Who Will Pastor Your City in 2040?
Have you ever noticed that so many of our metaphors to describe humans are based in machines? I doubt people in 1724 described their child as “wired that way.” Yet, in 2024 it is very common to describe a person like you would a computer or a machine. Why is that?
I believe our understanding of human life is fundamentally one of function, not made in the image of God.
Now, where would you and I begin to reimagine life as our ancestors did?
Where would we begin to conceive of humans as imago Dei?
For most of us, it is likely to begin in church. Either from the pulpit, in a classroom or in some sort of public seminar. A priest or pastor may preach a sermon that begins new thoughts for his parishioners. He may challenge the notion that life is a series of functions and instead, invite his church to consider the beauty of a baby, who serves virtually no function at all!
In order for clergy to preach like this, they must be educated, not only in the details of theology but being formed as a whole person, delighting in The Lord and eager to live out that delight in what we call “pastoral ministry.” It’s not a matter of simply taking in information; a computer can do that! It is being changed, down to the roots of your soul, by the Living God and then ministering out of that.
Professor Michael Bird has written a thought-provoking article about this very quandary. It leads naturally to our core question… who will pastor your city in 2040?
Will it be a person who has watched 5,000 videos on YouTube?
Will it be someone who has read 500 books on Christian theology?
Will it be someone who has a Ph.D. in the use of prepositions in the minor prophets?
Will it be a 25-year-old who believes they have figured out that people really just need (fill in the blank)?
Or will it be a formed, shaped, educated disciple of God who has patiently let God do His work, grateful to his seminary professors, mentors, local clergy and peers for helping prepare him to handle the oracles of God with reverence and delight?
This latter is only possible if we begin to imagine education as more than an assembly line process. Simply acquiring information is not enough. Remember, computers can do that. We are called to so much more. And how we educate our future clergy will determine the ceiling of what is possible in our cities. If the clergy are not whole people of God, there is very little chance that the people of the church will be.
May God bless you as you discern your role in this challenge we face together!