Everyone is a theologian, but not everyone is a good theologian. Theology is the study of and understanding of God. Everyone has some thought or understanding about God, but not everyone has correct thoughts about God. Everyone is a theologian, but not everyone is a good theologian.
As shepherds over God’s flock, pastors have the responsibility to preach God’s word and to help the church rightly apply it. Just as systematic and biblical theology is beneficial for pastors, it can also be beneficial for the lay people in your church. However, you probably realize already that you can’t teach theology in your church the way that you learned it in seminary. Frankly, most of the folks in your church will be a bit intimidated if you announce a new systematic theology class and pass out Grudem’s Systematic Theology or Erickson’s Christian Theology.
So, how do you teach theology? First and primarily, you teach theology to your church by rightly dividing God’s word systematically and expositionally. Just as good theologians expound upon the teachings of God’s word, good pastors teach theology by expounding on God’s word. When you begin a sermon series on the gospel of John, you can’t help but teach the doctrine of the Word of God, the doctrine of Christ, and the doctrine of creation. At Jesus’s baptism, you teach on the Trinity. When you teach Romans, you get to teach on election. Throughout the Exodus story, you can expound upon redemption and in the epistles, you can teach about the doctrine of the church. The prophets allow you to consider the advent of Christ and even the eschaton.
But, most pastors would love to do more. Pastors who have been trained in systematic or biblical theology, would love to give their people the opportunity to carefully consider particular theological topics in comprehensive ways, but they are aware of the challenges of such and endeavor and so many never even try. I want to urge you to teach your people theology and to teach them serious theology, but I want to help you find ways to do it successfully. Here are some ideas that might help.
- Secret Church. David Platt’s Secret Church videos are easy to access and the print material can be downloaded and printed off at your church. One way to expose your people to particular theological subjects is to let David Platt do it for you through secret church. You can break it down and watch it over the course of six or eight weeks and even conclude each session with discussion.
- Study a hot-topic issue. Right now heaven-tourism books are a big deal. Your folks might be interested in a study on the doctrine of heaven. Several years ago when Rob Bell questioned the existence of hell in a popular book, a study on hell would have been beneficial and timely.
- Tie theology to evangelism and apologetics. Many folks don’t see the need for careful studies of theology. Though you certainly hope to convince them of the value of theology, start by tying the study into apologetics or evangelism. Studying the doctrine of creation is very beneficial for people who will be sharing their faith and engaging in apologetics.
- Make use of approachable books on biblical theology. Vaughan Roberts is an example of a person who has several great books on the Kingdom of God and the big themes of Scripture that are short and approachable.
- Start small. Not everyone is interested, but there may be one, two, or three people in your church who would be willing to read The Benedict Option or Knowing God or The Cross of Christ. Start with those people. Make a difference where you can. You will all benefit from it.
- Avoid pitfalls. Trust me, starting the theological training in your Baptist church by examining the five points of Calvinism or comparing the various views on the return of Christ is a bad idea.
- Be creative. Grudem’s systematic is great, but its overwhelming. However, it has been re-published in seven volumes, each of which corresponds to one of the seven sections in his Systematic Theology. Many folks who are intimidated by a 1250 page textbook are more than willing to spend six or eight weeks working through a 150 page book to learn how to Make Sense of the Bible.
Teaching theology in the local church can be a challenge, but it is a challenge that pastors should undertake. If you’ve struggled to teach theology in your church, consider one of the suggestions above, or share with me steps you’ve taken to teach theology in your local church.
