This morning I read an odd convergence of things that came together to remind me about practical theology. Practical Theology  in formal education often involves subjects like pastoral care, preaching, administration, etc. The other part of theology is systematic or Biblical or something like that. But what I read this morning reminded me that all theology is practical theology.

First, I was cruising the latest Christianity Today and saw a photo of some Ugandan protesters. Uganda passed a very strong law against homosexuality recently and it is causing a bit of a stir in the international community. I listen to BBC World Update in the morning on the way to the train and the reporting they did on this story was telling. They reported the facts and then repeatedly intimated that the reason the law got passed was because of the interference of American Evangelicals. A week or so later they interviewed a young, gay Ugandan man who claimed that the reason people voted for the law was because American Evangelicals paid them.  In good investigative reporting, you’d expect some push back on that claim and the BBC interviewer did ask, “How do you know that?” The man said that he’d read it on the internet. I was amazed when the interviewer just let that pass. And again before the close of the story there was a reference to the interference of American Evangelicals. The Christianity Today article covers this story and reports not that us rich American Evangelicals are funneling money to pay Ugandans to vote, but it did talk about some of the turmoil in evangelicalism over this issue. Rick Warran and Chuck Colson have made statements opposing the law while other evangelicals support it.

Then I read half way through another CT story, this time about sports and Christianity by Shirl James Hoffman. In it she seems to be unable to sports and Christianity.

[Described] by those inside and outside as narcissistic, materialistic, violent, sensationalist, coarse, racist, sexist, brazen, raunchy, hedonistic, body-destroying, and militaristic, big-time sports culture lifts up values in sharp contrast with what Christians for centuries have understood as the embodiment of the Gospel.

So how can so many Christians work in it? How can they knock a man to the ground and then point to the sky to thank God? I haven’t finished the article so I don’t know if Shirl ever resolves the issue but the question is thought provoking.

Finally, I read Isaiah 36 & 37. Sennacherib comes to invade Judah and sends the Rabshakeh to wage the campaign. The Rabshakeh pulls up to the walls of Jerusalem and begins to explain the way things are to the inhabitants. Disconcerting to the city’s leadership is that the Rabshakeh does it in Hebrew. They ask that he speak in Aramaic but he refuses. The guards on the wall can fully understand all that he is saying.

The first part of his speech is actually pretty good for a foreigner. He saw that Hezekiah had torn down the altars and high places and he assumes that these were holy places dedicated to Yahweh. He’s wrong but he figures if those were holy places dedicated to Judah’s God then that God must not be too happy with Judah at this point. The Rabshakeh even says “Moreover, is it without Yahweh that I have come up against this lad to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.'” (Isaiah 36:10) If it is true that Yahweh said this to him, then the men on the walls have cause to fear, great cause!

But as is the case with most hot heads, give them enough time to keep talking and eventually they’ll slip and let their true colors show. It isn’t long before the Rebshakeh taunts Yahweh rather than Israel. “Who among all of the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that Yahweh should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?” (20) Oops, he over stated his case here. It isn’t that Yahweh won’t deliver as he claimed before, not it is that he can’t deliver.

The people go to Isaiah and he promises that Sennacherib will return home and die in his own land. And he does while worshiping his false god.

So what do all these things have to do with practical theology? They each are an application of theology to daily living. Or at least they should be. Theology isn’t an abstract mental discipline that doesn’t do much. It isn’t wondering how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It is an effort to answer the question “If God is, what then?” In Uganda the question is whether a society which is 85% Christian should tolerate what God has rejected in his word? Don’t forget in the kerfuffle that is the Anglican Communion, it has been the African churches who have been the clearest and strongest in opposition to including homosexuals in church leadership. It isn’t just a few “nut jobs” in Uganda who want to spoil everyone’s fun, it is largely church leadership on the continent. Does God’s word and God’s law only apply to those who believe it or can and should it be applied broadly across a culture? That is a very good question! It seems in America in particular and in the West in general we’ve given up on this issue. The American Revolution was supposed to ensure religious freedom for all. It meant that we were all free to live our lives in accordance with our beliefs and we could all do it together even if we disagree. The French Revolution took that in a different direction and said that we’re all free to believe what we want but religion is a private matter so keep it quiet.  Society is secular so no overt religious display. In the America it seems that the French version is seeking to supplant the American version. Hence the hand-wringing and foot-shuffling over Britt Hume and Tim Tebow who have the audacity to be Christians in a public forum.

Do you see what is happening there? The issue is how we fit together faith and society. Does faith rule society? Do faith and society coexist? Does society trump faith? Uganda is wrestling with that question in one direction while the West is going the other way.

What about sports then? The thing that struck me about Hoffman’s quote above as I typed it was that it sounds an awful lot like American society more than just sports! If Hoffman is advocating Christian withdrawal from sports (and her statement “Less than a century ago, major segments of the evangelical community considered sports a cancer on the spiritual life…” seems to indicate she is) then by the same reasoning we should abandon American culture as well. Hoffman’s point in the article is that America’s fascination with sports is not healthy. Agreed. But if she is then trying to apply theology so that Christians should abandon playing and watching sports, I don’t agree. C.J. Mahaney recently did a great post on how to watch the Super  Bowl like a Christian. C.J. is a big sports fan but he does it under Christ with care and attention to guard his heart from idolatry. That is what we should do as we apply Christianity to sports. Not abandon it but, as with the rest of life, do it with care.

So when Hezekiah got the report from Sennacherib about what Sennacherib intended to do, he went to Isaiah to get God’s perspective on this. Exactly the right move. Hezekiah sought to apply theology to his political situation. Tearing down idols was the right thing to do. Even if some folks claimed that on those high places, under those oak trees they were worshiping Yahweh, Hezekiah knew that that wasn’t how or where God had commanded he be worshiped. The answer wasn’t compromise. Hezekiah wasn’t supposed to make a deal with Sennacherib or allow people to put back up the poles and high places. Nor was he supposed to charge out of the gates of Jerusalem and triumphantly slaughter the Assyrians. God took care of this. The Angel of the Lord took out 185,00 in the night (Isaiah 37:36) and ordained that Sennacherib would get it in his own land. The answer wasn’t conquest or compromise, it was to be God’s people in the place God had placed them and to let God do the work and to give God the glory. Notice that it wasn’t passiveness on Hezekiah’s part. He didn’t just kick back in the palace, he tore down idols and passed laws. He prayed and sought out God. But it wasn’t taking charge either. He sought to apply theology to his life and the life of Judah. God is sovereign and good. He rules the nations and demands faithfulness from his people.

This is a way of understanding the world that we would be wise to adopt. The nations will rage. They will ridicule who we are and what we believe and what we do. We must remain true to who we are in the midst of that storm. This requires action and attention as well as waiting on Jesus and watching for how he will deal with those who oppose.