In this post Peter Adam concludes his letter series on academic theology (see post 1 here and post 2 here). Here he offers Stuart Dent some final advice on the need to adopt a big-picture view of service in the academic world.
Dear Stu,
When I prayed in public [and in private] at the college I worked at, I often prayed for the people to whom our current students would minister in years to come. It was for their benefit that the students were investing in study, and so it was for their benefit that we were teaching those students. We needed to keep the big vision for ministry in mind as we went about our daily work in college.
When you preach in college, you need to think about “conversation partners.” For most research students, those conversation partners are scholars who have specialised in the same area, and rightly so. But when we preach, our conversation partners should not be those specialist scholars who are not present, but the congregation which is!
What I mean is, our communication, although monologue in form, should be a dialogue in content. The issues we tackle, the clarifications we make, the objections we respond to and the answers we give should be those of the present congregation—not those of absent scholars.
This will also change the language we use. We have to engage in continuous translation, and find the right words to convey deep truths to the people who are present. I often hear scientists and specialists speaking, and can instantly recognise that they are not used to speaking to non-specialists, because they use technical language which I don’t understand. And some Christian scholars make the same mistake!
And what applies to preaching, applies to teaching as well. In the classroom our “conversation partners” must be the students who are present. And to help them, we should also engage with some imaginary “conversation partners” as well: ignorant Christians, confused Christians, people of other religions, agnostics, and atheists. Engaging with the students as “conversation partners” will help them learn. Engaging with these imaginary “conversation partners” in our communication with students will train them to apply and communicate what they learn to others.
I once heard Tim Keller say that we tend to preach to the people we talk with. On that occasion he was urging us to talk to unbelievers, so that we then preach to unbelievers as well. We need to consciously increase the range of our “conversation partners” well beyond the specialist scholars of our research area.
Working in a Team
People who have flourished in, or at least survived, the loneliness of academic research may need to learn new skills: how to work well in a team; how to cooperate with others; how to engage with others in different areas of work and ministry; and how to cooperate with others in teaching and training students. This means that if you work in a college, you should not only think about how your own subject area contributes to the quality of ministry that students will do in the future, but you should also think about how all subject areas contribute, how they complement each other, and how to increase the effectiveness of the whole college process. You must have a wide interest in theological education, and in effective ministry training in every aspect of students’ learning. Specialisation, as I have already said, is a good servant, but a bad master.
Self-discipline
To succeed in research requires a high level of self-discipline. You need to ensure that you don’t focus on self-discipline in this area so much, that you don’t have the energy to be self-disciplined in your life as a believer, in your thoughts, words and deeds, in your marriage, in your parenting, in your relationships with others, in the use of food, drink, exercise and relaxation, in your membership of a church, and in your personal and public ministries. Instead, you should ensure that you are self-disciplined in all these areas! Engaging in solitary research runs the risk of being able to live different lives in different worlds. You must be a disciple of Christ in every area of your life, with appropriate time and energy for all of those areas. Your whole life must be balanced and disciplined.
What Kind of People Do Good Ministry in Colleges?
People who have faith in Jesus Christ, love for all the saints, and hope of heaven; who are godly in thought, word and deed; who are ministry-minded and servant-hearted; who are able to do the ministries for which they are training the students; who have good Bible knowledge and theological awareness, especially about issues of ministry; who are well trained in the subjects they will teach; who provide good models of Christian life and ministry; and who model life-long growth in Christ, and life-long growth in ministry.
We don’t want people who are not competent in ministry, and who want to move into teaching and training others as an easier option. We don’t want people who would rather be at a University, and who regard lecturing in a theological or Bible college as a second-best option, or as merely a stepping-stone to a job in a University.
- We need people who provide good examples of ministry.
- We need people who resist the contemporary tendencies to separate head and heart, intellect and emotions.
- We need people who are passionate about the truth, and who are truly passionate.
- We need people who can act on what they believe—whose emotional commitments produce useful ministry. The integration of head, heart, and hand is a crucial strength for ministry, and so a crucial strength for those who train others for ministry.
Strong Foundations
People who want to work in a theological college need a positive doctrine of creation; a realistic doctrine of sin and sinfulness and of God’s judgement; a confident doctrine of God’s saving work in Christ’s atoning death; a realistic doctrine of gradual transformation and sanctification; a positive doctrine of the church; and a confident and hopeful doctrine of Christ’s return and the coming of God’s kingdom. They must not view Christianity in a distorted way, seeing everything in the light of their research topic!
Good Examples
College Faculty also need to be able to provide examples for Christian living in their own lives. They especially need to model balance. They need to balance:
- theological orthodoxy with a healthy willingness to ask difficult questions;
- issues relevant to academia with those relevant to everyday ministry;
- matters relating to local ministry with those that relate to cross-cultural ministry;
- the need to win people as well as arguments;
- work, family, and relaxation
- trusting God and taking responsibility.
Useful models of ministry from the Bible include that of Priscilla and Aquila, who ‘explained the way of God more accurately’ to Apollos (Acts 18:24-26), Paul’s instructions to the Ephesians elders (Acts 20:13-38), and the role of Timothy and Titus in training up people for ministry (1 & 2Timothy and Titus).
A Program for Ministry
I once made up a syllabus for the training of a minister, based on 2 Timothy. I think that Paul’s instructions in that letter are intended both for Timothy and for the benefit of the “faithful men” he is to train up. It provides a useful framework in which to think about training people for ministry.
Chapter 1
- Fan into flame the gift of God
- Don’t be ashamed, share in suffering for the gospel
- Guard the truth
Chapter 2
- Be strong to train faithful people
- Present yourself to God, an unashamed worker, correctly handling the word of truth
- Flee evil passions
- Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace
- Correct opponents with gentleness
Chapter 3
- Avoid evil teachers
- Know the Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus
- Be equipped for every good work by the Bible
Chapter 4
- Preach the word
- Value the gospel team
- That the message may be fully proclaimed, and all the nations might hear it
How illuminating to compare that syllabus with the ones we use in our colleges!
Prayers
Here are some prayers you could pray as you do your research:
- Please make me the person you want me to be, prepare me to do the good works you want me to do, and help me to do them.
- May this research honour you, serve you, and glorify you. Please use my life and daily work in your service. Please help me to do this research in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to you, my God the Father through him.
- Please use this research to prepare me for future ministry, to teach me useful skills, to train me in godly discipline, to learn your wisdom, that in my life and ministry, now and in the future I may serve others for your glory.
Well, Stu, that is more than enough! I will pray for you, that God will make you a wise and godly man, a wise and godly husband, a wise and godly father, a wise and godly student and a wise and godly minister. I hope we can continue our conversation at the conference next year.
With warmest good wishes,
Yours, Peter
Photo: jjn1; unclepockets (inset), flickr
