Christian discipleship is not about being smart
Here are two things I’ve come to learn over the past 20 years:
1) Christian discipleship is not about being smart.
2) Two degrees in Christian theology isn’t a one-way ticket to Christlikeness.
I realize I may have raised the eyebrows of many of my friends who currently work in Christian academia, but please give me a minute to explain.
On the one hand, I have no desire to devalue the important role that biblical and theological scholarship plays within the Church. I personally have benefited too much from the Christian academy to say that.
On the other hand, I also have no desire to continue to deceive myself into believing that having two degrees in theological studies means that I will automatically live a Jesus-centered and Jesus-shaped life.
My confession – I’ve devoted much of my adult life to reading and studying the bible and theology, but I haven’t always been so good at following after and living like Jesus. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.
Does this make studying theology out to be something we should avoid? Not at all. What it does mean, however, is the process of studying theology does not automatically translate into creating a people who reflect Jesus. In fact, there is a very real risk that the exact opposite can happen.
While this hasn’t always been the case, I have at times immersed myself in theology so much that I’ve forgotten to spend an equal amount of time immersing myself in following after Jesus.
We can focus so much on studying a theology that speaks about Jesus that we actually end up forgetting to live like Jesus in the process.
To partially utilize a book title by Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo, we have at times become experts in “missing the point.”
Missing the discipleship boat
What does this mean? It means that we can be very smart and still miss the boat when it comes to being a follower of Jesus. Why? Not because intelligence can get in the way of discipleship, but because we can convince ourselves that being book smart alone will lead us there.
While I’ve met a good number of very intelligent Christian scholars who love Jesus and whose lives beautifully reflect the One they serve, being a Christian scholar doesn’t mean that this will always be the case. In fact, Christlikeness isn’t a posture Christian scholars arrive at by default of being in that vocation.
Discipleship will always have a strong teaching component. And, reading and studying should always have a prominent place within this process as we work towards a faith that seeks understanding.
However, within the process of studying, may we consistently seek to remind ourselves that the goal of Christian scholarship is not information, but transformation. A transformation that leads to an informed faith that has Jesus as its center and goal.
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