Theology for the People of God in Poetry and Practice

Every congregation is filled with poets and practitioners. Some are more interested in the art of the Bible, while others are more interested in the so what of the Bible.

The pursuit of theology must be accessible to the people of God without using the complicated language of textbooks and lengthy systematic theologies—except when essential. Most of you will never read through John Calvin’s Institutes or John Frame’s 1,219-page Systematic Theology unless you are predisposed to reading that type of literature.

Now, is it helpful to read Frame and Calvin after eight long work hours in your spare time? Do I want you to read these stellar thinkers instead of spending Saturday at the beach or watching your favorite TV show? Yes and No. There is a time for everything.

Some years ago, I spent some time thinking about the best way to categorize people in the pew and came up with two categories. The two categories are practitioners and poets.

Practitioners and Poets in the Pew

What kind of questions do practitioners ask? They ask questions like: “Pastor, tell me how I am supposed to live?” “Tell me how I am supposed to apply the sermon you just preached?” “Tell me how I should train my son or daughter.” “Tell me how to handle my boss, who drives me insane every day?” These are the questions practitioners ask.

What kind of questions do poets ask? They ask or say things like: “Pastor, how do I better interpret the text?” “That connection you made with II Kings 9 was fantastic.” “I love the poetry of the Bible.” “How does Christology shape New Testament hermeneutics?”