Fire or Ice?
I am not a theologian, not even close, but I have thought and read a lot about God, Salvation, Creation, Hell and more, as you can probably tell from my book “Big Questions“.
Recently, my wife pointed out to me that I was becoming arrogant about my theology knowledge, and expected others to see things from my perspective, because I thought I had everything figured out. Everything, that is, except my own arrogance and pride!
This happened during a discussion about pastoral styles. She pointed out that I looked down on people who didn’t read theological books or listen to podcasts. The question being discussed was:
Is it better for a church pastor to be strongly theological or be an enthusiastic person?
I was knocked back on my heels because I hadn’t seen the plank in my own eye (to quote the Biblical verse). I have long known that I am not a natural leader in that I don’t inspire people to follow me, but I had never really confronted my intrinsic bias against enthusiastic leaders. I viewed them as sales people, trying to win the hearts of the congregation by eloquence and emotion.
I realised that I had created a false binary where there were only two options – fire or ice. I had poisoned my own well due to my intrinsic bias by labeling one right and the other wrong, instead of recognising that it is a continuum, where we all stand at different places on the line.
As I mentioned earlier, I couldn’t inspire a group of people to follow me because I am not the type of person who draws others around me, so why would I expect the leader of a church to be more academic than enthusiastic? Enthusiasm is more attractive and life-giving than academic knowledge, and I know that I would rather be in a group that is full of life rather than a group that is full of knowledge, so why would I expect anything else for a church congregation?
For more information on intrinsic biases, listen to Brian McLaren’s podcast series on the topic “Learning How To See“, and read chapter 20 in my book “Big Questions”
Faith should be lived out in practice
- In Christ Daily – Day 3 - 2 November 2025
- In Christ Daily – Day 2 - 2 November 2025
- In Christ Daily – Day 1 - 2 November 2025