Pastors in the 21st-century Western context are expected to take on multiple roles. They are expected to be leaders, counselors, biblical authorities, visionaries, and more. Expectations from congregants can burden the pastor beyond what they are actually called to do. Fortunately, many congregations are using specialized pastors for roles outside of preaching and teaching (such as pastors of care, finance, children, and youth), but that is not always the case. The preaching and teaching pastor, whose primary responsibility is the pulpit, preaches the gospel and serves as the congregation’s theologian. This essay will take three applications from the book: the pastor is public with their theology, the pastor is a church theologian, and the pastor is the giver of theological wisdom.
First, for the good health of the local church, the pastor must reclaim their mission as a public theologian (37). The most important aspect of the preaching and teaching pastor’s vocation is to communicate, in public, the deep theology of the gospel to the local congregation. The authors refer to this role as a “social geographer” who writes the gospel into the people, inviting the Spirit to have a place in the service and in their individual lives (39). Theology is not just for the academy, sequestered away as a specialization for just the academics; it is for everybody. The truth of the Bible and the gospel is far too important to relegate to the corners of scholarship (as important as they are).
Preaching pastors have a public pulpit and are called to be bold in challenging their congregations to think more deeply of the things of God. Public theological preaching deepens the congregation’s biblical and theological literacy and draws them into the deeper reality of their beliefs about Jesus (47). The ultimate end of theology should always be to glorify God and transform the lives of those listening (50).
Second, preaching pastors are church theologians. Their missions are specifically to groups of people, the ecclesia. They are uniquely situated to speak to other theologians about the nature of the ecclesiastical nature of theology because they are living and ministering in the ecclesia (54). Hiestand dissects the pastor-theologian role in three parts: local (local congregation), popular (wider audience outside the local church through, for example, books and social media), and ecclesial (a pastor who has the best of the local, does the work of the popular, and addresses wider ecclesiastical questions and issues) (55-57).
But most pastors are local. They are in congregations and care deeply for them. Their ministry is to a group of people who share the common desire to grow in their faith. In this way, the local pastor is doing ecclesiological work by applying academic ideas and concepts to local practice. Hiestand demonstrates this concept (66) with a Venn diagram of academic theologians engaged in research and systematization. Ecclesial theologians are doing ecclesial significance articulation, or how the research and systems directly affect the church (60), and ecclesial implementation, the rolling out of what has been articulated. It then becomes clear why the preaching pastor is so important, because they take what would otherwise remain in dusty tombs of research and make it work for the people, the ecclesia.
Lastly, the preaching pastor is the dispenser of biblical wisdom. They knit together theological themes through preaching to the congregation. The pastor draws on deeply theological concepts, such as atonement, sin, and eschatology, and presents them as a cohesive, practical message (187). This wisdom is deeply rooted in theological thought and is reflected in the genre of wisdom literature. Wisdom literature may be somewhat neglected from the pulpit, but it is a source that practically instructs people on how to live God-blessed lives (188). Redmond offers three practical steps for the pastor-theologian. First, the local theologian should inspire their congregations to routinely devour the wisdom of Proverbs and other wisdom books (190). Second, the popular theologian should build upon the work of the local theologian, “fill in the gaps of our systematic theologies,” and bring wisdom to a wider audience (191). Lastly, standing on the work of the local and popular theologian, the ecclesiastical theologian engages the world with God-inspired, Holy Spirit-infused wisdom (192).
Wisdom is the heart of God-blessed living. The local pastor from the pulpit and the teaching pastor from their Sunday school classroom draw not only on Proverbs and Ecclesiastes to deliver wisdom to the congregation. They carefully tie together rich theological concepts and deliver wisdom to folks living through real-life issues far beyond the research and systems of the academy. These real-life issues desperately need biblical counsel and direction. The pastor-theologian is in a special place to be the vessel God uses to deliver that wisdom.
In conclusion, the pastor-theologian is the conduit between the academy and the pew. What academic theologians discuss and systematize has to be brought to the wider audience, the ecclesia. But local preaching and teaching pastors have to embrace that they are theologians. Unfortunately, many see themselves as life coaches, mental health counselors, or any of the number of roles thrust upon them. Pastors are also tempted to preach and teach what the congregation wants to hear rather than what they need to hear. This can lead to non-theological popular mush that does not challenge but placates. Preaching and teaching pastors must embrace their role as theologians for the people to help the people God has entrusted to their spiritual care.
All citations from: Todd Wilson and Gerald L. Hiestand, Becoming a Pastor Theologian: New Possibilities for Church Leadership, Kindle (InterVarsity Press, 2016).
