In response to the student's concern that they spent too much time over-theologizing I said something a while ago. I was trying to encourage good thinking, but also, since I know this student and think that they probably can overthink things sometimes, wanted to give permission to the student to let go of theological deliberation. So I said something a while ago. The student reminded me of it today.
Its weird hearing yourself out of context and at a distance. In this case since I really liked what I said it was also humbling. It made me feel like in my time at Seabury I have been able to make some real contributions to my students development as church leaders and not just as thinkers or users of technology. It is wonderful to feel supported and encouraged by accident.
So,
i said,
"Our job is probably not so much to pin things down as it is to lift things up"
This is really what our work in the church should be about. It's good to think about things and its great to find some clarity and definition about our lives as Christians. But our first job should always be to praise God. We should always be about lifting things up. Theology is more like a prism than words etched in stone.
Posted by Trevor at January 7, 2004 10:05 PM | TrackBack