It Matters

Have you ever heard someone say, or have you ever said, "Who needs theology and doctrine, just preach Jesus"? Check out Why Theology Matters by Matt Capps

Have you ever heard someone in your church dismissively say, "Theology isn't for me" or "I don't think theology is important; we just need to love Jesus and love people"? While I understand the sentiment behind these statements, as a pastor it grieves me.

Though many people in the church see theology as an abstract academic discipline with no bearing on the day-to-day Christian life, theology is inescapable. Simply put, every Christian is a theologian. Every Christian, by definition, knows God, thinks about God and makes statements about God. The very word "theology" means a word (logos) about God (theos).

Christian theology is simply talking about God in a distinctly Christian way based on the Scriptures. And if everyone is a theologian, the central question becomes: Is his or her theology distinctly Christian? Recent findings give cause for concern.

True theology points to God

LifeWay Research recently studied the theological knowledge of 3,000 adult Americans. The study focused on key theological areas of the faith and revealed several areas where many Americans differ from historic, orthodox Christianity.

Almost half (45 percent) believe there are many ways to get to heaven. The same percentage says the Bible was written for each person to interpret as he or she chooses. More than half (59 percent) of evangelicals believe the Holy Spirit is a force, not a person. And 29 percent of evangelicals believe God the Father is more divine than Jesus. Where are Americans, and especially evangelicals, getting their theology?

Human beings didn't invent God, and because God exists independently from human experience, theology cannot originate from human thought or experience. Distinctly Christian theology -- what the apostle Paul called "sound doctrine" (2 Timothy 4:3) takes its starting point from the belief that God has revealed Himself in His authoritative Word, the Bible.

This is significant because the Bible stands as a testimony to the free and intentional act of self-disclosure on the part of a transcendent God. The task of theology has to do with knowing the true God and developing an integrated knowledge about Him in light of His self-disclosure.

A distinctly Christian theology is also focused on Christ. In John 5:39, Jesus says the Scriptures testify about Him. Christian doctrine is deeply personal and redemptive -- not an outline of abstract formulations or a morality code. The Bible is the unfolding story of God's rescue and subsequent commissioning of His people through the person and work of Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God.

Theology is practical
Theology is undertaken so our hearts might respond to God and that our lives might be conformed to His will. All of life's central questions are deeply theological. Theology speaks to inquiries as wide-ranging as the meaning of life and as specific as particular events in life.

Our questions about the everyday ups and downs of guilt, joy, doubt, peace, suffering, justice and injustice all require a solid biblical and theological grounding to grasp them from a distinctly Christian perspective. And whether our theology is biblically sound or flawed, its implications will undoubtedly be felt because theology affects lives -- both ours and those around us.

Theology and the Christian life are not competing interests, but two sides of the same coin. This is why theology is so important to the local church. The church is a community of people on mission with God. And it's a community where the passing on of the faith, or sound doctrine, is central to its purpose (Matthew 28:16-20; 2 Timothy 4:1-4).

Theological formation should be esteemed in the church because the church itself is a Gospel-formed theological community. The church is centered on God's Word, and God's Word is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). In other words, theology is eminently practical.

Theology also engages our emotions and shapes our living. It is not an exercise in head-scratching puzzles, but a discipline that should lead to heart-stirring emotions, which in turn leads to worshipful obedience in every area of life. It is by knowing God that we come to love Him, and by loving Him that we come to know Him.

This is why J.I. Packer has long said theology is for doxology and devotion -- that is, the praise of God and the practice of godliness. In other words, loving Jesus and loving people are made possible by a theological vision of God and the Christian life.

Theology fuels our devotion to God and our passion for sharing the Gospel. A solid theological vision of God and the Christian life is a powerful tool for mission.

Imagine if every Christian were a good theologian. Not just a good theologian, but a good theologian in the distinctively Christian sense. Theology matters for your church because theology is for everyone. Every Christian is a theologian.

Let The Knowledge Of You Grow...

Anselm’s Prayer for Fullness of Joy in God 

I pray, O God, that I may know you and love you,
so that I may rejoice in you.

And if I cannot do so fully in this life
may I progress gradually until it comes to fullness.

Let the knowledge of you grow in me here [on earth],
and there [in heaven] be made complete;

Let your love grow in me here
and there be made complete,

so that here my joy may be great in hope,
and there be complete in reality.

Lord, by your Son, you command, or rather, counsel us to ask
and you promise that we shall receive
so that our “joy may be complete” [John 16:24].

I ask, Lord, as you counsel through our admirable Counselor.
May I receive what you promise through your truth so that my “joy may be complete” [John 16:24].

Until then let my mind meditate on it,
let my tongue speak of it,
let my heart love it,
let my mouth preach it.

Let my soul hunger for it,
let my flesh thirst for it,
my whole being desire it,
until I enter into the “joy of the Lord” [Matt. 25:21],
who is God, Three in One, “blessed forever. Amen” [Rom. 1:25].

Anselm, Proslogion

HT: Justin Taylor

Knowing and KNOWING

Don’t get me wrong, studying and learning from God’s Word is invaluable. Jesus referenced, read, and quoted all kinds of passages from the Old Testament, ample proof that he had studied God’s Word with great care and diligence. The problem isn’t knowledge. The problem is that you can have knowledge without having intimacy. In fact, knowledge can be a false indicator of intimacy. Clearly where there is intimacy there should be a growing knowledge, but too often there is knowledge without a growing intimacy.

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As Much As You Know...

HT: @DarrinPatrick

The Aim

"Knowing God is more than knowing about Him; it is a matter of dealing with Him as He opens up to you, and being dealt with by Him as He takes knowledge of you. Knowing about Him is a necessary precondition of trusting in Him, but the width of our knowledge about Him is no gauge of our knowledge of Him…What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we have in life? To know God. What is the eternal life that Jesus gives? To know God. What is the best thing in life? To know God. What in humans gives God most pleasure? Knowledge of himself."

               - J.I. Packer, Knowing God

HT: The Poached Egg