We have too many nice theologians. We need a few more mean guys to balance us all out. The virtues of tough, no mercy types are easily forgotten and neglected in a highly polite, hyper-sensitive, very tactful context. Pay attention to many of the people praised in Scripture.
In recent days, I've been struck by how important the mean theologians in my own life have been in knocking me into shape and keeping me in line, when no one else had either the weight or the balls to do so.
The genuinely irenic people I know - not to be confused with mere non-confrontational and overly agreeable types, who often just lack courage, honesty, and nerve - have also been extremely important in my development, albeit in different ways.
In thinking about this in my experience, I have been struck by the need to maintain a fragile balance of a sort of church ecosystem. Too many tough types would really be destructive, but remove them from the picture and you can produce a sort of trophic cascade.
On the other hand, I've seen communities lose the moderating critics that kept such persons in check and shrivel up as a result.
We badly need an array of different personalities and gifts for healthy churches and communities.
We badly need an array of different personalities and gifts for healthy churches and communities.
Unfortunately, the people who aspire to be tough guys in the Church are often the types who will do the most damage. They can too frequently be men, for instance, who can't discern the difference between the Holy Spirit and their elevated testosterone levels.
What is important is a deeper sense of our great need for others who function differently from us, e.g. without irenic types who appreciate their importance and stand with them, confrontational types easily become overly antagonistic and/or are pushed out of churches.
All of this is to say, jealously guard and develop your relationships with those people in your life and church who will most faithfully challenge your characteristic weaknesses and address your sins.
In the multitude of counsellers there is safety, but if you merely surround yourself with people with the same instincts, character, or temperament as your own you are in considerable danger.
