Theology Matters

Theology matters.

I was reminded of this fact recently after I heard a prominent worship pastor make a disturbing statement. Ostensibly unaware of the power of language, especially theological language, this person thinks part of the act of worship is to "shepherd the presence of God." Whether this statement is common among certain parts of evangelical culture or is unique to this person alone, I do not know. But, regardless, I was dismayed that he would say something so theologically incorrect.

That short sentence carries heavy theological weight. First, it assumes an entire doctrine of God that is fundamentally at odds with the Church's creedal confession. Second, it assumes a vision of creation that believes humans have the capacity to "shepherd," control, manipulate, or otherwise guide the presence of God -- Who is transcendent, holy, and 'Wholly Other' than His creation. Third and lastly, this statement assumes the focus of worship is on us and what we need from God's presence rather than on God alone, for God's sake alone. Shepherding God's presence implies that we know best about what we require of God rather than discerning in prayer what God requires of us as disciples of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Let me be clear: This statement moves against the fine grain of Scripture and Christian orthodoxy. After all, where in Scripture do we see this kind of language?

Did Moses shepherd the presence of God when he met 'I Am' in the flaming bush on Mount Horeb (Ex. 3:1-4:17)? Or did Isaiah sense the need to shepherd God's presence when at once he "saw the Lord sitting upon a throne" (6:1) and cried out in holy terror, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" (6:5). Or, finally, did St. Paul give a subtle hint as to how the church in Rome should shepherd God when he wrote,

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and

knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his

judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counselor? Or who has

given a gift to him that he might be repaid?

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:33-36)

Countless examples from Scripture could be given to illustrate my point.

Friends, this kind of language is not only unhelpful, it is corrosive to good doctrine. Indeed, it is a kind of rank theological liberalism that seeks to domesticate God's transcendence. It erases the ontological distinction between God and creation. Under the guise of "shepherding the presence of God" we no longer view ourselves as participating in God's Triune life -- which is an invitation God alone extends in the Incarnate Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. Instead, we are the hosts who invite God to participate in our own agenda and then direct His movement among us as we see fit. Any god who is shepherded by humans is no god at all. It is, in fact, an idol manufactured by human hands upon which we can project our own ideas, will, and desires.

This no-god has more in common with the theologies of Freud and Feuerbach than it does the living, true, and revealed God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Theology matters.

This base theological language, so indicative of evangelical worship culture, is a holdover from 19th century liberalism, it seems. Protestant liberalism stressed the immanence of God and believed His presence was an automatic given that could be cultivated by human action and feeling. It was against such disastrous thinking that Karl Barth developed his expansive theological project. As the late John Webster observed, "For Barth, envisaging God's relation to humanity in this way undermined the sheer originality of God. That is, it worked against everything that is summed up by the tautology 'God is God' and threatened to convert God into a mere function of the creaturely realm" (Karl Barth, p. 25)

As I see it, stating that we are "shepherding the presence of God" is equivalent to "convert[ing] God into a mere function of the creaturely realm." It teaches people to view God in instrumental terms, that is, as a pliable object that can be manipulated by human control. We allow this kind of language to go unchecked -- in some cases it's even encouraged -- in our churches and then we wonder why the common view of God among Christians is so distorted. In these instances, pastors, elders, and overseers of churches have clearly abdicated their responsibility to care for the souls in their congregations. That is, they have abdicated their responsibility to reason theologically on behalf of their church.

This reminds me of Neuhaus's Law: When orthodoxy becomes optional, eventually it becomes obsolete.

Theology matters.

Alternatively. . .

God acts and loves in total freedom. No-thing can confine God, hem God in, or control God's presence. God cannot be impelled to act on account of the circumstances of God's creation. Rather, God's action toward creation is an unqualified gift, an unceasing donation, motivated by God's own nature, which, as 1 John tells us, is love. God has covenantally bound Godself to creation not because creation wills it, but because God alone wills it and acts accordingly. As Barth says in CD II/1, p.273 "The Doctrine of God,"

[The] essence of God which is seen in His revealed name is His being and therefore His act as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. . . As it is revealed to us as the definition of that which confronts us in His revelation, this name definitely has this primary and decisive thing to say to us in all its constituents -- that God is He who, without having to do so, seeks and creates fellowship between Himself and us. He does not have to do it, because in Himself without us, and therefore without this, He has that which He seeks and creates between Himself and us. It implies so to speak an overflow of His essence that He turns to us. (italics mine)

It is due to the "overflow of [God's] essence" that God not only "turns to us" but also turns us toward Himself and draws us into deep, abiding communion with Him. By God's free, gracious act, creation is granted freedom to participate in the dynamic life of the Triune God -- Father, Son, Holy Spirit. All of this is the singular act of God. Human action is not meaningless; but it is only intelligible and meaning-full because God allows us to realize it as such in light of our participation in Him. God shepherds us as we participate in Godself -- not the reverse. This is the rubric of grace.

Again Barth:

Now that it [created existence] has originated in His will and subsists by His will, He does not detach Himself from it in an alien aloofness, but is present as the being of its being with the eternal faithfulness of which no creature is capable towards another. God can allow this other which is so utterly distinct from Himself to live and move and have its being within Himself. He can grant and leave it its own special being distinct from His own, and yet even in this way, and therefore in this its creaturely freedom, sustain, uphold and govern it by His own divine being, thus being its beginning, centre and end. (II/1, p. 314)

Theology matters.

This winding, disjointed post is coming to a close. But I want to leave you with three things to consider before I end.

1. God is God. You are not. Any alternative to that fact is a lie.

2. Theology and Doxology are two inextricable sides of the same coin. Neglecting one side spells inevitable failure for both sides. Keep them together.

3. Worship pastors, I implore you, take theological formation seriously. Please!

God matters. Church matters. Worship matters. Theology matters. Language matters. Regardless of the style of worship you perform, learn to think theologically about what you are doing. It is an inescapable fact of reality that all of us are being formed by something or someone. For the sake of your church -- for the sake of your soul! -- work diligently to ensure that you are being formed by Scripture and the Church's broad, robust theological tradition. Everything else is a mere parody by comparison.

Do not allow K-Love or Bethel or Hillsong to have more influence over your church's worship than Isaiah or the Psalmist or St. Paul -- or Jesus! -- or St. Chrysostom or St. Augustine or Thomas Cranmer or Charles Wesley. Submit yourself to the tutelage of the Church; seek out an older, more peculiar way of being Christian. The people in your church will be better for it.

To that end, learn to study well. Read outside of your tradition. Pursue good theologians who are thinking about the intersection of theology and worship and learn from their wisdom. Look to the past to (in)form the present. Pray vigorously -- not just in your own words but with the Church. Liturgical prayer will discipline your speech habits. Write an Order of Service and have a biblical/theological justification for everything you do. Nothing in worship should be superfluous -- everything should point to the irreducible revelation of what God has done in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

The point of the Church's worship is to tell the story of Jesus. The vocation of the worship pastor is not to be cute, clever, or culturally relevant. Rather, the vocation of the worship pastor -- or of any pastor, for that matter -- is to help the Church be faithful to the narrative of Jesus. The essence of the pastoral vocation, then, is to be a good story-teller. God does the rest.

Finally, to the point of this post, measure your language about God against the Bible and the Church's Tradition. If you find yourself making statements like "shepherding the presence of God," you should check yourself and start again.

Theology matters.