For a long time I have been desiring to get back into the theology of the soul. I have received some good classical education on the topic from a Christian perspective but it has been awhile and the soul is something I rarely hear taught on or spoken about (in any circles in the church) and one in which I have not really taught on:) So I can't point a finger at anyone...

Anyway, I have begun a study on it again and I wanted to share with you a quick point that I was reminded of while I was researching today. It is taken from Thomas Oden's third volume "Life in the Spirit" of his 3 volume systematic theology work...which I highly recommend. A good compliment to Gruden's "Systematic Theology" which comes from the opposite orthodox evangelical theological perspective.

On p287 Oden writes:

"Scripture speaks constantly of abundant life in Christ, not first of all about correct ideas about life, or emotive feelings or activities, or laws, or the moral obligation to preserve life, but rather to receive and live it. This is why the truest theologians are the saints. One cannot think of life or feel alive without first being made alive."

I will take this point a bit further. For the saved, the more of the life you are experiencing (i.e. the more sanctified by the Holy Spirit that you are), the better the theologian you are.

What does this mean for us, the church, the community of faith? A lot, I think. If this is true then that means formation is absolutely essential for everyone. Sanctification can not be separated any more from the life of the mind or...the life of the pen. If you want to be a better teacher, pastor, preacher, evangelist to students and their parents you would have to be growing in the life of the Trinity. You would have to be in the process of becoming....(gasp)...holy.

For your kids...this means that you teaching them is good but it also means they need to be given opportunities to be put in a place to interact with the Triune God. The spiritual disciplines need to rear their heads again:)

Much more to say...much more to say...but you will have to wait for youth quake.

Labels: Formation, Leadership, Prayer, Scripture

As I am reading through the gospel of Luke I am struck by something. Jesus is constantly telling the demons to shut up when they say who He is. A few examples are Luke 4:35 and Luke 4:41. This last one is pretty specific:

And demons also came out of many, crying, "You are the Son of God!" But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that He was the Christ."

I have often wondered what that was all about. I though, "why not let them say it!" Doesn't Jesus want everyone to know who He is? Is that not what He came to accomplish?

I now think that He did not want them to say it because for a few reasons:

1) People who were hearing Jesus' message had lots of baggage when it came to the identity and role of the Messiah. They fully expected a military deliverer who would free them from Roman authority and who would be as ethnocentric as they were with regards to salvation (i.e. the Gentiles were dirt:).

2) Success could hinder his ministry.

What I mean by this last point is that if people really got on the Messiah train too early then it would have hurt the ministry. He needed to continue to prepare them and teach them the role of the Messiah etc... Too soon and that would have been hindered.

You can also see this play out in the response of people to Jesus' preaching. One group wants to throw Him over a cliff but Jesus walks right through (that would have been cool to see). Here people try to hinder Jesus' ministry in a negative way by killing Him...ah...but then another group tries to stop Jesus from leaving their area because they really like His ministry! They also are trying to hinder His ministry in a positive way so to speak. But He must rebuke them because He has to go and preach in other places (total obedience to the Father).

What Does This Mean For Us?

I think "success" in ministry can hurt youth pastors and students if it is not God's timing. As a preacher, I am slowly growing into one (by God's grace) who can accept sermon praise the right way. Even today I have to guard against getting a "big head". I cannot imagine how negatively this praise would have affected me 5 years ago! Yipes.

As for students. This is a BIG issue. Especially with up front ministry. Youth led worship bands are the norm. Are our students able to handle the "success" that comes with that? I guarantee you us as youth pastors can tell many stories about this one! After all, how they handle ministry success can AND WILL directly influence the ministry!

To help with that I have put a form on the ministry resource page of our site. One that is a help for selecting worship team leaders. If you have any other resources for us that would help with this topic please send me a note.

Labels: Scripture, Web Site