God-Talk
What is theology? It’s a word most people, even church folks, don’t hear all that often. It sounds a bit antiquated, or maybe even highbrow, a word that only preachers use to impress congregations. Actually, though, the word means “the study of God,” or more precisely, “speech” or “thought” about God.
It may sound rather presumptuous in today’s highly scientific and technological age for anyone to think that someone can have anything meaningful to say about God. The period of time in which we live is not the world of The Middle Ages, when theology was in its heyday, nor even the 20th century, when interest in church was relatively high. Many people in modern times doubt whether talk about God is anything other than speculative chatter, just someone’s opinion that is no better or worse than anyone else’s.
So are these critics of theology right? Has theology succumbed to the modern world of science and become irrelevant? My simple answer is “No.”
Let me explain. Talk about the supernatural and preternatural is everywhere. Every Sunday, when you attend church, theology is taking place in every song, prayer, and sermon. Whenever God comes up in a conversation, you start doing theology. Movies, television, and popular books titillate their audiences and readers with fascinating stories about the spiritual or extraterrestrial, which all incorporate theology. Politicians imbibe in theology when they refer to God in their speeches, as do athletes and entertainers. Even atheists become theologians of a sort when they write volumes about the non-existence of God! It seems that God-talk is everywhere. And where there is God-talk, there is theology.
The question is, will the God-talk be informed and thoughtful or merely a throw-in word to draw attention or create conversation or provoke controversy?
Speech or thought about God, that is, theology, goes back to when human beings first began to consider their place in the world. The majesty and awe of the universe, the starry heavens, evoked in the ancients a sense that there was something greater than the here and now. Questions, such as “Where did we come from?” “Why are we here?” “What is our purpose?” and countless other perplexing wonders have occupied the minds of thoughtful people from the time they studied the heavens or lost a loved one or contemplated the meaning of life. God-talk is inescapable.
Theology has an important and, in my view, indispensable role in our world because it delves into these age-old questions. While the concept of theology may not be on the front burner of everyone’s daily life, it often times, unwittingly, shapes how people think of themselves, others, and the world.
The Christian faith does not have an exclusive claim to theology. Jews, Muslims, Hindus and other world religions engage in theology as well. To think that we cannot learn from each other would be to miss the insights and perspectives that might enlarge our picture of God. Remember the pagan Roman centurion who taught Israel about faith? Jesus found this non-Israelite’s faith the poster child of what it means to believe. Think of that!
God-talk (theology) is not going away—ever. So, whenever we dip our toes into the streams of theology, the first thing to remember is humility. All theology is a work in progress. No one has all the answers. Every theology is human understanding of a particular perception of God, and because we are all fallible, every theology has its strengths and weaknesses. Humility accompanies any serious work in theology.
I appreciate writers and theologians like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, C.S. Lewis, Soren Kierkegaard, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Karl Barth, and many others who spent their lives in theological study but always remained humble, recognizing that their best work was merely a fading flower. I avoid like the plague preachers, theologians or anyone who speaks authoritatively of God as though they and they alone have all the answers or even the best answers!
Unfortunately, many religious people crave definitive answers to life’s thorny spiritual questions and fall under the spell of those who suffer from theological arrogance. Karl Barth, arguably the most significant Christian theologian of the past 400 years, wrote that any theology that proclaims itself as the one true theology “betrays that it certainly is not the one true theology.” Even though Barth was regarded as the preeminent theologian of his time, he insisted that his theology was only one step in an endless journey.
So, how do we know we’re on the right track when it comes to God-talk? How do we know who speaks a theology that reveals something of God from a theology that is simply arrogant, narrow chatter?
A simple but profound answer is the one Jesus gave: “You will know them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:16). Theology that reveals something of God to us will usually be conveyed by those who have spent time following the ways of God. As an example, Richard Foster comes to mind. I met this follower of Jesus years ago and spent considerable time with him in meetings, conferences, dinners, and worship services. He has written some wonderful books on Christian discipline, and he is admired the world over for his gentle spirit, humor, and humility. When he speaks of God, I listen. I listen because I know he walks the talk. What he says has been prayed over, thought over, discussed with others, refined, and only then shared with a wider group. Even then, Richard leaves himself open to criticism and disagreement. In fact, he welcomes those who have differing views and learns from them.
Richard Foster
One reason why I struggle with mega-churches is because the pastors of these goliaths are seldom accountable to their people. They live isolated lives from their congregations and rarely interact with those they preach to. They’re more CEOs than shepherds, priests or pastors. How does the average congregant know how these leaders live, how they spend their money or what they are really like? They see these entertaining figures only on Sundays, and then, only for a short time.
Jesus, on the other hand, lived among his people. They knew him, saw him when he was tired, hungry, and even angry. His words about God rang true because he embodied them. He was believable because what he spoke about God—love, forgiveness, compassion for the poor, grace for all—he demonstrated in his daily life.
That’s not to say that we should hold the men and women who speak about God to such lofty standards. My stars, no one would dare utter a word on God’s behalf! There is only one Jesus! Still, God-talk that derives from those who have obviously spent time following the ways of God have my interest and my attention.
The world desperately needs authentic God-talk from those who practice what they preach or teach. That doesn’t mean that what they say is infallible, but it does mean that their words are worth listening to, thinking about, and perhaps putting into practice.
Theology in today’s world is more than relevant, especially when it comes from those who have studied the vast spiritual resources, spent time with God and people, are humble in spirit, and freely acknowledge that all God-talk is just the beginning of a conversation, not the final word.
