Recently I've re-watched a cute little video Vineyard Canada sent out called "What Love Does." It is a great description of the Vineyard. It urges us to be a people desperate for the Kingdom of God, so desperate that we are willing to give our lives for the sake of that Kingdom. Gary Best, the director of Vineyard Resources Canada, talks about this service and how we must never forget that it is a privilege to serve.
I think that we often look at ministry and service as anything but a privilege. And far too often we think of it as a right or an entitlement. You go to church, you get to participate and claim some sort of 'status' as a Christian. But what Gary was getting at flies in the face of that sort of superficiality.
While Gary isn't the only speaker in the video, he has a few very striking sound bites, including the title that this is "what love does." Early on in the video he tells us that the Vineyard in Canada wasn't started by theologians, but by individuals who had met the King and were empassioned for the Kingdom of God. Such a theologically packed statement, but I totally agree with Gary. It isn't theology that defines the Vineyard it is passion for a lived reality that also happens to be a theological reality.
As a theologian, or at least a wannabe theologian, I love how the interplay develops between spirituality and theology. We meet the King and become people of the Kingdom. Then we spend a lifetime passionately unpacking that notion. Unfortunately, I think we approach that notion the same way we approach everything else. It is not a privilege but a right, after all are we not the kids of the King? But like all the rest this whole passion to come to terms with even a bit of what a Kingdom people means is completely a privilege. Just as much as it is a privilege to walk out those implications amongst the weary, sick and lost.
There is an attitudinal change needed here, a move from spiritual arrogance (the very face of division in the Church today) to a deep abiding humility. A move from a controlled and measured service to a reckless abandon because there is no other response worthy of our King's expressed love. I want to make that shift. I want to live out of a sense of gratitude, overwhelmed by my Lord's love for me. I don't want to take the privilege of any of this for granted. I hope you are with me.
2 comments:
Just out of curiosity (and I'm musing here), why is it that most Christians *aren't* theologians?
Why is there even a distinction between lay believers and theologians?
I'd like to think that all serious believers are theologians even without the 'certification.'
Ah well.
I actually believe we are all theologians, but the issue is whether we choose to be good theologians (ie. critically engaged with our own faith and faithfully examined our lived Christianity) or bad theologians (ie. refusing to think for ourselves, being cultural Christians). The one who prays is a theologian. The one who tries to understand their faith is a theologian.
Me I'm an academic theologian, meaning my purpose is to help others become better theologians by helping them to think theologically.
Nice to see you on the Log Hank!
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