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July 12, 2012

We Are All Theologians

When life is tough, we need more than just sweet thoughts about God.

 by Carolyn Custis James

theologians.jpg

Do you think of yourself as a theologian? When we hear the word theologian, we often we picture some older intellectual man—a professional academic sitting behind a desk piled with thick books in ancient languages. And there certainly are professional theologians who fit this description, busily teaching at seminaries and writing books. But theologian is a label that belongs to all of us because a theologian is simply someone who knows God. Theology is what we believe about God—whether it is true or not. Every Christian—male or female, young or old—is a theologian, and we were each made for that very purpose.

Adults are forever warning children about strangers. The message is not that all strangers are dangerous, but that you can’t trust someone you don’t know. When we don’t take the time to get to really know God in deep ways, we put ourselves in the impossible situation of having to trust a stranger.

When we go through a crisis or a devastating situation in our lives, we lean on our theology—whether it is true or false. Will it be something we’ve constructed ourselves? Or will it be the result of really knowing God? When a storm strikes your life, whatever it is that you believe about God is what your faith will have to grasp. This is where it gets dangerous. What if you’re holding on to wrong ideas about God, like “He doesn’t really love me” or “I don’t matter” or “He isn’t good”? That poor theology will only make your struggle worse.

It’s vital—it’s urgent—for women to go deeper spiritually and theologically. We can’t coast through life on sweet thoughts about God. All of us will face trouble in this life, and when that happens we need to know the truth about God and who we are in him to help us navigate those storms.

Mary of Bethany is one theologian in Scripture who inspires me. When we look at her whole story—not just one little piece—we can see how theology looks in a woman’s life. First, we see Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet-- first-century language that describes a rabbinical student. Against cultural pressures for Mary to remain within the “proper” sphere for women, Jesus defended her choice to sit at his feet and learn. And Jesus who had come to “show us the Father” and always talked theology, was teaching the same deep theology to Mary that he taught the men. Her story sends a message to us that making time and effort to know God deeply is every woman’s first priority. This is a striking image of theological training.

But theology moves beyond the classroom and into real life when Jesus doesn’t come in time to save Mary’s brother from dying. Now, in her grief and disappointment, Mary must grapple with what she’d learned about Jesus and how it meshed with the deep pain of what was happening now. This is where Mary’s understanding of Jesus—her theology—deepens. She discovers Jesus is Lord of life and death and can be trusted, no matter how bad things get. This too is a picture of theology; theology is both learning and wrestling.

Finally, we see her anoint Jesus. This was more than just a radical act of affection and gratitude. Mary’s actions here show us that you don’t just learn theology—you live it. As the cross loomed for Jesus, Mary boldly (and one might add, outrageously) anointed him for his burial. Far from conceding victory to Jesus’ enemies, Mary was affirming Jesus’ mission and standing with him as he faced the battle ahead. Mary was living her theology—believing what Jesus had taught her and trusting him in this dark hour. Her theology made a difference to her and to Jesus who said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.”

Since we are all theologians, how do we become better theologians? Certainly we should avail ourselves of opportunities to learn from scholars and professional theologians through books, classes, or seminary, for they can profoundly enrich the depth of our intellectual and spiritual understanding. But this is no substitute for what we can do on our own.

As we read and study Scripture, the most important question we can as, and one that will yield fresh insights about God, is, “What does this tell me about God?” The Bible is the revelation of God. It is infinite and the depth of the subject matter it deals with is infinite, so we can always dig down, peel back the layers, and go even deeper.

We can’t afford not to become better theologians. As women, we need to pursue a robust theology for ourselves. No matter how good and helpful the theology of others may be—that of husband, pastor, or friend—the theology we turn to when we’re in trouble is our own.

So how are you growing as a theologian? When has a solid theology helped you navigate difficult storms in your life? How do you desire to grow in your understanding of the God you know and love?

Carolyn Custis James is a speaker and author of several books, including When Life and Beliefs Collide: How Knowing God Makes a Difference and Half the Church: Recapturing God’s Global Vision for Women. www.whitbyforum.com.

Posted by Ashley Moore on July 12, 2012 2:13 PM

Related Tags: Bible, education, knowledge, leadership, theology

Comments

Carolyn,
This was an excellent article and what kept ringing in my spirit throughout it was the word "pursuit". God is not looking for a works oriented demeanor in us in our seeking Him but does desire that we pursue Him first and make sure our schedules are not so full that He becomes a side dish. He knows our hearts and therefore knows our earnest efforts in seeking Him. The Holy Spirit has often reminded me of passages or verses I have read and need for critical moments. Every trial now is one where I can look back and see His hand of deliverance from the past realities and have the confidence to go forward in whatever may come my way. We all wish that it did not take time and a process to mature us but the realities are that in the pursuit of Him we grow to love Him increasingly and then what was previously laborious becomes a necessity where we love to curl up on our daddy God's lap and intimately learn all we can. I found my spirit hungers for more of Him as I regularly seek His heart. Relationship builds trust and trust then fuels our faith to believe the storms will pass and all will be ok. The more I seek Him the more evident is my weakness but the true victory is in realizing that apart from Him we cannot do and be all He has ordained for us. Teach me Lord and help me continually is my heart's cry.

Posted By: Valerie Caraotta | July 13, 2012 4:03 PM

Wow. What a clear, concise and heartwarming article. We both (husband and wife) are more informed and edified by this. It has always been a mystery to both of us why the
prejudice against women's spirituality, insight and gifts
hung on for so long. Of cours; fear, control issues, and
jeuvenile faith. Thank you for giving up more building blocks of faith. And I.Q.

Posted By: Lilly and Herman Munster | July 14, 2012 12:05 AM

I want everyone in my church to read this. Feelings and opinions come and go, but what is rock solid is what sustains your faith when everything else makes no sense. I see so many people having on to ideas that will crumble when challenged by life. Thank you.

Posted By: Jill Richardson | July 14, 2012 7:45 AM

Am sooo grateful for your encouragement, Carolyn! In the beginning as I became blessed and fascinated and drawn to a life in love in relationship with Our Lord....there was a sense of knowing that it was both awesome and a HUGE risk to really desire that life...especially as a woman but not without many challenges...it is the life I now live! St Paul says, 'For me to live is Christ and to die is gain....' There is no indication that that only applies to men...but may Our Lord help us all to be encouraging and prayerful and loving in relationship with one another to see that the finest part of our lives is in relationship with Him and the Blessings and the Life and the Love flow from there! Many thanks!!!

Posted By: Dr. Sylvia Bradfield+Mitchell | July 14, 2012 9:31 PM

Hi Carolyn,
If we turn to the back of the book "to see how it turns out"(Revelation), we are met with strange symbolism, and the number seven. Seven is key here: "The word of the LORD is as pure as silver refined seven times". I found it takes at least seven end to end readings of the Bible to strip away all those "doctrines and traditions of men" Jesus condemned. It also doesn't hurt to read the Bible through: Trying to see the whole thing from heavens(God's) viewpoint, instead of looking for support of presupposed truths.
Warning! This approach will put you at emnity with the world! and institutional religion..read Foxes book of Martyrs.
Most Christians don't realize that Christ dictated 7 letters to the churches(Revelation 2&3). These 7 letters are not "church ages" they are parallel. Much error in "modern theology" is corrected with an in depth study here.
Just check out the parallels starting with the 111 votes for fornication by the Episcopal this very week, with the 111 words of rebuke by Christ to the church of Thyatira, most specifically the parallels of Rev 2:20.
If we check out how Jesus introduces Himself in the 2 letters whose churches "teach my servants to eat things offered to idols and commit fornication", we see Him with eyes of fire, feet of brass, and holding a sharp double edge sword....He doesn't look happy. When we compare this to the Pauline doctrine of "all things are lawful with liberty in Christ",(Corinthians 8) it's okay to eat meat offered to idols as long as no one see's you, and gets offended, we might want to check back on the 1st of these seven letters, and reread Act's.
In Acts 13:42-44 we find Paul instructing the Gentiles to return to the synagogue next Sabbath, to hear more. Why didn't he say come back tomorrow on Sunday, the "new" Christian Sabbath? Hadn't Paul got the memo that it had been moved to the opposite end of the week? Wasn't he being legalistic insisting Gentiles return to the synagogue, on the Sabbath, with Jews? No, every Christian for 300 years after Christ kept the Sabbath, until a group of men at the council of Laodicea claimed it had been moved to the day of the sun god. Did Jesus have any good thing to say about Laodicea in His 7th letter?

Posted By: Theophile | July 15, 2012 1:13 PM

"It’s vital—it’s urgent—for women to go deeper spiritually and theologically. We can’t coast through life on sweet thoughts about God."

I agree. Too often messages targeted to women are sugar-coated. The Bible is not cute or sentimental or flowery. (The new Playful Puppies edition of the NIV for girls is a worry. But I digress ...)

The Bible is powerful, gutsy, and raw at times. And it's message has the power to transform us and save us.

Posted By: Marg | August 2, 2012 7:14 PM

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