From the role of a spiritual director, it is natural that the
Cupbearer is also what I call a "Theological
Investigator."
Call Before You
Dig
How often do
we take time to do such theological locating before we dig into the tasks at
hand?
Praxis
The late Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, defined “praxis”
as action and reflection working together in mutuality. If we sacrifice action
then our reflection is just so much “idle chatter” or wasted words (verbalism);
similarly, if we sacrifice reflection [e.g., theology] then all we are doing is
merely engaging in “activism.”[1] The Cupbearer
brings the theological reflection part of Freire’s praxis equation that is
used to learn what the theological foundation and trajectory of a teaching, an attitude, or a missional action would be. Such an inquiry is not done
didactically but dialogically, prompting the participant to follow the trail
where it leads and to report their conclusions.
Praxis that honors our Trinitarian God and expresses itself
in transformational care for people will not happen by accident, nor by merely
shifting our methodologies but through training current and future leaders in
the church to understand the “Why?” behind it all.
Tim Keller has
also developed something similar to this idea as theological
vision…
Theological
vision is hard, but it is what pastors need. Urban pastors struggle to connect
doctrinal foundations to ministry expression in a meaningful way. There is a
tendency either to overcontextualize to the city (which usually leads to
weakening or relativizing a church’s commitment to orthodoxy) or to
undercontextualize (which leads to inward-facing churches that reach only
certain kinds of people and fail to advance a movement of the gospel in the
community). But we find that the quality of the theological vision often
determines the vitality of the ministry, particularly in urban settings.[2]
Whiplash and Withdrawal
Measure Twice,
Cut Once
The conventional wisdom states, “Measure twice, cut once.”
In my case, as I mentioned in my previous post, it has more to do with printing than with cutting. Everyone who
writes needs a proofreader or editor for they are often unable to discern their
own blind spots. As a professor, when reading my students’ papers, I find them filled
with typos, grammatical errors, wrong words (those that spell-checkers don’t
catch), and unfinished sentences (due to “cut & paste” editing). They would all benefit from a proofreader before turning in their work. I wouldn’t have to
buy so many red pens! But as much as I can mark up a student’s paper or that of colleagues in my doctoral cohorts, I confess that I am no different. When I do
my own writing, I rarely have anyone willing to proofread for me, and the work
invariably ends up containing embarrassing errors. Life is no different. Paul
David Tripp says it this way, “Perhaps
every pastor needs to humbly recognize that because of the blinding power of
remaining sin, self-examination is a community project.”[3] If
a pastor is willing to seek biblical counsel and desires honest feedback, then
the Cupbearers Initiative is for them!
One way that Christian leaders can better develop
kingdom-minded disciples is by thinking, praying, and discussing the issues
together before making missional decisions and acting on them. The church would
benefit from taking a balanced form of Paulo Freire’s ideas of dialogue and
praxis seriously and stop doing “mission” without first considering the
theological foundation for such actions. Inserting Freire’s concept of “praxis”
into the culture of the Evangelical church means properly balancing
“theological reflection” with “missional action.”
In my own church culture, churches are quite good at doing
stuff, but not very good at knowing why they are doing it. Cupbearers
should help you with this.
[1] Paulo Freire, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed." 30th Anniversary ed. Translated by Myra B. Ramos (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2000), 87.[2] Timothy J. Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City (Grand Rapids: Zondervan), Kindle Locations 305-309.[3] Paul David Tripp, Dangerous Calling [Good News Publishers. Kindle Edition], 73.
