• Toward a Missional Vision of Theological Education: The Fruit of the Problem

    November 17, 2009

    Previous Posts in this Series:

    Preliminary Thoughts | The Root of the Problem

    In my last post I made the claim that our current model of theological education, in assuming a Christendom context, is better-suited to train managers of Christian religious institutions than it is to prepare missional leaders.  If the root of the problem is Christendom, the binding of Christian witness and mission to systems of coercive power, we do well to ask what the fruit of the tree of our current system of theological education has been?

    The version of Christianity which is bound to systems of coercive power within modernity has been powerless to resist the trajectory of that era.  Thus, features like individualism, consumerism, and reductionism have been uncritically adopted by local churches and systems of theological education alike and have had mutually related effects.  On top of this, there has emerged a rift between theological education and the ministry of the local church.

    I’ve talked up a storm on this blog about what this has meant for the structure and ministry of local churches, but what about our systems of theological education?

    Individualism.

    For the most part, people make individual decisions to attend seminary and they are trained as individuals.  I’m not saying you can’t experience community in seminary education or benefit from peer interaction, but largely, you choose your courses as an individual, study as an individual, get assessed as an individual, and then decide where to go and what to do as an individual.  Not very good training for people who will then go on to be part of a staff team!  Even less conducive to a truly missional ecclesiology in which the theology, spiritual practices, and Christan life are all rooted in community.

    Consumerism.

    Seminary is freaking expensive!  I know I got some amen’s on that!  That’s because there’s a market for it.  Think about that for a second… There is a market (a system of coercive power if there ever was one) for being trained as a Christian leader.  Now, make sure you’re not hearing what I’m NOT saying.  I’m not saying it’s wrong for people to earn a living from educating others.  Nor am I saying that buying and selling is in and of itself a bad thing.  I am saying that this business of people needing to spend (or worse, go into debt) huge amounts of money to get a religious credential at an accredited institution is not only unsustainable as Christendom unravels, but has a negative effect on Christian leaders and those they lead.

    Reductionism.

    There are a number of ways we could go with this dimension of modern Christendom, but what concerns me the most is how we have reduced theology to information and the leadership of local churches to those best able to convey it.  How else are we able to account for a theological system so heavily slanted toward lecturing, book reading, writing, and testing?  It’s nearly all about the grasping and repeating of concepts.  I’m not saying at all that there’s no place for this, but this feature of Christendom-based theological education has resulted in a form of Christianity that lives as though it’s possible to really believe something without embodying it.  The Bible knows nothing of disembodied belief, but this is the very thing that our current system of theological eduction allows for.

    These are a few of the most obvious fruits of theological education rooted in Christendom that I am thinking of.  Are you thinking of more?  What are the angles and nuances that you see from your perspective that I’m missing?

    In my next post, I aim to take a stab how a missional vision of theological education differs from one rooted in Christendom.

    Related Posts with Thumbnails
    • Share/Bookmark

    Posted in: christendom, church, community, consumerism, culture, discipleship, individualism, leadership, missional, modernity, reductionism, spiritual formation, sustainability, theological education, theology, western culture

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

Recent Comments

  • Jason Coker said...

    1

    Again, nice. I would add…

    Professionalism:
    The current system is designed to cultivate white-collar (no pun intended) professionals for an institution that assumes a place at the center of "main street" American culture. Now that Christianity is being pushed to the outskirts of town, there are fewer and fewer seats at the table for professional clergy.

    And that's the just pragmatic problem with being a seminary trained leader. The theological consequence, of course, is the deeply embedded split between clergy and laity, which when cultivated inside a contemporary church-growth hothouse leads directly to the sprouting of a passive spectator/consumer form of worship. The seminary paradigm shares significant responsibility for this state of affairs.

    Also, related to your point about "reductionism," I would add that Western pedagogy in the social sciences or humanities (including theology and religion) assumes an almost entirely abstract orientation. Consequently, the overemphasis on abstract theological concepts has lead directly to a practice of Christianity at the popular level that is largely devoid of genuine praxis and often tastes of a rather strong intellectual elitism. Case in point: in the new Reformed churches, being a good Christian revolves almost entirely around the idea of retaining an insanely broad mastery of doctrinal minutia. Not only does this bear little resemblance to the community Jesus formed, but it automatically excludes a massive number of people who, for a variety of reasons, simply aren't oriented toward abstract thinking.

    11/18/09 12:13 AM | Comment Link

  • jrrozko said...

    2

    The professionalism piece is HUGE. I had written some stuff on that, but was trying to keep the length of the post down – thanks for adding it in!

    11/18/09 3:48 PM | Comment Link

  • Jase Miller said...

    3

    JR, you have some good insights here. I am eager to read your next post on these themes, particularly if you have some suggestions for where change might be needed. Having worked for a decade in both the seminary and church contexts, I have had opportunity to get to know people throughout all levels of the 'tree' (to continue your metaphor) who are aware of a struggle that underlies church and seminary culture. Quite a few of them are deeply concerned about how to follow Christ and serve the church in theological education. One of my roles is to attempt to bridge those two cultures. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts.

    11/20/09 10:25 PM | Comment Link

  • JR Rozko said...

    4

    Thanks Jase. Hope to have another post up by mid-next week if not sooner. After spending a few posts on identification an deconstruction, I am really anxious to move into a more constructive line of thought. i hope to do justice to the work I believe needs to be done on 2 fronts – 1) correcting from within (ie. building bridges) and 2) cultivating an alternative reality.

    11/21/09 12:08 AM | Comment Link

  • Ben Sternke said...

    5

    You hit on this a bit in your "Reductionism" section, but I think that any system of theological education that allows for people to "graduate" without ever growing in character, without ever being expected to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in their lives, is broken.

    Our community just finished a few months of focusing on the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus points to fruit (character, obedience to Jesus) as THE thing to look for in those who lead us or offer us advice on living.

    Somehow we've separated the concept of "theological education" from the simple cultivation of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, which Jesus and the NT seem to put at the very center of what it means to know God.

    11/23/09 5:10 PM | Comment Link

  • jrrozko said...

    6

    Absolutely. This is gonna be a huge part of the sort of proposal I want to put forth, thanks man.

    11/24/09 12:12 AM | Comment Link

Leave A Comment

Mail (will not be published) (required)