The Surprising God

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 ,  12 , 13 , 15 . Anderson's review of pastoral ministry now focuses on the very real danger of clergy burnout, which he identifies as "a symptom of theological anemia" (p284). By that he means that when pastors burn out it's often because their approach to ministry lacks grounding in a robust incarnational and Trinitarian theology. In short, they see themselves working "for" God, rather than "with" the Father, in the Son, by the Spirit. Because of this, they tend to take too much upon themselves and that places them at risk of burnout. It's ironic that the very people who have devoted their lives to sharing the message, My Redeemer Lives , operate as though Jesus is not truly present and alive, and as though he is not active in a...

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 , 12 , 14 ,  15 . Be Not Afraid  by Greg Olsen (used with permission) As noted  last time , Anderson calls upon pastors to serve as  moral advocates rather than  moral police. He defines moral advocacy this way: The extension of divine grace to persons who are guilty of breaking the moral law or who are suffering a loss of personhood through the existence of a structure mandated by moral law. The practice of moral advocacy places on the side of the marginal person the moral right for personal dignity, freedom from abusive relationships, and full parity in social and communal life....  [This advocacy in the form of pastoral care is] provided at times of crisis, when life has become difficult, if not...

This post continues a series in The Shape of Practical Theology by Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 , 9 ,  10 ,  11 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 . Woman at the Well by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission) Ray Anderson advocates what he refers to as  Christopraxis--- an approach toward ministry that flows from what he calls a theological ethic . In this post we'll see what that looks like when pastors address the moral crises in our culture. Anderson calls pastors to respond not as  moral police but as  moral advocates who participate with Jesus in what he is now doing by the Spirit to heal a hurting world. When it comes to morals, values trump beliefs It's common for people today to decry the moral decline in our culture. Even those who express belief in a divine being are doing what seems right in their own eyes, rather than wh...

Christ on the Cross by Carl Heinrich Bloch Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (updated 1/2/2023) In discussing our inclusion in the triune life of God in and through Jesus, a question pertaining to the related issues of regeneration and evangelism often emerges. It goes something like this: Given our inclusion in Christ through his incarnation, life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension; how are we to understand what happens to us when we are "born again" (regenerated) at the moment we turn to God in faith? The key issue in answering this question is understanding that Jesus (who is fully God and fully human) is the beginning point and the focus of all such questions. As I've wrestled with this topic, I've been aided by Thomas Torrance in his books The Mediation of Christ  and The Christian Doctrine of God.  Perhaps an excerpt concerning regeneration and evangelism from The Mediation of Christ  will contribute to our understanding: It is ...

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Trinitarian theologian Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 , 10 ,  12 , 13 ,  14 ,  15 . Anderson notes that Jesus' mission "was not entirely completed in his death and resurrection" (p. 189). He understands that Jesus' missional activity continues as he sends the Spirit to form and gift the church to participate with him in his ongoing  paracletic ministry on earth. He Who is Without Sin by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission) Back to the future According to Anderson, Jesus' ongoing ministry has a decidedly "eschatological nature" in that it brings into the present, bit-by-bit and through the church, the future fullness of the kingdom. That is why Paul refers to the church as God's "new creation"---the out-working (or one might say the in-breaking) of wh...

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Trinitarian theologian Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 , 11 , 12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 .  Photograph by Steven Pavlov used with permission granted via Wikimedia Commons Having answered the question, What does it mean to be human? , Anderson next addresses a corollary question: Where is the church? His answer is grounded in a biblical ecclesiology that defines the church as the Body of Christ in the world. With that in mind, he goes on to note that the church, in order to truly be the Body of Christ, must be with Jesus, where he is---not tucked away in the protective cocoon of the sanctuary, but redemptively present in the community. Anderson comments: The humanity of God in the person of Jesus Christ seeks incarnation in the soul of the city before taking up res...

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Trinitarian theologian Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 , 8 ,  10 ,   11 ,   12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 . Lost and Found by Greg Olsen, used with permission Each subculture has an implicit understanding of what it means to be human. While it's vital in Christian ministry and ethics to be aware of and sensitive to these subjective cultural understandings, our primary focus must be the objective reality of what it means to be human, revealed by God to us in the humanity of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ. Anderson comments: The core assertion of a Christian theology [and anthropology] is that the controlling social paradigm by which humanity is defined sets squarely within the objective relations that exist between God and humans, through the humanity of Jesus Christ as...

How are we to understand the commands of God recorded in the Bible? Some view them as  threats  ("Do this or else!"), others as promises ( "In me, you shall do this"). Here we find a key distinction between a legalistic and a grace-based view of obedience to God. While legalists view obedience as what must be done to avoid condemnation (or to earn rewards), those living by grace view obedience as the outflow of the relationship they have been given with God in Christ through the Spirit. While legalists obey God out of obligation, those living by grace obey God because they are part of his family. As noted in the helpful sermon below from Peter Heitt (lead pastor at The Sanctuary in Denver), this difference of viewpoint is seen clearly in how people interpret Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount.

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Trinitarian theologian Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 , 7 , 9 ,  10 ,   11 ,   12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 . In a chapter on ethics grounded in Trinitarian, Christ-centered practical theology (Christopraxis), Anderson offers this summary statement: The criterion by which we measure... the "ethical event" between humans is the incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ by which humanity is liberated from the inhumanity of sin and restored and morally empowered through grace. Christopraxis is a form of moral empowerment rather than merely moral judgment. (p160) The Good Samaritan (Modern) by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with permission) Following the teaching of Karl Barth, Anderson asserts that Christian ethics is not about impersonal rules and ideals, but about true humanity found...

This post continues a series looking at The Shape of Practical Theology  by Trinitarian theologian Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 , 8 ,  9 ,  10 ,   11 ,   12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 . Wikimedia Commons, creative commons license These days we're often told that churches must become more "missional." Various models are offered for doing so (including the one at right). Ray Anderson helpfully adds to this discussion with a Christ-centered ecclesiology and missiology grounded in incarnational, Trinitarian theology: [The] mission of the church is grounded in its nature as the community of the children of God whose lives have ontological grounding in the very being of Christ.... As the inner life of Jesus in his relation to the Father is constitutive of Christology, so the inner life of the church in its experience of Jesus Christ is constitutive of e...