One of ELI’s planters, Tim Heerebout, wrote a post in response to something John Piper posted a couple days ago regarding the use of arts in worship. It created an interesting discussion, but reminded me of something we don’t often consider as carefully as we should, where do our methods come from? Here’s how I see it:

Our Theology determines our Ideology which drives our Methodology.

Theology is what we know, understand and believe about God and His mission.

Ideology is our philosophy of ministry, the values and assumptions that drive our actions.  In many ways ideology is the bridge between our theology and methodology.

Methodology is what we do or don’t do in ministry.  In this case, Piper doesn’t do drama.  Tim does.

Dialogue about methods often becomes heated.  People tend to feel strongly about the way they do things.  (Anyone besides me old enough to have lived through hymns vs. choruses?) The dialogue is often unproductive, in fact even harmful, because it fails to get down to what really matters, your theology.  You can argue for what works, which is the most common tendency in the American evangelical church of the 20th century.  Relying on what works is a slippery slope.  First, because it could lead you to a methodology that is disconnected from God, even in conflict with God.  Second, because what works changes constantly – unlike God, who never changes.  Lastly, because focusing on methodology without theology causes us to be more focused on “how” than “what.”

I work with church planters, the how questions are constant.  How are we going to do services?  How are we going to do small groups?  How are we going to server our community.  None of these are bad, they are questions you must answer.  The best answers will only flow from a theologically based conviction of “what.”  The most important question is always, what has God called and commanded us to do?

Have you taken the easy way out and adopted a methodology that works?  Or are you doing the hard work of knowing God and letting your understanding of Him and His mission drive your ideas and methods?