Understand first...

I had a friend once, which in itself will amaze many people. He got a bit wired about the danger of postmillennialism (actually about "dominion theology"). Unfortunately, it soon became clear that he didn't know the difference between postmillennialism and posttribulationism. I told him, "First you make sure you understand someone's views. Then, if necessary, you rip their head off."

I'm not interested in ripping off heads, but I do try to understand ideas before jumping in. And I'm not trying to be the CSFF version of Simon Cowell. Wayfarer's Journal is a promising e-zine. I may even send a story their way to see how good their perimeter defenses are. But there's a need to check matters carefully, even in the non-fiction section.

For example, the current essay is "Are you Ready for Science Fiction Clergy?" From what writer Tom Hohstadt says, probably not. But it is just science fiction. The types of clergy he lists (both good and bad) aren't really types of clergy so much as types of people. You can find them all in the pews or even at an atheists' convention, if you look carefully. From what I read, I gathered that the pastor merely helps the congregation, which does all the major ministry--the equipping model. This is assumed to be the right way to do things, even though it would be far easier to argue scripturally for the more traditional "Pastor = Shepherd, Congregation = Flock" model. ("Pastor" means "shepherd," after all.)

Unfortunately, most readers wouldn't have the patience to sit through an exposition of different views of the clergy/laity relationship, so instead we get a fairly standard bit of Christianized futurism. It's a good playing field for Buzzword Bingo, but it assumes that major changes are ahead for clergy roles.

Quoth Qoheleth, "There is nothing new under the sun." Technology changes a lot, but people and social realities don't vary much. What will future clergy look like? Pretty much like the past variety, unless mankind changes so thoroughly that we turn into another species. Modern clergy and laity as people look a lot like the ones we read about in the first few centuries of the Church. Why should that change now? Well, because this is Now. It's Different. No one has ever gone through what I'm going through right now. In other words, because we're all teenagers at heart, and no old fogies could possibly understand.

Take the time to understand what already is and has been. The Future probably won't arise from nothing; understanding its past will give you a better mirror for things to come. Not a faddish, buzzword-heavy analysis, but true perspective. Who knows? You might not even have to rip anyone's head off.

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