Aligning your Professed and Actual Theologies
If you took an honest evaluation of your ministry and reverse-engineered the theology and ministry philosophy that’s apparent by your programming, budget-priorities, and emphases in teaching - would it reveal the same theology and ministry philosophy you profess? For many of us, this would be a very risky and embarrassing process. But it’s also enlightening to honestly consider (and to discuss with wise and trustworthy counselors).
We know that theology drives methodology. For example, if we believe that faith in the gospel is essential for salvation, then we need to be committed to missions and evangelism. If we are content to leave the missions conference as something for the adults while the youth ministry overlooks the opportunity to talk about the necessity of global missions, then there’s a problem. Similarly, confidence in the sovereignty of God should be a great comfort to youth workers who just delivered a terrible message - God will continue to build his church without you needing to hit a home run every week. Wherever you land on various theological issues, it’s important to apply your doctrinal convictions to your ministry philosophy.
Professed and Actual Theology
For many of us, our professed theology and our actual theology aren’t the same. By “professed theology,” I’m talking about those theological truths that we affirm with our minds. These are statements about God, the world, humanity, and salvation that we hold up and say, “This is what I believe.” But our “actual theology” consists of those theological truths that guide our daily lives. This category, rather than our professed theology, is what we truly believe.
One of the greatest areas where I’ve seen this disagreement take place is around the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. Many Christians who profess faith in the authority of the Bible (“it is the Word of God and all truths must be measured according to Scripture”) actually marginalize the Bible in their evangelism. This happens when Christians believe their nonbelieving friends “aren’t ready” for the Bible yet because it’s over their heads. So instead, they look for more relevant or engaging books. But this is a functional denial of that believer’s professed theology. If the Bible is the inspired and authoritative Word of God, why would it ever be a good idea to withhold God’s Word from someone who is spiritually dead? Good, clear books about the gospel and evidences for Christianity are helpful to give nonbelievers; but not as a replacement of the Bible. Even better, give that nonbeliever a Bible with the invitation to read and discuss it with them!
For pastors, the question of professed and actual theology is a risky one: If someone evaluated your ministry in order to determine what your core theological convictions are, would they match your professed theology? I suspect many self-proclaimed Calvinists would be described as functional Arminians, but that’s a topic for another post. Realigning one’s ministry to match their theology could cost them their ministry.
How to Start the Alignment
Some will take the challenge to evaluate their professed and actual theology only to conclude they are in good alignment. The rest of us are able to recognize areas where we aren’t.
My best advice whenever it comes to making change is this: think big, start small. As you evaluate, you’ll probably come up with a list of glaring areas that need attention. But if you start there, it’ll overwhelm and shock everyone around you. This can lead to them being unsure if they can trust your leadership. And then you’ll be very overwhelmed too!
Recruit a trusted friend who understands ministry leadership and determine a few easy changes that you can make without anyone else noticing. These small steps will start your process of aligning your professed and actual theologies. As you implement these changes over the course of a few months, start discussing the evaluation with your volunteers. Explain to them what’s happening in your own heart and why you’re making these changes. Making small changes will put everyone at ease while you build trust to make progressively bigger (and more costly) changes.
Learn from my mistake. When I had this epiphany about ten years ago, I made a significant number of changes over the period of one summer. I thought my leaders were on board, and it seemed like the parents understood the plan. But when the first hiccup appeared, it became painfully obvious that we might have agreed to the same words, but we were using very different dictionaries. Making those changes incrementally over a two year process would have been much wiser and fruitful, even though it seemed really exciting to make them all at once.
Evaluate with a wise and trustworthy friend. Pray (a lot). Think big, but start small. And keep praying at every step along the way.
