Comments on: Pastoral Theology http://www.tillhecomes.org/blog/2007/09/27/pastoral-theology/ Living life on mission Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:47:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Jeremy Myers http://www.tillhecomes.org/blog/2007/09/27/pastoral-theology/#comment-4082 Jeremy Myers Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:10:49 +0000 http://www.tillhecomes.org/blog/?p=61#comment-4082 Jonathan, Thanks for the input. Your comments are on track. It does seem that pastors who decide which theology to tell a person are really almost setting themselves up as God by determining what "truth" the people need to hear. I know this pastor quite well, and he is very loving and kind. He has some issues with pride and control, but who of us doesn't!? I know I do. Jonathan,

Thanks for the input. Your comments are on track. It does seem that pastors who decide which theology to tell a person are really almost setting themselves up as God by determining what “truth” the people need to hear.

I know this pastor quite well, and he is very loving and kind. He has some issues with pride and control, but who of us doesn’t!? I know I do.

]]> By: Jonathan http://www.tillhecomes.org/blog/2007/09/27/pastoral-theology/#comment-3926 Jonathan Sun, 21 Oct 2007 08:36:44 +0000 http://www.tillhecomes.org/blog/?p=61#comment-3926 There has developed in recent years this strange idea that "pastoral" and "systematic" are theological opposites. Quite the opposite: a systematic theological understanding--and a consistent articulation thereof--is a pastoral virtue, if not a necessity. I speak from my vocation as a teaching professional (I teach New Testament in a university Religious Studies Department), rather than as a pastor per se. However, the pastor and the teacher are not that far apart, in their vocations. The good pastor is teacher, just as the good teacher is pastor (insofar as a good teacher loves his or her students, and is concerned just as much as the good pastor with the well-being of their whole person, not just their minds). As a teacher, I would be quite ineffective if on Monday I said that X and Y are true, then on Tuesday said that X and Y are NOT true. On the most basic level, the students would have no idea what to write on a test. The bigger picture, however, is that my own inconsistency would constitute a barrier to a serious engagement with the material--and such engagement is the only way that they will not only expand their knowledge base but also grow as human beings. Moreover, as a teacher, I must present this material in a systematic fashion, lest the students have no idea how to even begin their own engagements. At the end of your blog, you mention "love." That is what is lacking in the quotations cited by the pastor in the blog. His response to both men shows that he only loves those of whom he approves. He says up front that the second man was in need of "love and forgiveness," not "chastisement and the fear of hell" (as was the case with the first man). Thus, he himself admits that his action towards the first man was not an action of love. Why does the second man merit love? Quite simply, because he had earned it by repentance. If it is earned, it is not grace (if we believe Paul, that is). He approaches neither man with grace, but in each case asks what he deserves. That is not pastoral practice motivated by love, which is to say that it is not pastoral practice at all! The problem, as you suggested in your blog, is that your fellow pastor did not sit back and think through systematically not just what he believes, but also whether he even loves his parishioners. His lack of systematic thinking makes him not only inconsistent, but also undermines his own claims to being "pastoral"! He is no more pastoral than my cat, although at least my cat makes no pretenses to being a pastor. There has developed in recent years this strange idea that “pastoral” and “systematic” are theological opposites. Quite the opposite: a systematic theological understanding–and a consistent articulation thereof–is a pastoral virtue, if not a necessity. I speak from my vocation as a teaching professional (I teach New Testament in a university Religious Studies Department), rather than as a pastor per se. However, the pastor and the teacher are not that far apart, in their vocations. The good pastor is teacher, just as the good teacher is pastor (insofar as a good teacher loves his or her students, and is concerned just as much as the good pastor with the well-being of their whole person, not just their minds). As a teacher, I would be quite ineffective if on Monday I said that X and Y are true, then on Tuesday said that X and Y are NOT true. On the most basic level, the students would have no idea what to write on a test. The bigger picture, however, is that my own inconsistency would constitute a barrier to a serious engagement with the material–and such engagement is the only way that they will not only expand their knowledge base but also grow as human beings. Moreover, as a teacher, I must present this material in a systematic fashion, lest the students have no idea how to even begin their own engagements.

At the end of your blog, you mention “love.” That is what is lacking in the quotations cited by the pastor in the blog. His response to both men shows that he only loves those of whom he approves. He says up front that the second man was in need of “love and forgiveness,” not “chastisement and the fear of hell” (as was the case with the first man). Thus, he himself admits that his action towards the first man was not an action of love. Why does the second man merit love? Quite simply, because he had earned it by repentance. If it is earned, it is not grace (if we believe Paul, that is). He approaches neither man with grace, but in each case asks what he deserves. That is not pastoral practice motivated by love, which is to say that it is not pastoral practice at all! The problem, as you suggested in your blog, is that your fellow pastor did not sit back and think through systematically not just what he believes, but also whether he even loves his parishioners. His lack of systematic thinking makes him not only inconsistent, but also undermines his own claims to being “pastoral”! He is no more pastoral than my cat, although at least my cat makes no pretenses to being a pastor.

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