I just finished with my first class of the new semester. My experience today and a similar experience from last semester compels me to compose this post.
Pastors are necessarily are to be about Biblical scholarship. They live and breath Scripture. Their parishioners expect this of them. When they ask about a specific text, doctrine, practice, or event in their life, the parishioners expect the pastor to have a response grounded in sound Biblical teaching.
Theological professors live under a different set of expectations. Students and colleagues expect the envelope to be pushed, the mind challenged; the intellect stretched. From their mouths come details of language, culture, and history that go beyond the limitations of a Sunday morning Bible class or sermon from the pulpit.
From my experience, a theological professor should be a pastor. This may seem obvious. It is far too easy for a professor to be bogged down by institutional demands and academia. These are necessary evils to be sure. They can lose focus on training men to meet give an approach to theology that is for when “the rubber meets the road,” so to speak, in the parish.
In the same way, the pastor must continue to be about theological education. His study is not limited to a set of dogmatic theology found in the catechism or confessions. His study of the texts for each Sunday and each event in his parishioner’s life draws from all the academic disciplines of history, interpretation, life of the church, and doctrine. His understanding of these disciplines directly effects his preaching and responses as pastor.
The bulk of my theological education has understood the nexus of these two seemingly different vocations, the pastor and the professor. Rarely, this is demonstrated by dramatic connections of the life of the world and the life of the church. The conflict is brought to a head and the challenge taken on.
My two recent experiences involve professors who currently are or recently were parish pastors. These professors aren’t less adept than the seasoned academics. Yet, “when the rubber meets the road,” they have real relevant experience. I wonder if the original model of Synodical office holders or professors also being parish pastor does not help ground both the instructor in parish life. The corollary is also true. I wonder if the pastor who remains in Seminary-based continuing education does not also remain grounded deep in theological study.
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