It's hard to get the right answers if you're asking the wrong questions. And sometimes it's hard even to know what the right questions are.
Normally, we simply ask the questions that everybody else is asking or the questions we've always asked before. For most of us, those questions are intensely practical and concrete. Can I afford this? Will this choice make my life better? Would this make me feel good? Do I have the time? Does this make sense? What's the payoff? What will other people think?
That list of questions could be much longer, of course, but you get the idea. We tend to get so comfortable with our questions that we can't even imagine that there might be other questions to ask.
But there are other questions, questions that are good and important and worth asking.
Normally, we simply ask the questions that everybody else is asking or the questions we've always asked before. For most of us, those questions are intensely practical and concrete. Can I afford this? Will this choice make my life better? Would this make me feel good? Do I have the time? Does this make sense? What's the payoff? What will other people think?
That list of questions could be much longer, of course, but you get the idea. We tend to get so comfortable with our questions that we can't even imagine that there might be other questions to ask.
But there are other questions, questions that are good and important and worth asking.
This task of figuring out the right questions is especially significant in the life of the church. Church is pretty much my world. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how people in churches do things and make decisions. I've also been paying close attention to the questions that are asked. Oddly, those questions are rarely theological in nature.
How different things would be if we realized that everything that happens in a church is completely theological. Every decision that is reached, every step that is taken, every interaction that happens - reveals what we believe about God and God's character and God's call. We might assume that we're talking about budgets and schedules and facilities. In every case, though, we are actually talking about God.
Should we build this new building? Is that a good use of resources? How should we worship? How important is it for me to get my way? Is it time to purchase a new van? How should we make decisions as a church? What is the role of the pastor? What should our budget look like? How much of our budget should be devoted to missions? Should we keep our children in worship - or send them out to some other activity during that time? How much money should we pay our staff? Should our staff members be given health insurance? Do we need a new parking lot? Should we send teams out on mission trips? What's the best way to do youth ministry? Should we care about the poor in our community? Should teachers and leaders in our church be required to be church members? How important is tradition? Are we willing to consider new ideas? Do we really want new people in our church - or do we like our church the way it is?
Again, the questions could go on for pages. But my point is this: those questions are all theological questions. In answering those questions, we reveal what we believe about God and God's character and God's call.
I probably should be long past this by now, but I spend a lot of time thinking about my role. I've been a pastor for over twenty years, and I am still trying to figure out what that means. Just this morning I came to an important insight. I think I finally figured out my job. My job is to ask the theological questions - even when no one else does. I'm not suggesting at all that it's easy to answer any of these questions. I am suggesting, though, that we simply must see these questions for what they are: opportunities to say something about this God we serve.
Every time we answer one of these questions, we say something about God. Every line in our budget is a moral statement. Every decision we make as a church is an expression of what we believe.
Ideally, churches would be filled with people who are willing to think theologically. Sadly, I haven't found that to be true. Most of the time, we are consumed with what we are comfortable with, what is convenient, what makes life easier, what has a payoff, what makes good financial sense, what we've always done, what we like. Honestly, those are fine considerations . . . unless we actually care about God and God's character and God's call. And once we begin to focus on that, all the other considerations fade into the background.
What I'm describing here sounds so simple, but this would be a radical shift for most churches. And embracing this shift would turn the world upside down. Not just the world of the church, but the whole world! Yes, it probably would be easier and safer and more comfortable just to keep asking the questions we've always asked. But I don't believe those are the right questions.
And until we ask the right questions, we will never get the right answers.
How different things would be if we realized that everything that happens in a church is completely theological. Every decision that is reached, every step that is taken, every interaction that happens - reveals what we believe about God and God's character and God's call. We might assume that we're talking about budgets and schedules and facilities. In every case, though, we are actually talking about God.
Should we build this new building? Is that a good use of resources? How should we worship? How important is it for me to get my way? Is it time to purchase a new van? How should we make decisions as a church? What is the role of the pastor? What should our budget look like? How much of our budget should be devoted to missions? Should we keep our children in worship - or send them out to some other activity during that time? How much money should we pay our staff? Should our staff members be given health insurance? Do we need a new parking lot? Should we send teams out on mission trips? What's the best way to do youth ministry? Should we care about the poor in our community? Should teachers and leaders in our church be required to be church members? How important is tradition? Are we willing to consider new ideas? Do we really want new people in our church - or do we like our church the way it is?
Again, the questions could go on for pages. But my point is this: those questions are all theological questions. In answering those questions, we reveal what we believe about God and God's character and God's call.
I probably should be long past this by now, but I spend a lot of time thinking about my role. I've been a pastor for over twenty years, and I am still trying to figure out what that means. Just this morning I came to an important insight. I think I finally figured out my job. My job is to ask the theological questions - even when no one else does. I'm not suggesting at all that it's easy to answer any of these questions. I am suggesting, though, that we simply must see these questions for what they are: opportunities to say something about this God we serve.
Every time we answer one of these questions, we say something about God. Every line in our budget is a moral statement. Every decision we make as a church is an expression of what we believe.
Ideally, churches would be filled with people who are willing to think theologically. Sadly, I haven't found that to be true. Most of the time, we are consumed with what we are comfortable with, what is convenient, what makes life easier, what has a payoff, what makes good financial sense, what we've always done, what we like. Honestly, those are fine considerations . . . unless we actually care about God and God's character and God's call. And once we begin to focus on that, all the other considerations fade into the background.
What I'm describing here sounds so simple, but this would be a radical shift for most churches. And embracing this shift would turn the world upside down. Not just the world of the church, but the whole world! Yes, it probably would be easier and safer and more comfortable just to keep asking the questions we've always asked. But I don't believe those are the right questions.
And until we ask the right questions, we will never get the right answers.