Doing theology is a continual faith process that the Church has pursued throughout the ages. The Church must pursue this work in the twenty-first century as well. This work of doing theology feeds the Church. It also protects it from heresies and foolish mistakes. Further, it helps to keep the streams of pure water clean and challenges all who believe to practice their Christian faith faithfully. This is why J. I. Packer referred to his work as a theologian, some years ago, as that of a faithful "plumber."

In one sense, every Christian is a theologian. Short and well-written books have argued this well. But, in another very important sense, only those who are skilled in understanding the biblical languages and the way the Church has interpreted Holy Scripture within sacred tradition are called to be theologians of the whole Church. In a very profound sense theologians are those who learn to be "worker[s] who correctly handle the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). Those who pastor learn from such teachers/theologians and thus pastors are enabled to feed the flock and protect the sheep from falling into the ditches of sin and error. In the evangelical world, where the spirit of democracy reigns as a kind of willful independence, many ordinary Christians think that they can do this work of deep and abiding theology right off the pages of their English Bibles. To some extent, a false understanding of sola Scriptura has fed this kind of thinking. Another factor is the way cults and sects flourish in a culture like America. In the land of the free each person can be a Bible scholar, thus each person can hear directly from God and "know" (with indubitable certitude) what God is saying to them and, frankly, to everyone else, too. This has nurtured a load of major problems, especially for evangelical Protestants.

THE NEED FOR A GOOD THEOLOGICAL PROCESS

The process of doing good theology involves many different paradigms, or models. These different models help us to express the truth that is revealed in Jesus Christ alone. Even with an open Bible we do not know the truth simply because we know the Bible. The Bible itself is a story, a trustworthy one for sure. But make no mistake about this-it is a story. That story has to be read and understood.

Because of this there is one model that appeals to me with increasing power over the years. I refer to the idea that we treat theology as a tapestry. Let me explain.

Constructing a tapestry involves three parts. Each of these has clear parallels with developing theology, as I will attempt to show. The craftsman will first select material to make a tapestry. Then he will continue making the tapestry by a process of weaving and arranging the materials chosen into one finished piece. Finally, when the tapestry is complete it will be publicly shown and displayed. Doing good theology involves a very similar process. I hope you will find this analogy extremely useful, just as I do.

First, the theologian carefully selects their material. Theologians draw from two sources of material: Scripture and tradition. Some very conservative Protestants may insist that they draw only from Scripture, but this is patently wrong when you think about it. Everyone is taught by someone and that someone, or that ecclesial expression or tradition, shapes how they read the text of the Bible. No wise Protestant position on the ultimate authority of Scripture argues that tradition does not have a role in interpretation and thus in theology.

So the materials we use to make a theological tapestry include things like the creation account, the lives of the patriarchs, the story of the exodus, the judges and kings, the cries of the psalmist, the wisdom of the proverbs and the warnings of the prophets. For Christians, the material finally centers on the work of Jesus in the Gospels and the instruction found in the letters of the New Testament. For 2,000 years faithful followers of Jesus have searched these stories, read these texts, talked about the central mysteries of the faith, and sought to follow the Son of God faithfully.

Second, the one who weaves or assembles a tapestry seeks to assemble these various elements into a design. This design is based upon an outline of the finished work, interestingly called a "cartoon." This outline does not completely restrict the designer but it provides guidelines that help the artist reach the intended goal. The parallel here is that a theologian will work in much the same way, recognizing a healthy tension between tradition (the design) and innovation (the freedom to create something that speaks particularly to our own time). The conservative tendency is to preserve the tradition no matter what. Institutions and churches that cherish power are always inclined to this side of things. The liberal tendency is to pursue innovation at all costs, seeking relevancy, popularity, and missional adaptability.

One thing is sure, at least so far as I am concerned-good theology must be rooted in the Bible and the living tradition, but it also must have sensibilities about the age in which we now live. This, to me, seems to be something akin to what Jesus meant when he spoke these words:

Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.
Matthew 13:52

Scripture is settled. There will not be new books added to the Canon in the future. And tradition has laid down a solid record of interpreting important biblical truths from the Scripture; e.g., the Trinity, the nature of Christ, the kerygma, etc. But tradition is not static. It grows with each passing era. Catholics and Protestants both recognize this, though they draw quite different conclusions about both the process and the end results. But true theologians will not simply reassemble the parts of an older system and then call it modern or contemporary theology. (I am not using modern here in the sense of Modernism as understood in an unbelieving response to revealed religion!) Good theologians will draw upon contemporary questions, modern dilemmas, personal experiences and challenges to the faith-all to construct a tapestry that is both practical and beautiful. By this means theologians serve us all, making the Church stronger while keeping the faith alive for a new generation. This is why theologians help the church in its apologetic task, which serves both the faith of the believer and our collective witness to unbelievers. Peter puts it this way:

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
1 Peter 3:15-16

Tapestries have served many purposes. They are hung on our walls to decorate our rooms. They are even used in some cultures to provide insulation against the cold. They often become symbolical markings that remind us of our great stories, truths or personal histories. They have functioned, in other words, as both practical items and as works of art. Theology also functions in much the same way. Pragmatically, it helps us better understand our faith and defend it. It reminds us that mysteries still exist but that what is revealed "belongs to us and to our children forever" (Deuteronomy 29:29). It also provides beautiful insight into the aesthetic questions of true faith. How do we gain a compelling spiritual vision that can keep us faithful throughout our lives, day-in and day-out?

THEOLOGY AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

The structure of a tapestry helps us in other ways. Just as a tapestry has both horizontal and vertical lines, and thus its strands are joined together, the Christian life consists of the horizontal lines of the Christian understanding of history and the vertical lines of each person living at a particular time and place in that history. It is at the point of this intersection, or convergence, that our lives have real meaning. Theology, understood in this way, has a major part in helping us all to grow.

One contemporary theologian has stated the point I am seeking to make very well:

The Christian life may be understood as the gradual interiorization of the biblical narrative so that it eventually becomes the overarching interpretive framework through which believers understand the events of their lives (Gregory C. Higgins, The Tapestry of Christian Theology, New York: Paulist Press, 2003, page 3).

What Higgins means is this-the biblical narrative invites us into an epic journey that will take us to God and the future that God has prepared for those who love him. This odyssey begins with creation, goes through the various stories of Genesis following the call of Abraham, leads to the exodus and to the land promises being fulfilled in Israel, and finally to the messiah, who completes the story (tapestry) by living and dying as the "King of the Jews." The story begins with creation and the fall, but redemption follows as the progressive narrative takes us to Christ. But the death of Jesus is not the end. The resurrection follows. And the coming of the Spirit empowers the Christ-followers to proclaim the good news and to live holy lives. This Christ, who lived, died and rose again, is also coming back to raise the dead and judge all. This biblical narrative is the "indispensable context for understanding Christian beliefs and practices" (The Tapestry of Christian Theology, page 6).

WHAT THIS MEANS

If this tapestry model is a good one then what it means, as Higgins suggests in the quotation above, is that the Christian life can be understood as a gradual process by which we are taken into the biblical narrative and then we learn to live out of that narrative theologically. Theology is thus not a science, in the older sense, but rather a framework, a framework by which we learn to live well in the world. Theologian George Lindbeck has suggested that the biblical world is the overarching framework in which we understand the events of our lives. We see the natural world as God's good creation, we see pain and alienation as exile and understand our sufferings in the light of the cross. Our hope is rooted in the resurrection and we know how the story ends, with us reigning with Christ.

CONCLUSION

For me theology was taught as a science to be mastered. For much of my early life I taught it the same way. I took exams, gave good answers, mastered texts (both biblical and non-biblical) and preached the results. This gave me certitude about almost everything that touched my theological system. It also filled me with self-importance and a certain kind of "knowledge," which in this instance led to pride. I am pretty sure, to varying degrees, that such an approach to theology will almost always lead to pride, except in rare cases where God mercifully overrules the human tendencies.

Henri de Lubac, a marvelous twentieth-century theologian, understood how theology worked as well as any writer that I know. He concluded:

Finally-and here again we have an important point-the spiritual meaning, understood as figurative or mystical meaning is the meaning which, objectively, leads us to the realities of the spiritual life and which, subjectively, can only be the fruit of a spiritual life. That is where it leads; for to the extent that we have not arrived at it, we have not drawn a totally Christian interpretation from the Scriptures. It is certain that the Christian mystery is not something to be curiously contemplated like a pure object of science, but is something which must be interiorized and lived. It finds its own fullness in being fulfilled within souls (Henri De Lubac, The Sources of Revelation, New York: Herder and Herder, 1968, pages 20-21).

It is the last two sentences of de Lubac's words that are my central point. When doing theology is modeled on the framework of a tapestry it will not become "a pure object of science" to be contemplated and debated. When theology is a tapestry it retains the right sense of mystery while it invites the Christian to "interiorize" it and "live" it.

Look, all theology is interpreted theology. Theological systems are human systems at best. When they are reduced to the level of a science, including the assurances that we can know the end of the matter in the same way that we can know two-plus-two equals four, then we have lost our way. We have turned our theology into an idol. We may even have a powerful argument but we do not necessarily have a living and interiorized relationship with God. This is why theologians can be very mean and argumentative sorts of people or sweet and gracious plumbers who try to help the Church keep the water of life pure and clean, at least to the best of their human ability.

When you listen to people who write and/or teach theology, apply this model. You will begin to discover that this can make a huge difference. One thing is for sure, it will teach you to listen critically, in Christian love, while you live within the story and seek the Lord of heaven and earth alone. If this happens, then theology has truly helped you live better, which is the whole point.