Laymen who care about theology are rare.
They tend to hold theologies that differ from their pastors. Pastors rarely care about theology enough to read a theological book a month. Or six months. I mean read it: underline it, make marginal notes, and make notes in Evernote.
About 20% of pastors care about church growth. About 80% of pastors care about avoiding church shrinking. They long ago gave up on the dream of church growth. The typical Protestant congregation had 75 adult members in 1776. Today, it's about 90, but the standards for membership are a lot lower than in 1776. Not much changes.
Pastors read books on counseling, since troubled marriages are common, and members want free counseling, which they probably will ignore. Since they don't really want to adjust, they prefer to pay nothing before divorcing, rather than paying $50 an hour for 20 hours before divorcing.
Those few laymen who care about theology assume the following:
1. The pastor is well read on theology in general.
2. He has read at least three or four books on the issue at hand.
3. These books have covered rival views accurately.
4. The pastor recalls the arguments clearly.
5. The pastor wants detailed discussions in a Sunday School.
6. Other people in Sunday School care deeply, one way or the other.
These assumptions are wildly optimistic.
Ask him to recommend a couple of books on the point. If he has none to recommend, then he has not thought through his position. He is making it up as he goes along. His opinion really is not worth considering. After all, he has yet to consider it.
If he has some books that support him, start looking for published responses. The Web is for searching. If there are no published responses, then you had better write something. Post it online.
If you think a four-sentence answer will do the trick, then you are a theological novice. It is time to mature. But if the pastor has only four sentences, then he is the novice. You need not pay much attention to his views. He is simply giving a knee-jerk response based on what little he recalls, from a theology course in seminary 20 years ago. He probably only got a C in it. Those few pastors who got A's in theology keep reading theology. They can recommend a book on the issue.
The layman is wondering if anyone will ever see things his way. The answer probably is this: "not in this congregation." Online, yes.
The layman is wondering if his pastor's view is correct. The answer is: "It probably doesn't matter for his career or the church's success." Churches are only loosely about theology. People rarely join because they have read a book, and then went looking for a church that is in some way connected to the book.
My questions are these:
1. Why do you care?
2. How much do you care?
3. What practical difference will it make in your life?
4. Are you willing to read at least three books on the topic?
5. Why haven't you read them already?
6. Even if you're right, will your pastor budge? Why should he?
7. Why should others in the congregation care?
8. What do most seminaries teach on this?
9. If his mind changes, what will it cost him in re-think his ministry?
10. Why would he be willing to pay this cost?
11. Will a three-sentence response from you persuade him to pay it?
Is the point a debating point or a life-changing point? Has it changed your life so far? If it has, then you're serious. But if it has not changed your life, now is the time.
1. Start a blog.
2. Write an article a week over the next 3 years.
3. Write an ebook on the topic that is bugging you.
4. Become an expert on this point.
Getting serious about anything intellectual is good. But once you put your hand to the plow, don't look back.
That's what Luther did. That's what Calvin and Knox did.
For that matter, that's what Mises did. That's what Hayek did. That's what Rothbard did. They paid a heavy price in their careers at some point. It never paid off institutionally for Mises after 1940. That did not slow him down.
Every movement faces this issue. Here is the issue: ideas have consequences, but not for most people. Most people are not trained to think straight. On those rare occasions when they try, they usually get confused. Then they give up. It's easier to watch TV.
This is the central problem of all social theory. The founders of a school of thought focus on persuading potential leaders: Pareto's top 4%. They do not ask this: "If our view becomes dominant, how will the average person living in the New World Order think and act differently? What must future leaders do to persuade the bottom 96% of the movement to walk in the new path? What does the new path look like?" This is where the ideological rubber meets Pareto's 80-20 road. What are the ten commandments of the New World Order?
Social innovators should work on these first.
So, don't worry about one-shot answers in a Sunday School class. Worry about Western Civilization, and what you can do to make it better at the margin.
Debating with a worn-out pastor in a struggling little congregation is not worth your time . . . or his.
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