I believe the role of a theologian is to help us to think for ourselves. They can challenge our belief systems, they may even reinforce them for us. They may even give us different ways to think about various situations and positions that we had never thought about before.
As a chaplain and pastor my role is not to do the thinking for those whom I minister to. My role is to engage with the situation at hand, to sit with and listen, to encourage and perhaps even pray and share my faith.
This means that someone’s gender, race, class, age, sexuality or religious beliefs do not affect the way I will sit with and hear their story and engage with that person as a person. In the process of engagement, often my own thoughts and belief systems will be challenged, sometimes changed, other times strengthened.
What ever the outcome that happens, our role is never to try and do the thinking for any person. I like writing, I like blogging and engaging with others blogs. I like to think, to stir, to challenge. To be challenged and informed. To have my thought processes directed to think in other directions.
One thing I really dislike though is when people when commenting say you should read so and so without even attempting to engage within the conversation what that author is saying in regards to the current conversation. … It seems to me that what that person is really saying is you need to allow this author to do your thinking for you!
