When I started Back to the Gospel, I was clear that I knew nothing, so I preferred to translate great teachers, when I learned more, I always wondered if the time had come to learn more. Only something seemed wrong.
I was studying leadership and marketing and came across material from Michael Hyatt (former CEO of Thomas Nelson) that got me thinking about how I communicate my theological learning. In one post, he says that we often fail because we don’t know what our role is. According to Hyatt:
“Being authentic is key to creating a platform. Who would you like me to be?
And that’s where the young theologians ed emerged
Usually, we want to communicate as something we are not yet, it is a lack of integrity. We need to be authentic and communicate properly. Hyatt, reflecting on the voices of leaders, lists three possibilities:
Young theologians, we’re the third. Finally, we are neither the Gandalf nor the Aragorn of theology. We always climb the mountain of theological knowledge. That’s why we need to know how to communicate properly.
So, instead of writing on social media and blogs with a tone that we already understand everything in theology (?Carson and Wright are in your pocket?), who already mastered the secrets of pastoral care (?Baxter and Lloyd-Jones are incomplete?), that we have already deciphered the complexities of the board (?Are Powlison and Welch too shallow?), should we recognize that we barely read 5 books on a specific subject.
Tim Keller once said that if we listen to or read a single thinker, we become a clone, and this is often our case. We read a book that opposes another book and we’ve already written a text (okay?We also do) that shows how such a theologian is a heretic (okay?We are also abusing that term. )
However, the reality is that when we leave the seminary, we have a superficial knowledge of theological generalities. The seminar is a starting point. But the passions of youth (and our pride?But it’s better to blame him at age, isn’t it?) They make us believe that we already master the complex aspects of a rich theological production.
This does not mean writing without confidence, but communicating humbly.
Let us share what we learn as it is: we learn, we are fighters, so when we oppose great theologians, pastors and teachers, we must pay attention to our tone, maybe we should ask more questions and add more questions?Do I think? And? With the little study I have, do I think?Instead of being so dogmatic.
If we believe that we are justified only by faith in the merits of Christ, then we have nothing to prove to anyone, not even us. We can recognize that we are very limited, especially donkeys. Often, even lazy.
If we believe that we have peace with God regardless of the richness of our theology, then we can get rid of Martha’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is about wanting to give her opinion above all and stop and just sit at the feet of Jesus and learn. The Church will not die; the Kingdom will not be moved.
I remember that Jonas Madureira once taught about the need and importance in the apprentice’s life to shut his mouth and sit at the feet of teachers; I remember Gilson Santos (Poimenic Institute) talking about the importance of having ballast. listen to Tiago Santos warn me about the importance of church floors.
I know it’s frustrating. We are young, we want action, we want things to change, but we are stupid of thought, vague in our communication and unbalanced in our tone, perhaps at this point we need more reflection, ballast and church flooring.
Final Recommendation: Read this interview in which Keller talks about writing books at the beginning of the ministry.