expert we become in the whole picture.

For example, if I, as an amateur, want to understand how my computer works I am most helped by someone who describes to me the various components - the mother board, CPU, hard drive, keyboard, screen, etc. - and how they work together, but who doesn't go into all the technical jargon comparing bit speeds, bios logic and pixel frame rates.

Theology for Ministry Leaders
Those who take on responsiblity for directing a group of people in how to live in light of God's reality must necessarily have a greater grasp of that reality than the average person. Without a clear picture of reality they could lead the whole group astray - with wrong thinking or wrong living.

Also, leaders are bombarded with lots of pressure from many different sources that seek to influence their direction. Those sources may be secular societal pressures - values of material prosperity, academic success, cultural compatability. They may be from other Christian organisations who seek like-minded partners in ministry, or seek to market their ministry product, or seek validation of their own experiences.

How do leaders decide the value of various options or directions? It must come from a rich and deep appreciation of the greater reality.

I have experienced this in various ways over the past 15 years. When I first encountered the seeker service approach to evangelism, I was quite taken. I wanted to replicate that in my own area of influence. As I attempted it, though, I encountered the reality that the results were significantly different. That led me to review my understanding of the seeker sensitive approach to ministry and modify my application of those principles to my current context.

Also, when someone criticises the Knowing God Personally booklet, which occurs regularly, I am able to respond to those criticisms because my knowledge extends beyond the pages of the booklet. I am also sensitive to when someone uses the booklet inappropriately - for example, assumes that just because someone "prays the prayer" at the back of the booklet they are "saved".

So far I have said that theology is the description of reality with reference to God's revelation through the Bible. And that is the primary source and ultimate measurement of reality. However, the doctrine of general revelation encourages us to explore other avenues that also inform our perception of reality. (All these other avenues must, ultimately, be verified, where possible, by the Bible). Other avenues include sociology, anthropology, history, organisational theory, etc.

A good leader will have engaged with as much information about reality as possible and processed it in light of biblical revelation and moved a significant way towards approximating ultimate reality in many of the areas that their leadership affects. This is obviously a process that continues for a life-time and the more a leader does it the better their leadership is.

Conclusion
Is theology useful for minsitry? It is, and it is essential for leaders. But it is not theology for theology's sake. It is theology that leads us to a greater appreciation of the one who is ultimate reality and how he has designed the world to work.