The danger of theological “drift” has always been a challenge for the church. Indeed, the assault on its soteriology began during the earliest days of the church’s existence. From the false claims of the Jewish religious leaders concerning the resurrection of Jesus, to the legalistic interpretation of the gospel by the Judiazers, to the metaphysical objections of the Gnostics, the early church and its leaders faced regular assaults on the gospel. These assaults would prompt Jude to write the following words of warning, “Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write and exhort you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all. For certain men, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of God into promiscuity and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (3-4).”

Today, the church continues to wrestle with a consistent barrage of attacks on the gospel. Ancient heresies have been repackaged for contemporary audiences. The deity of Christ continues to be questioned through “discoveries” like the “Jesus family” tomb, the exclusivity of the gospel is undermined by assumptions about “anonymous Christianity,” and widespread religious pluralism assigns faith in Christ to a myriad of “ways” for achieving eternal life.

It is within this context, amidst a wide variety of competing theological systems, that today’s pastor-teachers are called to serve. Sadly, however, in an era when theological acumen is more important than ever, many pastors have lost sight of their responsibility to be theologians for the church. Instead, many pastors have chosen to limit themselves to cultivating an expertise in the more practical areas of leadership, church growth, or counseling. Certainly, all of these areas are helpful skills and beneficial for ministry in the local church. Yet, when it comes to equipping the church with the ability to “contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints,” nothing is more critical than the ability to teach good theology. While no one would question the value of understanding one’s “leadership lid,” I would submit that a pastor-teachers greatest task is to help his people understand that good theology informs every aspect of their lives.

Before you turn me off, let me assure you that I’m not advocating an either/or situation. We need not choose between theology and praxis. Instead, I hope to remind you that this is a both/and situation. As pastor-teachers, we must seek to expose our churches to good theology. After all, good theology breeds healthy praxis. As we look across the wide spectrum of SBC churches today, our primary problem is not the absence of potential methodologies; our primary problem is shoddy theology. As a result, our people often struggle to understand the most rudimentary of doctrines. Furthermore, because they have not been taught how to think theologically, they are often “blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit (Eph. 4:14).” And when that occurs, no one is more to blame than the pastor-teacher.

The New Testament has much to say about the significance and necessity of the pastor-teacher’s responsibility to shepherd the church theologically. Often, the mandate to teach is linked to the dangers of false teachers and their doctrine. This can be seen very clearly in Paul’s final letter to Timothy. In this letter he reminded Timothy of the sufficiency of God’s word (3:16-17) and the necessity of teaching it rightly (2:15). However, both of these truths where accompanied by warnings of “evil people and imposters” who “will become worse, deceiving and being deceived (3:13).” Within the context of this discussion, Paul reminded Timothy that there are two types of theological error—one to be engaged and another to ignored. Paul told Timothy that he was to engage any false teachers whose soteriology differed from the gospel he had received from Paul. Indeed, he was to “rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching (4:2). However, Paul also told Timothy that he was to ignore those secondary theological discussions that could produce disunity in the church. He told Timothy “not to fight about words; this is in no way profitable and leads to the ruin of the hearers. . . . avoid irreverent, empty speech, for this will produce an even greater measure of godlessness (2:14, 16).” This type of theological error was so potentially damaging to the church, Paul compared it to gangrene (2:17-18).

It is within the tension of these two theological areas, defending or diffusing, that pastor-teachers are called to serve. Sadly, many pastors find their way out of this dilemma by choosing one of three poor options. Some pastor-teachers desire to contend for the faith keeps them in battle mode at all times. Everywhere they look they can find the emerging threat of heresy. Others struggle with defining the doctrinal essentials and, as a result, they are constantly arguing over secondary or tertiary doctrines. Still others solve the problem by ignoring theology all together. The results of all of these choices, however, will be a church that is both poorly trained in theology and poorly equipped to engage in theological conversations. Despite the failures of many pastor-teachers and churches to learn how to think theologically, it is never too late to adopt a new paradigm. The balance of this essay will offer four suggestions for growing a theologically healthy church.

(1) The pastor-teacher should make a commitment to the on-going study of theology.  There are many factors that contribute to the absence of theological instruction that characterizes many of today’s churches, including the belief that theology is boring at best and unnecessary at worst. The number one reason for its absence, however, is the inability of many pastor-teachers to impart sound doctrine. Yet, that is the most important task of every preacher. Paul urged Timothy to “hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who lives in us, that good thing entrusted to you (1:13-14)).” The “good thing” to which Paul is referring is the truth of the “sound words” that Timothy had learned.

Good theology, therefore, is something to be learned, retained, guarded, and valued. For that to occur, then, every pastor-teacher must make the study of theology a life-long pursuit. Thankfully, with the amount of good theology books currently available, including the upcoming Theology for the Church, we can all become trained pastor-teacher-theologians. And if our churches are to become theologically astute, it will be the direct result of a growing number of pastor-teachers who take theology seriously.

(2) The pastor-teacher should create a safe environment where theological discussion and disagreement are both accepted.  At first glance, this statement may feel like a recipe for disaster in the church. In actuality, it is a key ingredient in theological study and church unity. Before this can be taught and practiced in the local church, however, it must first be embraced by the pastor-teacher. For this to work, the pastor-teacher must have a clear understanding of the three levels of theological inquiry. The first level of theological inquiry contains those doctrines that must be embraced by every member of a local church for theological unity to occur. These are often referred to as doctrines of eternal significance. At our church, we’ve six first level doctrines: Trinitarianism, the full deity/humanity of Christ as prerequisites for his person and work, salvation by grace alone on the basis of faith alone, the exclusivity of the gospel, the inerrancy of Scripture, and the literal existence of heaven and hell. These doctrines set the parameters for our defense of the faith once for all delivered to the saints. In fact, no one can join our church unless they acknowledge that they affirm these doctrines.

The second level of theological inquiry contains those doctrines about which we choose to agree as a church. For our church, these issues are related primarily to Baptist distinctives like believer’s baptism by immersion, the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of the passion of Christ, the autonomy of the local church, and the security of the believer. These are the theological issues that help define us as a congregation. They would influence potential partners in ministry, but they provide flexibility for specific situations where we might participate with other protestant faith traditions.

The third level of theological inquiry contains those doctrines about which inerrantists regularly disagree. It is at this level that most church conflicts arise, and it is here that Paul admonished Timothy not to “fight about words (2:14).” In our church, the theological issues that we place in this category include rapture questions and the finer points of reformed theology. Within the scope of these issues, there is room for inerrantists to disagree. Consequently, nothing in this category is viewed as a test of fellowship issue in our church.

The significance of identifying these first, second, and third level theological issues for your church cannot be overstated: level one doctrines are test of fellowship issues; level two doctrines are shared, communal doctrines which inform partnership and participation; level three doctrines include those areas where inerrantists often disagree. Before a church can think through this, however, the pastor-teacher must have these issues clearly defined in his own mind; only then will he be prepared to teach his church how to think theologically about these issues in a spirit of unity.

(3) The pastor-teacher should teach the totality of Scripture, including the difficult passages. The violation of this principle may account for much of the theological ignorance in our churches today. For too long, many pastors have simply avoided the biblical texts that were difficult to understand or that might run counter to the commonly held belief system of a church. While many men convinced themselves that this was really in the best interests of all involved (including themselves), they unwittingly created an environment where honest theological conversation about challenging doctrines was both uncomfortable and unacceptable. As a result, important theological questions related to subjects like soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology have been ignored.

In recent years, however, the growth of expository preaching has brought these issues back to the forefront in our churches. The revival of expository preaching is one of the great gifts of God to the contemporary church. And despite the flawed claims of some who insist that exposition and contemporary methodologies are incompatible, a commitment to expository preaching will help grow a theologically healthy church. Exposition will assist in this process in three very significant ways. First, it will help ensure that the pastor-teacher does, in fact, deal with the totality of Scripture, even the parts that are challenging. The practice of teaching through books of the Bible, or preaching from complete textual units, will force the preacher to be disciplined in his study and teaching. Second, exposition is the best defense for avoiding the temptation to “major on the minors.”  When this occurs, a church may lose sight of its evangelistic mandate and may become embroiled in unnecessary turmoil. Third, exposition will protect the pastor-teacher from becoming consumed with a pet doctrine. It is tragic when a pastor-teacher chooses to limit his ministry to the exploration of one doctrinal issue to the exclusion of others.

When we commit ourselves to teach the “whole counsel of God,” however, we must be prepared for our churches to encounter biblical texts that not only deal with these kinds of sensitive theological issues, but also may challenge previously held and/or accepted interpretations of them. When the careful pastor-teacher begins to address these theological issues in a context where they have been avoided, the results can be challenging for a church. The answer, however, is not to continue the habit of skipping the hard parts in our preaching. No, the pastor-teacher must equip his people to think theologically while maintaining a spirit of unity.

(4) The pastor-teacher should avoid majoring on third level doctrines.  This principle has a two-fold emphasis. First, as I noted earlier, one of the greatest challenges for many pastor-teachers is realizing that not every doctrine is a first level issue. Sadly, many churches have been injured because the pastor-teacher made his pet, third level doctrine a test of fellowship issue for the church. Second, developing a healthy environment for theological discussions to occur within the church requires a unique ability on the part of the pastor-teacher: he must acknowledge that there is room for disagreement on third level doctrines. When our studies reveal that fellow inerrantists hold different positions about the same theological issue, wisdom should guide us away from taking a dogmatic stand on that issue.

The definition of sovereign election and the timing of the rapture are two classic examples of this. Rather than allowing these doctrines to become a source of disunity, a wise pastor-teacher will acknowledge the existence of different interpretations while explaining his own. Furthermore, because these are third level doctrines, he will emphasize that it is acceptable for the people within the fellowship to be at different places regarding these doctrines. The willingness of the pastor-teacher to provide this kind of theological leadership will have two very positive outcomes. First, it will do more than anything else to develop a climate where healthy theological dialogue can develop in a spirit of unity. Second, it will develop a climate of trust that will allow the pastor-teacher to share his position and have it heard.

The role of the pastor-teacher has always been a challenging one. It takes great wisdom to balance the demands of ministry. And it takes great courage to faithfully teach the word in a climate where people “will not tolerate sound doctrine (4:3).” While others may hesitate to engage our culture with good theology, I want to urge you to join me in this pursuit. The pursuit to become pastor-teacher-theologian’s for the glory of God and the good of His church.

Published in SEBTS, Outlook (Spring, 2008): Feature Article. Cannot be copied without permission.