“And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these things entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good fellow-soldier of Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:2-3

Prepositions are important things in Scripture. Paul tells Timothy in this passage that there is a chain of custody with the Word of God and the Apostolic teaching of the early church. Paul delivered it to Timothy’s ears with witnesses present, and he is in turn entrusted to give the same message to other men who will be faithful to do the same. The teaching comes from Paul, in the presence of witnesses (church), to Timothy, and on to faithful men.

But not only is Timothy to teach the Word with Paul; he is to suffer with him too.

As Protestant Evangelical pastors, and Baptists at that, we are rarely encouraged or challenged to do messy things together. We do fairly well to cooperate on a tertiary level by attending denominational meetings and funding missionary endeavors. But the theological and spiritual life of a pastor after seminary can be a lonely one. As the time in isolation grows, it can become even more difficult to engage with other pastors on a meaningful level. Conversations with other pastors are usually artificial. Meetings usually center upon ministry pragmatism as we listen to the “experts” tell us how to “pivot” in the midst of societal upheaval and cultural transitions. Prayer is something we do together in order to spiritually bookend our denominational pragmatism rallies. And theology? Just an outdated concept used only by those who are grossly out of touch with their mission field. This is the narrative prevalent in our circles.

Doing theology together is dangerous, but so is soldiering. It is a ‘hardship’ for pastors to do theology together. It takes discipline, accountability, humility, grace, charity, and love. Doing theology together is impossible without honesty and transparency. But we are theologians, and our churches need us more to be theologically well-sharpened than to be denominationally well-connected.

This blog has been created to fill a vacuum of sorts for the pastors and elders within Pillar Network Arizona. It will serve as a place for us to continue doing ‘theology in community’ on a higher level so that we can continue to mature in Christ, and be better theologians and shepherds of our churches. It will serve as an extension of our meaningful monthly gatherings. We will write papers and articles, review books, contribute devotionals, and share sermon insights in ways that are meant primarily to sharpen one another and serve our churches.

This blog is for the theological and spiritual development of Arizona Pillar Network pastors, and therefor the churches within our network. For more information about how to join The Pillar Network of churches, reach out to any of the pastors on the Arizona Pastors page, or click go to thepillarnetwork.com.