WEBVTT 00:00:05.019 --> 00:00:08.000 What is it that makes up a group? Is it that 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:11.720 a group shares the same traits of identity? Is 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:14.339 it that a group share common beliefs despite 00:00:14.339 --> 00:00:17.719 their own personal identities? What makes up 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:21.140 a group? Is it a group in which everyone thinks 00:00:21.140 --> 00:00:25.160 the same way? Or is a group one that all behaves 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:29.519 a certain way? What about the church? Is the 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:31.500 church a group of individuals that all believe 00:00:31.500 --> 00:00:35.320 the same thing, or is it a group that, despite 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:38.200 the diverse characteristics of the individuals 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:41.560 involved, decide to all behave the same way? 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:46.640 Can it be one and not the other? Can it be both? 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:50.560 This week on the Semi -Seminarian, we take on 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:53.439 the subject, the impact of systematic theology 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.719 on the church and the impact of practical theology 00:00:56.719 --> 00:00:59.679 of the church. and try and conclude what's the 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:03.119 best path forward for the church in the 21st 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:07.420 century. This week, we try to figure out, where 00:01:07.420 --> 00:01:23.540 do we go from here? Through my own spiritual 00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:26.819 journey, I've just come to believe that the church 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:29.140 And when I say the church, I mean the church 00:01:29.140 --> 00:01:32.500 with a capital C. Not your congregation specifically 00:01:32.500 --> 00:01:37.219 or my church specifically, but the church. The 00:01:37.219 --> 00:01:40.700 one that we're all, all of us Christians, the 00:01:40.700 --> 00:01:42.980 one that we consider ourselves a part of. The 00:01:42.980 --> 00:01:47.780 church. It can either have a hierarchy, a top 00:01:47.780 --> 00:01:50.939 -down approach to power and identity and belief, 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.799 or it can be faithful to the gospel message. 00:01:55.980 --> 00:02:00.000 Not at the same time, it can't have both. The 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.859 truth is, the church can have the kingdom of 00:02:02.859 --> 00:02:05.680 the earth, which it's had several times in its 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:08.800 existence, or it can have the kingdom of God 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.800 on earth, which it's never quite held on to. 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:17.560 But it just can't do both at the same time. The 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:20.900 author Stacey Floyd Thomas calls this earthly 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:25.099 powerful church the church of the majority. She 00:02:25.099 --> 00:02:28.300 argues that for centuries this church of the 00:02:28.300 --> 00:02:31.439 majority has been characterized by a doctrine 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:34.400 and belief that empowers the dominant culture, 00:02:34.620 --> 00:02:39.500 the powerful, and that the voices of the marginalized, 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:42.860 those that are on the fringes of power and influence, 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:47.039 however quaint they may be, have never been the 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:50.840 central substance of a description of the church. 00:02:52.509 --> 00:02:55.169 about a body that's been commissioned to be a 00:02:55.169 --> 00:02:58.150 refuge for the poor and the dispossessed and 00:02:58.150 --> 00:03:02.129 the neglected. Historically, the church has been 00:03:02.129 --> 00:03:05.689 ruled by this top -down model of thinking, not 00:03:05.689 --> 00:03:11.689 only about God, but about itself. This systematic 00:03:11.689 --> 00:03:15.969 form of reasoning begins from some position of 00:03:15.969 --> 00:03:20.050 authority. Perhaps that position is one of scriptural 00:03:20.050 --> 00:03:23.520 authority or tradition. or the rhetorical practice 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:27.240 of reason, and then it deduces some right or 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:31.939 correct interpretation or identity from that 00:03:31.939 --> 00:03:37.199 power -filled starting point. The church, formed 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:41.800 by these forms of powerful theology, have often 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:46.800 acted as a reinforcement of a top -down, economical, 00:03:47.099 --> 00:03:52.400 political, and social power structure. This power 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:57.340 -filled voice of theology has been used timelessly 00:03:57.340 --> 00:04:00.479 to deny justice to all forms of various groups 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:06.300 and to justify their subjugation, to push them 00:04:06.300 --> 00:04:10.759 to or keep them at the fringes of power and voice. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:15.400 However, there was a change that took place through 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:18.560 most of the... century, the human experience 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:22.819 changed rapidly like it had never done before. 00:04:22.899 --> 00:04:26.319 Through two world wars and the rise of decolonization, 00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:30.439 the human experience with the church was somehow 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:34.000 different. Before this, before the 20th century, 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:37.620 dominant cultures simply just ignored the reality 00:04:37.620 --> 00:04:41.920 that people's various images of Jesus Christ 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:46.899 reflected a diversity of historical, and personal 00:04:46.899 --> 00:04:52.040 experiences. Over time, this dissonance created 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:56.139 a rise in something called liberation theology. 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:00.300 This new form of theology has not only given 00:05:00.300 --> 00:05:04.579 rise to a voice to diverse people groups, as 00:05:04.579 --> 00:05:08.800 well as individual theologies. But it's shown 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:12.120 these individual people and these diverse people 00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:14.899 groups how they, through their own individual 00:05:14.899 --> 00:05:19.519 experience, can find peace with God and spur 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:22.620 forth a movement for greater social justice for 00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:27.279 all people. As a result, people wishing to engage 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:31.620 in a struggle for justice on earth and have peace 00:05:31.620 --> 00:05:34.160 with God have now been given the opportunity 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:38.519 to find, despite of, and with respect for, their 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:42.680 various cultural distances, a path of commonality 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:45.959 that they can utilize for uniting in the same 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:50.459 struggle. When all forms of various interests 00:05:50.459 --> 00:05:53.399 can now unite against oppression in the world 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:57.620 by finding some commonality, some shared sense 00:05:57.620 --> 00:06:01.060 of a vision of God's peace for the world, a world 00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:05.800 in which justice is evenly distributed, These 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:09.660 groups can then reform and define a different 00:06:09.660 --> 00:06:15.060 type of community. This reimagining of community 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:18.779 allows people to share a sense of struggle as 00:06:18.779 --> 00:06:21.879 their own, not only as individuals, but within 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:26.220 the collective. It also creates a sense that's 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:28.819 vital towards organizing the power of people 00:06:28.819 --> 00:06:33.240 to fight the power of oppression. In the world 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:37.699 we live, one of rapid decentralized concepts 00:06:37.699 --> 00:06:42.060 of identity and heightened senses of individualism, 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:46.839 how is the church to respond? If theological 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:51.079 leadership within and without the capital C church 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:55.399 is only effective as a result of some sense of 00:06:55.399 --> 00:06:57.779 top -down authority which has been granted to 00:06:57.779 --> 00:07:01.779 them by the believer, how are we in the church 00:07:01.779 --> 00:07:06.610 to respond? Can the church of the 21st century 00:07:06.610 --> 00:07:10.110 retain its sense of moral and spiritual authority 00:07:10.110 --> 00:07:14.470 without acknowledging and incorporating the individual 00:07:14.470 --> 00:07:18.449 experience of the divine? That's the question. 00:07:28.970 --> 00:07:33.480 Given this rise, of individualized theology, 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:39.680 the truth is there's no one way to conceptualize 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.579 rightly living with God and with each other. 00:07:43.500 --> 00:07:47.980 As a result for theological leadership to retain 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:51.660 its sense of authority, those that are engaged 00:07:51.660 --> 00:07:56.180 in leading the church spiritually must be able 00:07:56.180 --> 00:07:59.540 to respond to the cultural and the spiritual 00:07:59.540 --> 00:08:02.560 questions as well as the cultural and spiritual 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:08.740 needs in a rapidly changing world. With this 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:12.160 rise of liberation theology, the truth is the 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:15.720 church can no longer ignore the fact that the 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:21.519 particular believer's theology is affected by 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:25.240 their individual sense of social and ethnic markers 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:30.740 that compose their identity. The truth is, The 00:08:30.740 --> 00:08:33.879 way that people experience the world, either 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:37.639 from a position of the dominant or from the fringe 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:41.799 of the marginalized, color the way that we perceive 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:45.440 our relationship with God and our relationship 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:50.139 with others. To put it bluntly, the theology 00:08:50.139 --> 00:08:54.080 of the colonizer is just no longer, and if truth 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:58.480 be told, never has been palatable. by anyone 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:02.799 other than the colonizer. As a result, those 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:07.740 that don't conform to a systematic, dominant 00:09:07.740 --> 00:09:12.080 view of the church of the majority, well, they've 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:15.840 been leaving the church in droves. They may not 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:19.080 be abandoning God, but they're finding something 00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:21.080 else to do with their time on Sunday mornings 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:26.159 and Wednesday evenings. Those that are engaged 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:30.620 in theological leadership must acknowledge that 00:09:30.620 --> 00:09:34.559 they must change or they'll face a crisis of 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:39.960 authority. Greater attention must be directed 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:43.840 towards the contemplation of individualized theology 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:47.500 and their impact on the wider faith community. 00:09:49.220 --> 00:09:53.899 This reality compels Theological leadership as 00:09:53.899 --> 00:09:57.679 well as academic scholarship place a greater 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:01.100 weight to the blossoming study of practical theology, 00:10:01.500 --> 00:10:05.259 a greater dialogue from the field of liberation 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:09.500 theologies, and a greater emphasis on social 00:10:09.500 --> 00:10:13.679 justice agency and its impact on theological 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:19.620 reflection. In simpler terms, what I mean to 00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:25.000 say is that we must reimagine the church as a 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:29.440 collective that forms its identity on how we 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:33.980 react as a result of the life, the death, and 00:10:33.980 --> 00:10:38.259 the resurrection of Jesus, and not on a systematic 00:10:38.259 --> 00:10:43.860 set of beliefs. Christianity can simply just 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:47.659 no longer be characterized by a flowchart of 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:53.059 if -then propositions of dogma. The reality is 00:10:53.059 --> 00:10:55.740 there's only one proposition to be considered. 00:10:56.740 --> 00:11:00.899 If the earthly ministry of Jesus taught us a 00:11:00.899 --> 00:11:04.159 way in which we can, at the same time, enter 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:07.139 into right relationship with God and each other, 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:14.639 then what do we do as a result? That's it. This 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:19.299 singular supposition allows the individual to 00:11:19.299 --> 00:11:22.860 take into account their own personal human experience 00:11:22.860 --> 00:11:25.840 in relationship with God and act accordingly. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:30.259 This is the foundation of practical theology. 00:11:31.860 --> 00:11:38.419 But as we know, it's not as simple as that. While 00:11:38.419 --> 00:11:41.279 this concept of practical theology informs the 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:45.820 type of spiritual belief, that is reflected in 00:11:45.820 --> 00:11:50.200 the individual lives of people, spiritual authority 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:55.299 is also expressed by individual authority. And 00:11:55.299 --> 00:11:58.879 spiritual authority underpins the authority of 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:03.840 the church. As if the question about what we 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:06.799 think about God and how do we live in response 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:11.100 isn't a tough enough question, spiritual authority 00:12:11.100 --> 00:12:15.269 calls the individual. to decide for themselves 00:12:15.269 --> 00:12:21.629 how they trust someone or some church to teach 00:12:21.629 --> 00:12:27.230 them about how and what to think about God. As 00:12:27.230 --> 00:12:30.990 the theological author Sondra Wheeler relates, 00:12:31.129 --> 00:12:33.629 those in theological leadership are therefore 00:12:33.629 --> 00:12:38.289 invested with a certain symbolic and real power 00:12:38.289 --> 00:12:43.429 that's grounded in transcendent claims and ultimate 00:12:43.429 --> 00:12:47.889 commitments. These expressions of power depend 00:12:47.889 --> 00:12:54.029 upon this relationship of lent and received authority 00:12:54.029 --> 00:12:58.809 that run along an axis that includes points of 00:12:58.809 --> 00:13:03.350 contact, both of formalized through denominations 00:13:03.350 --> 00:13:06.769 or informalized through relationships, sense 00:13:06.769 --> 00:13:11.360 of spiritual authority. As difficult as that 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:14.940 definition is for me to explain, it's sometimes 00:13:14.940 --> 00:13:17.460 even more difficult to live out because it's 00:13:17.460 --> 00:13:22.279 so incredibly individualized. So what's the church 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:28.320 to do? To continue to express a sense of moral 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.620 and spiritual authority, the capital C church, 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:36.379 the church, and all of its leadership must commit 00:13:36.379 --> 00:13:40.590 to a reformation. of the identity of the faith 00:13:40.590 --> 00:13:44.629 community. And when I say reformation, I mean 00:13:44.629 --> 00:13:48.409 to say that the church must foster a way in which 00:13:48.409 --> 00:13:52.850 the pieces of the faith community reform in a 00:13:52.850 --> 00:13:55.870 way that social power is more evenly distributed. 00:13:56.809 --> 00:14:00.629 And when I say community, to be faithful to the 00:14:00.629 --> 00:14:03.450 gospel message, I don't mean a particular congregation 00:14:03.450 --> 00:14:07.169 or denomination. Largely, I use the word community 00:14:07.169 --> 00:14:10.429 here to describe any form of social collective 00:14:10.429 --> 00:14:14.429 that we as Christians might imagine. A local 00:14:14.429 --> 00:14:17.210 community to a political grouping, to ethnic 00:14:17.210 --> 00:14:20.950 or cultural collectives. This concept of theology 00:14:20.950 --> 00:14:25.929 is not just thinking about God, but what we as 00:14:25.929 --> 00:14:30.389 believers are doing in that collective as a result 00:14:30.389 --> 00:14:35.470 of divine reality. The ways in which believers 00:14:35.470 --> 00:14:38.809 act to better the world is known as social justice. 00:14:39.490 --> 00:14:42.570 And the reformation of community is necessary 00:14:42.570 --> 00:14:47.370 for that social justice to occur. And it's difficult 00:14:47.370 --> 00:14:51.450 due to the entrenchment of institutionalized 00:14:51.450 --> 00:14:54.940 forms of bias and privilege. Denial of equal 00:14:54.940 --> 00:14:57.460 opportunity. And while it's the desired goal, 00:14:57.620 --> 00:15:01.120 it's got to be recognized by we Christians that 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:05.600 this is not an easy fight. Because of this entrenchment, 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:09.139 it's also the most difficult for we Christians 00:15:09.139 --> 00:15:14.399 to achieve. The Reverend Dr. William Barber relates 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:17.820 in his work, The Third Reconstruction, that peace 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:22.679 with God means conflict with the world. Barber 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:24.720 is the leader of the Poor People's Campaign. 00:15:24.919 --> 00:15:28.419 His work seems to say that Christ's instruction 00:15:28.419 --> 00:15:32.279 in the Great Commandment is for people to engage 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:36.779 in the love of their neighbor in a way that reflects 00:15:36.779 --> 00:15:41.919 their love of God. And if Barber's suggestion 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:46.940 is correct, and it is, then a life that honors 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:49.299 a relationship with the divine is one that honors 00:15:49.299 --> 00:15:55.629 the life of humankind. Isn't that what church 00:15:55.629 --> 00:16:01.889 is supposed to be? Carter Haywood reflects on 00:16:01.889 --> 00:16:06.190 this theological belief by saying that the identification 00:16:06.190 --> 00:16:10.909 with Christ as a believer is to notice the suffering 00:16:10.909 --> 00:16:16.889 of those we know and those we don't know. So, 00:16:16.889 --> 00:16:21.190 where do we go from here? Back to our original 00:16:21.190 --> 00:16:24.679 question. Christians because of what we believe? 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:28.360 Or are we Christians because of the way we behave? 00:16:29.720 --> 00:16:33.080 Can the church continue its attempts to subvert 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:35.980 individual identities and their understanding 00:16:35.980 --> 00:16:40.960 of the divine and somehow survive? Can we continue 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:43.960 to prop up the church of the majority and retain 00:16:43.960 --> 00:16:47.360 spiritual and moral authority with individual 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:51.620 believers? From the entrance of Eve onto the 00:16:51.620 --> 00:16:54.539 pages of Hebrew scripture, the divine message, 00:16:54.539 --> 00:16:59.000 has included a desire. Humankind was not to experience 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:03.379 creation in isolation. Rather, the divine plan 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:07.259 is that men and women, each created uniquely 00:17:07.259 --> 00:17:10.000 in the image of God, were to live together in 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.700 community. This sense of community is carried 00:17:14.700 --> 00:17:17.059 with it throughout the ages, a sense of belonging 00:17:17.059 --> 00:17:21.769 and a sense of protection. However, with the 00:17:21.769 --> 00:17:26.089 systematic structure of individuals institutionally 00:17:26.089 --> 00:17:29.829 into groupings, also comes with it the condition 00:17:29.829 --> 00:17:34.509 of oppression, subjugation, one dominant group 00:17:34.509 --> 00:17:40.490 over a dominant other. As a result of this unequal 00:17:40.490 --> 00:17:44.470 distribution of power and of resources, which 00:17:44.470 --> 00:17:48.490 has become even more systematic and institutionalized 00:17:48.490 --> 00:17:53.339 over time, stain of social injustice has plagued 00:17:53.339 --> 00:17:57.960 humankind from its existence. If we as a church 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:02.539 are to survive, we must become a church identified 00:18:02.539 --> 00:18:12.900 by how we behave. Well, there you have it, friends. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.420 I hope that this episode was as illuminating 00:18:15.420 --> 00:18:19.839 for you to listen to as it was for me to prepare. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:23.140 Listen, hey, before we go, if you like what we're 00:18:23.140 --> 00:18:24.779 doing here at the semi -seminary, and if you'd 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:27.859 take a moment to rate and review the podcast, 00:18:28.180 --> 00:18:30.680 it certainly helps us out. Also, if you're new 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:32.940 to the podcast, if you would take the time to 00:18:32.940 --> 00:18:35.839 subscribe, however you're listening, it'll let 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:38.599 you know when new episodes are coming up. Later 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:41.980 in the week, we'll be continuing our Bible study 00:18:41.980 --> 00:18:44.279 series. We're calling the Bible for Grownups. 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:47.849 We're now moving on to the book of Genesis. This 00:18:47.849 --> 00:18:51.950 week, it'll be part two of the book of Genesis. 00:18:52.190 --> 00:18:55.170 I hope that you'll join us. And until then, friends, 00:18:55.269 --> 00:18:57.690 be blessed and be a blessing.