By Kent Anderson

When I was a young Bible college student, my friends and I invented a game we called “Theologian.” It involved throwing a Frisbee and receiving a letter every time we dropped the disc. The first one to spell Theologian was the loser. It was considerably more fun than the real work of theology we were charged to do back in our classrooms and dormitories.

Not that we believed theology was for losers—quite the opposite. We reveled in the work of theology, believing it to be the highest and most important task we could aspire to. Despite the bookish tendencies of the theological craft, we risked taking pride in it.

One of the most important books we were given to read in those days was Helmut Thielicke’s A Little Exercise for Young Theologians, which we enjoyed first because it was exceptionally short, but also because it reminded us that despite all the wondrous things we were learning about God, the chief task of theology is to humble us before His glory. The more we learn the things of God, the more we become aware of our relative inconsequence before Him.

Of course, we learn as well about the grace of God and how He lifts us up and fills us with His lovingkindness. As a consequence of that grace, we find our call to preach.

One of the core roles of the preacher is that of theologian. The preacher is called to instruct listeners in the Scriptures so that we learn the nature, the will, and the purposes of God. The purpose of the Bible is to teach us these same things, and as we preach it faithfully—helping people hear the truths the text intends—we are acting as theologians who care not only that the Word be understood, but that it be proclaimed so that it meets its transformative intent.

Theology must be preached not only so that God will be understood, but also so that God would be known. Preachers who limit their theological work to helping listeners understand God fail to achieve the full purpose of their calling. As Paul Scott Wilson said in The Practice of Preaching, preaching is not only about offering an explanation of God, but about facilitating an encounter with God.

The preacher as theologian must move listeners from merely knowing something about God to the place where they meet God and realize they must take their shoes off, because the place they meet is holy ground.

To encounter a holy God would be a terrible thing, were it not for the fact that He loves us and is gracious to us. Theologian-preachers understand this and come to the task with that same grace extended to those who hear.

Kent Anderson serves as President of Providence University College and Theological Seminary in Otterburne, Manitoba, Canada.