The PastorTheologian

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The PastorTheologian

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Title: The PastorTheologian

1
The Pastor-Theologian

Gregory C. Strand
Director of Biblical Theology and Credentialing
John Herman
Executive Director of Pastoral Care Ministries
EFCA 2009 Leadership Conference
June 25, 2009

Faithful pastoral ministry consists of knowing
the Word (the theologian) and applying that Word
into the lives of Gods people (the pastor).
This is not an either/or, the pastor or the
theologian, but a both/and, the
pastor-theologian. Paul exhorts Timothy to guard
the deposit, the faith, and to watch his life and
doctrine closely. We want to look at what the
Bible has to say about the pastor-theologian and
what this means for pastoral ministry in the
local church. This would be especially helpful
for those who are in the early stages of ministry
as the foundation is now being laid for a
life-long ministry, which we pray will be
faithful and fruitful, by Gods grace and for
Christs honor.

3
I. Introduction
4
II. False Antitheses
5

Pastor vs. theologian, pastoral theologian,
theological pastor
Scholar vs. pastor
Head vs. heart
Shepherd vs. leader (ceo)
Church vs. academy

The term scholar tends to evoke images of someone
mining data. The term theologian tends to evoke
images of someone synthesizing the data. And even
though all scholars should be theologians, and
all theologians should be scholars, theres a
tendency to focus on one or the other. It would
seem to me, then, that pastors will tend to be
more theologians than scholars. The very nature
of our profession forces us to work toward
constructing a cohesive world view. We dont have
the luxury of simply mining the data of the
various theological disciplines and then calling
it a day.
The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesial
Theology http//www.saet-online.org/pastor-theolo
gian-or-pastor-scholar/12/

Here are important words from Benjamin B.
Warfield that address the pastor-theologian very
well. It comes from his address at Princeton
Theological Seminary on October 4, 1911, The
Religious Life of Theological Students Warfield
speaks to the relationship between studying
theology and maintaining personal spirituality,
what he refers to as the religious life.
Nothing could be more fatal, however, than to
set these two things over against one another
learning and godliness. Recruiting officers do
not dispute whether it is better for soldiers to
have a right leg or a left leg soldiers should
have both legs. Sometimes we hear it said that
ten minutes on your knees will give you a truer,
deeper, more operative knowledge of God than ten
hours over your books. What! is the appropriate
response, than ten hours over your books, on
your knees?

Why should you turn from God when you turn to
your books, or feel that you must turn from your
books in order to turn to God? If learning and
devotion are as antagonistic as that, then the
intellectual life is in itself accursed, and
there can be no question of a religious life for
a student, even of theology. The mere fact that
he is a student inhibits religion for him. That I
am asked to speak to you on the religious life of
the student of theology proceeds on the
recognition of the absurdity of such antitheses.
You are students of theology and, just because
you are students of theology, it is understood
that you are religious menespecially religious
men, to whom the cultivation of your religious
life is a matter of the profoundest concernof
such concern that you will wish above all things
to be warned of the dangers that may assail your
religious life, and be pointed to the means by
which you may strengthen and enlarge it. In your
case there can be no eitheror here either a
student or a man of God. You must be both.

No mistake to set them apart could be more
gross. Religion does not take a man away from
his work it sends him to his work with an added
quality of devotion.
Now, as students of theology your vocation is to
study theology and to study it diligently, in
accordance with the apostolic injunction
Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the
Lord. . . . If this work happens to be studying,
then his religious life depends on nothing more
fundamentally than studying . . . You cannot
build up a religious life except you begin by
performing faithfully your simple, daily duties.
It is not the question whether you like these
duties. You may think of your studies what you
please. . . . But you must faithfully give
yourselves to your studies, if you wish to be
religious men. No religious character can be
built up on the foundation of neglected duty.

There is certainly something wrong with the
religious life of a theological student who does
not study. But it does not quite follow that
therefore everything is right with his religious
life if he does study. It is possible to study
event to study theology in an entirely secular
spirit.
Theology has as its unique end to make God
known the student of theology is brought by his
daily task into the presence of God, and is kept
there. Can a religious man stand in the presence
of God, and not worship? It is possible, I have
said, to study theology in a purely secular
spirit. But surely that is possible only for an
irreligious man . . . Do you prosecute your daily
tasks as students of theology as religious
exercises? If you do not, look to yourselves
it is surely not all right with the spiritual
condition of that man who can busy himself daily
with divine things with a cold and impassive
heart. . . .

Make all your theological studies religious
exercises. . . . Put your heart into your
studies do not merely occupy your mind with
them, but put your heart into them. They bring
you daily and hourly into the very presence of
God his ways, his dealings with men, the
infinite majesty of his Being form their very
subject-matter. Put the shoes off form your feet
in this holy presence!

12
III. Challenges
13

Professionalization of ministry
Specialization in ministry

14
IV. Return to Pastor-Theologian
15

Alister McGrath on the historic connection
between theology and pastoral ministry, from his
book Historical Theology
It cannot be emphasized too strongly that
Christianity does not occupy its present position
as a global faith on account of university
faculties of theology or departments of religion.
There is a strongly pastoral dimension to
Christianity, which is generally inadequately
reflected in the academic discussion of theology.
. . This academic bias is, however, a recent
development. Puritanism is an excellent instance
of a movement which placed theological integrity
alongside pastoral applicability, believing that
each was incomplete without the other. The
writings of individuals such as Richard Baxter
and Jonathan Edwards are saturated with the
belief that theology finds its true expression in
pastoral care and the nurture of souls.

In Doug Sweeneys book on Jonathan Edwards, he
concludes with 7 theses. His fifth is especially
pertinent, namely, that "theology can and should
be done primarily in the church, by pastors, for
the sake of the people of God" (p. 199).
In the early twenty-first century, when many
pastors have abdicated their responsibilities as
theologians, and many theologians do their work
in a way that is lost on the people of God, we
need to recover Edwards' model of Christian
ministry. Most of the best theologians in the
history of the church were parish pastors.
Obviously, however, this is not the case today.
Is it any wonder, then, that many struggle to
think about their daily lives theologically, and
often fail to understand the basics of the faith?

I want to be realistic here. A certain amount of
specialization is inevitable in complex,
market-driven economies. And the specialization
of roles within God's kingdom can enhance our
Christian ministries. But when our pastors spend
the bulk of their time on organizational matters,
and professors spend the bulk of their time on
intramural academics, no one is left to do the
crucial work of shaping God's people with the
Word. Perhaps our pastors and professors,
Christian activists and thinkers, need to
collaborate more regularly in ministry. Perhaps
the laity need to give their pastors time to
think and write--for their local congregations
and the larger kingdom of God.

18
V. Theology - A Definition
19

In short, theology is a call to the church to
return to God and make him the center of its
priorities and life.
John Hannah, The Place of Theology in the
Postmodern World, Reformation and Revival
Journal 11/1 (Winter 2002), 13.

The best way to define theology, in my view, is
as the application of the whole Bible to the
whole of human life. (p. 46)
Doctrine and life are correlative each feeds
the other. (p. 47)

So theology is not self-suficient. It depends
on the maturity of your Christian life, as the
maturity of your Christ life depends on theology.
Growth in grace will make you a better
theologian, and becoming a better theologian will
help you grow in grace. There is a spiral
relationship between the two. . . . If you want
to become a better theologian, you must be a
godly person. (pp. 48-49)
John Frame, Studying Theology as a Servant of
Christ, Reformation and Revival Journal 11/1
(Winter 2002).

Theology exists in order to be applied to the
day-to-day problems of the Christian church.
Every doctrine has its application. All scripture
is profitable and all the doctrine is profitable.
Similarly all the application must be based on
doctrine. In both the Philippians example-passage
and the Corinthian example-passage, Paul is
dealing with what are surely comparative trivia,
the problem of vain glory in a Christian
congregation and the problem of failure of
Christian liberality. As a Pastor one meets with
these difficulties daily. They are standing
problems. Yet Paul, as he wrestles with both of
them, has recourse to the most massive theology.
Its not only that you have the emphasis on the
unity between theology and practice but you have
the emphasis on the applicability of the
profoundest theology to the most mundane and most
common-place problems.

Who would ever imagine that the response to the
glory of the incarnation might be to give to the
collection for the poor? Who might imagine that
the application of the glories of New Testament
Christology might be to stop our quarreling and
our divisiveness in the Christian ekklesia? That
is what Paul is doing here. He is telling them
You have these practical problems the answer is
theological remember your theology and place
your behavior in the light of that theology.
Place your little problems in the light of the
most massive theology. We ourselves in our
Christian callings are to be conscious of this.
We must never leave our doctrine hanging in the
air, nor hesitate to enforce the most elementary
Christian obligations with the most sublime
doctrines.
Donald MacLeod, The Humiliated and Exalted Lord
A Study of Philippians 2 and Christology, ed. J.
Ligon Duncan (North Carolina, 1993).

24
9 Marks Ministries info_at_9marks.org June 2005
eNewsletter Volume 2, Issue 5What is the
Discipline of Biblical Theology? By Graeme
GoldsworthyMutual Interdependence of the
Theological Disciplines

Text
Exegesis
Biblical Theology
Systematic Theology
Historical Theology
Practical Theology
Theological Presuppositions

25
Mutual Interdependence of the Theological
Disciplines
26
Spiritual Theology, J. I. Packer

Exegesis
Biblical Theology
Historical Theology
Systematic Theology or Dogmatics
These four are the foundation from which the
others arise.

Ethics
Spirituality
Apologetics
Missiology
Liturgy/Worship
Ministry

28
Spiritual Formation, J. I. Packer

Doxology
Humility
Intensity
Solidarity

29
VI. Biblical Charge
30

Peters Charge to Pastors
1 Peter 51-4

Theology/Doctrine was to be at the heart of the
Pastors ministry. Consider the Pastorals
1 Timothy 13
1 Timothy 41
1 Timothy 46
1 Timothy 413
1 Timothy 416
1 Timothy 517

2 Timothy 316
2 Timothy 41-4
Titus 19
Titus 21
Titus 27

33
VII. Historical Examples
34

Augustine
Luther
Calvin
Zwingli
Puritans
Edwards
Spurgeon
Piper

35
VIII. Guidance for the Pastor-Theologian
36

1. The Pastor-Theologian and Priorities
A Christian
A husband
A father
A pastor

2. The Pastor-Theologian and Family Worship

38
A. Elements
39
1. Bible (Instruction, Formative)

Psalm 1199-11
Deuteronomy 3245-47
2 Timothy 215
2 Timothy 316-17
2 Timothy 41-5

40
2. Prayer

Psalms
Daniel 93-19
Matthew 69-13
Ephesians 115-23
Ephesians 314-21
Colossians 19-14
1 Peter 37

41
3. Singing

Psalm 951-7a
Psalm 961-3
Ephesians 515-20
Colossians 315-17
Hebrews 1315
Revelation 59-14

42
Supplemental Elements

Catechize Creeds (Apostles, Nicene)
Devotionals
Biographies
Other Books and writings

43
B. Guidelines
44

Disciplined consistency
Soft flexibility
Suitable brevity
Enthusiastic solemnity
Appropriate questions/discussion
Life application

3. The Pastor-Theologian and the centrality of
the Word and the preeminence of the gospel.

4. The Pastor-Theologian and Suffering.
Luther oratio, meditatio, tentatio (e.g., C. S.
Lewis, A Grief Observed)
Not understanding, reading, or speculation, but
living, nay, rather, dying and being damned make
a theologian.

5. The Pastor-Theologian and Reading.

Michael Lawrence, 9 Ways to Continue Theological
Development When Time is Tight
http//blog.9marks.org/2008/10/9-ways-to-conti.htm
l
1. Build it into the things youre already doing.
(QT, sermon prep, discipling, etc.)
2. Stop wasting so much time on the internet.
(pick just 2 or 3 blogs to read, and look at them
once a week stop wasting time updating your
Facebook, Linkedin, and MySpace pages, etc.)
3. Always have a book nearby. (capture the spare
moments)
4. Build time for reading and reflection into
your schedule. (youll be amazed how much time is
freed up if you do 2! But beware, a pastors
schedule abhors a vacuum, so if you dont block
out the time, something else will fill it in.)
5. Have a plan. (if you aim at nothing youre
sure to hit it.)

6. Read primary sources, not commentary. (you
dont have time to waste on the commentators.
Read the Bible and the people who have written
important theology. You can do it. You dont need
a PhD to read Luther, Calvin, Augustine, Edwards,
Grudem, Frame, etc)
7. Dont do it alone. (cultivate a theological
conversation among your leaders. They will
correct your idiosyncrasies and keep you
accountable. It will also create a culture of
theological seriousness in your church, which
will benefit everyone.)
8. Let the Scriptures, not our culture, set the
agenda. (Trying to keep up with our cultures
agenda is a chasing after the wind. On the other
hand, if the Scriptures set the agenda, youll be
ready for anything the cultures blows at you.)

9. Church History and Historical Theology are the
pastors Cliff Notes to theology. (Other people,
smarter than me, have already faced the stuff I
face and have figured a lot of things out. I can
stand on their shoulders and look like a genius!
The cultural package may have changed, but
theres nothing new under the sun.)

51
IX. Concluding Challenge
52

Are you growing as a pastor/theologian? Where
are you weak? Where do you need to grow? What
will you do or to what will you commit so that
you do grow as a pastor/theologian?
How are you guarding the sheep, the flock in
which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers
(Acts 2028)?
Are you raising up other godly leaders who are
rooted in the Word of God, focused on the person
of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit,
passionate about the glory of God, and true
Churchmen?

What are other areas that must be addressed for
the spiritual health and well-being of Gods
people?
What are the struggles/challenges you face in the
ministry to which God has called you?
How do you keep abreast of the pertinent issues
that are undermining the truth or chipping away
at the biblical foundation of the church?
What is your plan for personal study and the
building of leaders?

Ive been teaching for a lot of decades now, and
if Ive learned anything, its that students
dont learn everything I teach. What they tend
to learn is what I am most excited about. So if
the gospel and church planting and outreach and
seeing men transferred out of the kingdom of
darkness into the kingdom of Gods dear Son, and
regeneration and the transformation of families
and all the rest if this is not my passion, but
is the assumption after which you focus on the
transformation of society and culture, then you
are in trouble.
Carson on Culture, Interviewer Tony Payne, The
eBriefing (November 2008), 32.

55
X. Resources
56

Articles
Ascol, Thomas. The Pastor as Theologian, in
The Founders Journal 43 (Winter 2001), 1-10, 28.
Bray, Gerald. Rescuing Theology from the
Theologians, in Themelios 24/2 (February 1999),
48-57.
Frame, John M. Studying Theology as a Servant of
Christ, in Reformation and Revival Journal 11/1
(Winter 2002), 45-69.
Machen, J. Gresham. Christian Scholarship and
the Building Up of the Church, in Selected
Shorter Writings, ed. D. G. Hart. (Phillipsburg
Presbyterian and Reformed, 2004), 153-160.
Trueman, Carl. The Importance of Being Earnest
Approaching Theological Study, in Themelios 26/1
(2000), 34-47. Reprinted in Philip Duce and
Daniel Strange, ed. Keeping Your Balance
Approaching Theological and Religious Studies
(Leicester, England InterVarsity, 2000),
219-238.
Trueman, Carl. Theology and the Church Divorce
or Remarriage? in Themelios 28/3 (Summer 2003),
19-31.
Warfield, Benjamin B. The Religious Life of
Theological Students, in The Masters Seminary
Journal 6/2 (Fall 1995), 181-195.
Yarnell, Malcom B. III. To the End of
Glorifying Jesus The Scholars Calling to the
Churches, in Faith Mission 19/1 (Fall 2001),
25-32.

Books
Ascol, Thomas K., ed. Dear Timothy Letters on
Pastoral Ministry (Cape Coral, FL Founders
Press, 2004).
Bridges, Charles. The Christian Ministry.
Edinburgh Banner of Truth, 1980. (reprint)
Carson, D. A. and John D. Woodbridge. Letters
Along the Way A Novel of the Christian Life.
(Wheaton Crossway, 1993).
Piper, John, Brothers We Are Not Professionals.
Nashville B H, 2002.
Spurgeon, Charles H. Lectures to My Students.
Grand Rapids Zondervan, 1954. (reprint)
Sweeney, Douglas A. Jonathan Edwards and the
Ministry of the Word A Model of Faith and
Thought (Downers Grove IVP Academic, 2009).
Zachman, Randall C. John Calvin As Teacher,
Pastor, and Theologian The Shape of His Writings
and Thought (Grand Rapids Baker Academic, 2006).