Why theology Matters

“Most of us tend to think that theology is a waste of time, discussing theological terms like doctrine, trinity, atonement, creation etc can seem like an intimidating waste of time in light of the pending task of evangelising the lost. Studying or discussing doctrine often brings connotation’s of arrogant intellectuals who don’t live out their faith so the response is normally ignoring theology but it has been greatly misunderstood. “Theology is one of the most important tasks that everyone should take part in. It is not for church leaders only, theology matters to everyone.”

What is theology ?

The word Theology means “the study of God”, it is the process by which Christians study the bible with the aim to get to know who God says he is. God has revealed himself primarily through the written word of the bible and this is where we go so we can know who he is and what he wants from us. It is important that our lifestyle is influenced by everything God says because living contrary to God’s word is sin.

studying GOD is Intellectual

Studying God involves thinking and this is often seen as “too intellectual” so most people tend to shy away from this as it does not appear spiritual. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” So we see that Jesus has emphasised an intellectual aspect to our relationship with him, as important as they are, there is a big danger when we only rely on our hearts, feelings or opinions when defining who God is, it is important to learn from the facts presented to us in the bible and let that be the guide for our hears affection toward God and those around us.

“thinking is for the sake of something greater and that greater is loving God, so the act of loving God will always need right thinking about God” John Piper

Theology Protects us from wrong thinking.

“Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.” Proverbs 28:26 (ESV) When we become Christian we come with wrong ideas of the character of God, some of our ideas are actually an offense to God like, “I do things my way” which is pride, or justifying never helping your neighbor which is selfishness etc.

Because of our sin, we are likely to have wrong idea’s of God. Wrong thinking of God can have eternal consequences especially with having an assurance that we are actually real Christians, 2 Corinthians 13:5-6 says “ Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.”

Theology is Spiritual

Studying the bible is a spiritual activity, because “people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means” 1 Corinthians 2:14. So its important before studying to have a faith in Jesus Christ and pray the lord opens our eyes to his word so our thoughts are guided by his spirit as we study. Theology is at the center of all spiritual activity so “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16

The fruit of theology is action

“humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. ” James 1:21-25

When we put what we learn into action, we have the capacity to serve our families, communities and cities with integrity. There is a big difference between a crooked lawyer who finds loopholes in the law to help criminals and a lawyer who see’s his work as “unto the lord”, the latter has learnt from the word and knows that he is accountable to God so he will do his best to serve with the highest integrity.

The fruit of theology is humility

In his book “Dug down deep” Joshua Harris says “Ever since the first man and woman in the garden turned from God to gain the sweet, forbidden knowledge offered by the serpent, there has been an inclination in every human heart to pursue knowledge to inflate the self rather than to glorify God.”

It’s a sad reality that most of us who are into theology are very far from humble, scripture tells us that “the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone,able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.” The Bible’s consistent message is that apart from God all that belongs to us is God’s wrath but it’s his mercy upon us that has prevented us from being struck down, in fact, God has extended grace towards us through Jesus. The gift of salvation should not leave us boasting in our knowledge of the scriptures, our knowledge of the scriptures should boast of the God of all ages.

theology helps us to follow the great commission.

“Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” Matthew 28:19-20.

Reaching those who are lost is as important as teaching those who are around us, we study the bible so we can fulfil the second part of the great commission, even if we are not preachers or Evangelists we have the opportunity to take part. So grab a bible, kneel down and pray for understanding and begin to discover all that God will show you.