This is NOT my Sermon for this Week

I accompanied some of our youth on a short hike yesterday. It was an opportunity to put down our technology and just enjoy each other’s company and nature. And we did. We saw frogs and caterpillars and a variety of butterflies supping on gorgeous early fall foliage. By the trail, a horse show was going on. We got a chance to pet some of the horses, and the kids decided to sit and watch these elegant creatures gracefully gallop and prance around the ring. Our lively conversation took us down something of an equestrian rabbit hole. One of the kids wanted to know how much a horse weighs, which naturally led us to the question of the biggest horse ever. For that information, one of them simply asked Siri on her iWatch. (Click the link. Siri and I go way back!)

It's a whole new technological world, one that is changing by the nanosecond. And these kids seem to know how to navigate it. Still, it’s important to get out in nature without our devices. The natural world has much to teach us. God’s creation is a gift.

I don’t even know if I am preaching this week. We have some new excellent preachers on our roster. However, I have been thinking a great deal about theology lately and its potential impact on our communities and the world. 

Theology is essentially the study of God or the Divine, if you so prefer. It's no small task to delve into the mystery of the Creator of the universe. 

Good, healthy theology is comprehensive, taking into consideration sacred scripture, tradition, context, doctrine, history, and social location. Healthy theology is thoughtful and utilizes a wide variety of sources. 

At its best, theology contributes to the moral and spiritual formation of strong, healthy communities. At its worst, it is destructive and can tear families, communities, and entire cultures apart. 

We need healthy, thoughtful theology now. Maybe not necessarily “more than ever.” We’ve been through challenging periods before. However, changes are happening at such a rapid pace that there is a real danger of doing theology carelessly, which, as we have witnessed over the centuries, may have contributed to the decimation of entire cultures and, certainly, individuals. In a world where technology places information at our fingertips, there is no excuse for sloppy theology. 

One of our final projects for theology class was to describe, in a video, the theological method with which we felt most compatible. We needed to use a variety of sources and cite them accordingly. It was an immensely helpful exercise. Thanks, Church Divinity School of the Pacific!

For me, this assignment drives home the critical point that in our diverse, ever-changing world, taking responsibility for the quality of our theology matters. 

It matters for all of us, but especially for the generations who will eventually inherit, for better or worse, what we are putting out there.
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