4. A Cupbearer is a Theological Investigator

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

While the label, "theological investigator" may sound a bit like the infamous Spanish Inquisition there is nothing to fear because it is outside of our organizational power structure. A better analogy for theological investigation would be the 811 locating services that are called to mark any underground utilities on your property before you do any digging. Such location work is done to prevent injuries and expensive repairs as well as inconvenience for the neighbors when their service is interrupted because of your bad decision. 

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

Because of a lack of theological reflection in their praxis equation, some churches continually switch the things they are doing, and the methodologies employed to do them, without articulating the underlying reasons for it. Thus, members are confused about what they should believe. Since they may never have been shown the beliefs behind their actions, when the actions or programs change, they conclude that the foundational beliefs have changed. Such uncertainty and unsettledness have led many formerly engaged volunteers to step back from regular ministry involvement. There is even a name for such people, “Dones.” While pastoral mistakes are not responsible for all such withdrawal, there needs to be a change to prevent further relational and missional damage to the body of Christ.

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.

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[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.