Theology and the Christian
By Eric Schumacher
In 1913, J. Gersham Machen stated that "The church is perishing today
through the lack of thinking not through the excess of it" (quoted in William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith). It seems that
in eighty-five years little has changed, as indicated in these comments by
William Lane Craig: "Our churches are filled with Christians who are idling
in intellectual neutral. As Christians, their minds are going to waste.
One result of this is an immature, superficial faith. People who simply
ride the roller coaster of emotional experience are cheating themselves out
of a deeper and richer Christian faith by neglecting the intellectual side
of that faith" (Craig, Reasonable Faith).
I write, not as one who is opposed to emotions, but as one who has
suffered greatly on the "roller coaster of emotional experience". I would
often �ride' from one event to another coasting off of each emotional high,
only to come crashing down soon, usually the morning (or even hour) after
the service had ended. My problem, as Craig suggests, was a
misunderstanding and neglect of theology, �the intellectual side of that
faith'.
For many Christians the mention of the word �theology' sets them on the
defensive. The common reaction to the mention of a pursuit of theology is
"Oh, but your faith must also be in your heart, you need to experience it!
There are fourteen inches from the head to the heart!" Rarely does one
encounter a conversation which heads in the opposite direction: "Oh, you
had a great experience with God? Well, make sure you understand it; you
should interpret your experiences through sound, Scriptural understanding."
My point here is not that feelings or emotions or experiences are wrong,
useless, or bad. Affections toward God are very good and important and
essential in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding, as I will further
explain later. What I hope is clear is that there is an over-riding tone
set in contemporary Christianity that emphasizes and values experience over
deep theological understanding.
This is why books like "Experiencing God"
are so popular, as opposed to "Knowing God". This is demonstrated in our
Christian book stores which sell so many collections of inspirational
stories, how-to-books, novels, and Christian-entertainment, instead of
profound, concentrated doctrinal teachings! This is why the depth of so
many church-goers' theology goes no further than a collection of Biblical
sounding, pop-Christian slogans and catch-phrases. Their theology is
summed up in �Let go and let God!', �Do your best and God will do the
rest', �You need to expect to meet God when you...' and �What Would Jesus
Do?', instead of "Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the
desires of your heart"(Ps. 37:4) or "Pursue peace with all men, and the
sanctification without which no one will see the Lord"(Heb 12:14). Too
many are content to read devotionals of familiar passages of Scripture
linked together with a few inspirational stories and jokes, instead of
studying Romans 9, the Trinity, God's wrath, grace and sovereignty, or what
Christ did when He died.
What I hope to accomplish, with God's grace, is to correct the
misunderstanding of what theology is and to demonstrate why theology is
such an essential aspect of every Christian's faith. I write this out of
an ever-deepening love for Christ and His word and a deep desire for His
followers to glorify Him by being as satisfied in Him as possible.
Let me begin by addressing the issue of what theology is. For many
Christians the mention of the word �theology' brings to mind long-winded
sermons given by a man in a pulpit wearing heavy robes or mere intellectual
spectulation to be studied by seminary students. But, this is not so.
Theology, simply put, is our thoughts about God and the pursuit of
understanding the Bible. As Christians, we understand that the Bible is
extremely important. The same is equally true with the importance of God.
However, if we say that theology is unimportant, we must say the same thing
about Scripture and God! Because the Bible and God are both extremely
important, theology as well is important.
A good definition for theology is this: �knowledge of God, ourselves, and
how to live, gained by personal interaction with God through His word,
fueled by our earnest quest for joy in Him, leading to strong affections
for God that overflow into worship, obedience, and love.' (taken from Is
Theology a Blessing or a Burden?, Matt Perman)
Theology is for all Christians. All Christians have thoughts about God
and should be pursuing a knowledge of Him in scriptural understanding. We
are all theologians. The question is not whether we have a theology but
rather, if we have a good or bad theology. To have a bad theology is no
small thing. A bad theology will result in a man-centered, shallow,
diminished religion which lacks the power and holiness it ought to have.
Therefor, let us look to see what scripture has to say about theology,
particularly "knowledge of God, ourselves, and how to live". Scripture
gives us many warnings about the results of poor theology (or lack of
knowledge). Proverbs 1:22 tells us �fools hate knowledge." Proverbs 10:14
goes on to tell us that �with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand."
Verse 13 tells us �a rod is for the back of him who lacks understanding".
God states in Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge".
In Isaiah 5:12-13 God also states, "But they do not pay attention to the
deeds of the Lord, nor do they consider the work of His hands. Therefore
My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge." God's word is full
of stern warnings against ignoring or treating lightly His word and the
pursuit of knowledge in Him.
In the same way, Scriputure is full of commands and encouragment to pursue
and have right theology. This knowledge requires study and thinking as
exhorted in 1 Corinthians 14:20, "do not be children in your thinking; yet
in evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature". Proverbs 10:14 tells us
�Wise men store up knowledge...' Proverbs 3:13-14 explains that
understanding God's word is more valuable that our Earthly possesions: "How
blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.
For its profit is better than the profit of silver, and its gain than fine
gold." Proverbs 3:18 tells us �She [wisdom] is a tree of life to those who
take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her'. Scripture brings life
and happiness! Verse 21 commands to not let them [knowledge and
understanding] �depart from your sight; keep sound wisdom and descretion,
so they will be life to your soul, and adornment to your neck.' Proverbs 2
is a great resource for the profits of wisdom (as is the entire book).
Further Christians are exhorted in 2 Timothy 2:15 to �Be diligent to
present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be
ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth."
This knowledge will require a great amount of work. However, we should
take great joy in pursuing it. We should also look for teachers, who God
has provided, to aid in our understanding of God and His ways. Christian
teachers are commanded in scripture to be focused on Scripture and
doctrine, even though it says many hearers will not like it: "I solemly
charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the
living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word;
be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great
patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine..."(2 Timothy 4:1-3) This verse should encourage us to not
only seek out teachers who �preach the word' but to make certain we are not
those �will not endure sound doctring' because it says that as a result of
wanting to �have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves
teachers in accordance to their own desires [not scripture!]; and will turn
away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths"(vs. 3-4).
So, in seeing that we are warned against neglecting theology and are
commanded to have right thinking, I would like to examine ten benefits of
theology in a Christian's life:
1) Theology brings humility.
-James 4:6 tells us God is opposed to the proud and gives grace to the
humble. From this we know we should strive to be humble. Proverbs 11:2
tells us that with wisdom comes humility. As we gain a deeper and more
accurate understanding of our depravity (sinfulness) we understand our
unworthiness before God. This puts us in a place of great need before God.
Our humility increases as we consider that we were dead in our sins and
would in no circumstance, apart from God's grace, turn to Him.
Furthermore, as we understand that salvation was completely God's work,
with no help from us, we gain a more humble (and correct!) view of self and
more glorious view of God.
We as Christians must also be humble enough to say "I don't understand".
To often we run from theology so as not to expose our lack of knowledge and
scriptural understanding. We need to put aside our pride and seek to know
God! We should put aside the notion that scripture is simple, as if God's
wisdom is to be easily mastered, and labor at increasing our wisdom. We
will be increasingly humbled as we consider the depths of God's wisdom, but
we will be continually rewarded as we study and seek to understand His
word.
2) Theology is evangelistic.
-One of the first and most common objections to theological teaching and
knowledge is that it doesn't emphasize evangelism. This is certainly not
true! For one, the gospel is theology. The belief that we are dead in sin
and that by grace through faith in Christ Jesus we are saved from hell and
given eternal life is 100% theology. It is, as we defined, �knowledge of
God, ourselves, and how to live, gained by personal interaction with God
through His word...'
However, many would state, "Yes, but deep teachings of doctrines and such
will only scare seekers and young believers away." This is not necessarily
true either. While the teachings may be deep, complex, and require
intellectual effort, they still should be taught in a way that is
understandable. There are people who were attracted to our Campus Crusade
meetings because the teaching was deep. One person told me that the
elementary teachings �insulted her' and even if she couldn't always grasp
everything taught it stretched her knowledge further and spurred her on to
study.
When we teach theology we are teaching about who God is. We cannot be
embarrassed of this; we cannot be embarrassed of God. To often we seem to
act as if the God who elects, predestines, and pours His wrath out in hell
is some �crazy aunt' we must �hide in the closet' when company stops in.
We have too often adapted the mentality that seekers are customers we must
try and keep and our preaching is our marketing. We feel that some
doctrines might be �bad marketing' so we hide them so as to be �more
productive'. This does insults God. When we teach the truth of God's
word, we are preaching Christ. When we are ashamed of the truth in God's
word, we are ashamed of Christ.
Paul says in Acts 20:20 that he �did not shrink from declaring to you
anything that was profitable, and in teaching you publicly and from house
to house'. Paul later says in verse 27 that he �did not shrink from
declaring to you the whole purpose of God.' Paul is teaching here that the
whole purpose of God is profitable. There is no part of scripture we
should leave untouched.
3) Theology produces obedience and sanctification.
-The deeper view of God we have and the deeper our joy runs in that
knowledge, the deeper our motivation to obey Him will be. The kind of
person God is dictates the kind of behavior He is pleased with. So if we
know that God is holy, we will strive to be holy. This motivation goes far
beyond �because it's the right thing to do'.
Second Peter 1:3 says that all we need to be sanctified is given to us
through the knowledge of Christ: "seeing that His divine power has granted
to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true
knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." Later
Peter states in verse 4 that it is by this knowledge of His promises we
�become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that
is in the world by lust."
Too often we think that we can just try harder to become loving or
obedient, but we know that we are by �nature we are sinful and unclean'.
Romans 12:2 tells us we are �transformed by the renewing of the mind..."
Our sanctification comes by way of the Holy Spirit's work in our life
through scripture. Christ said, "Sanctify them in truth; Thy word is
truth" (John 17:17). So because we are sanctified in truth, and His word
is truth, we must know the truth to be sanctified...we must know His word!
4) Theology increases true fellowship and unifies Christians.
-Our fellowship will gain much greater depth as we increase our knowledge
in Him. It is not uncommon for a conversation with another Christian to go
something like this:
Person 1-"Hey, how has your time with God been going?"
Person 2-"Oh, awesome!"
1-"Why is that?"
2-"Oh, because... He's taught me a lot."
1-"That's exciting... what about?"
2-"Oh, lots of stuff..."
Often the conversation goes on and on in this direction but no knowledge of
God comes forth, or when it does its an answer like "He's loving" but has
no scripture attached to it. We need to strive in �our time with God' to
not only learn about Him through His word but to also share it with others.
If our times with God are so great we should be excited, willing, and
prepared to share this exciting news with our brothers and sisters in
Christ!
Theology also produces greater unity. Christians can experience great joy
and encouragement as we share and common vision and belief. In John
17:21-23, Christ prayed for His church (Christians) to be one as He and the
Father are one. We know that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God
and complete in unity. This means they are unified in all thought and
understanding. This means we as Christian should strive to be unified in
all thought and understanding because this is what Christ prayed.
5) Theology aids in prayer.
-First theology aids in prayer because in aids in supplication.
Supplication is simply �laying out your case or rational reason before God
as to why He should answer your request.' Biblical writers speak often of
making supplication to God. This is reflected when God says in Is 1:18
"Come now, let us reason together.' By knowing attributes of God and what
He desires we can be closer to God in discussing with Him our requests. We
can also experience greater peace and joy having confidence our prayers
will be answered. However, you can't make many supplications to God if you
don't know about who He is. And you can't present a very strong case
before God if you don't have much truth to base it on. Theology will work
to increase our prayers and we understand God's attributes and how He
blesses through prayer.
6) Theology gives us greater understanding in Bible study.
-You cannot believe what the Bible says, if you don't know what the Bible
says. If you don't understand what the Bible says about predestination,
then you can't fully believe what the scripture says about predestination.
If you don't believe what it says then you are missing out on great joy
that comes from knowing how God worked to save you. You also will not be
able to apply this truth to your life and benefit from the blessings of the
teaching. However, if you now understand that God's word gives many
blessings and all things pertaining to life and godliness you may desire to
increase your understanding of this of some other doctrine. This will lead
you to read passages in scripture about the doctrine and books on the
subject. This in turn will increase your understanding of the Bible as a
whole, as well as the doctrines of God's grace.
7) Theology produces greater faith.
-Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes from His word. One of the ways
our faith is increased is through an understanding of His attributes. For
example, a popular promise in scripture amongst Christians is Romans 8:28,
"For we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those
who love God..." It is certainly comforting to know that God will work all
things together for our good, but suppose someone were to tell you He
couldn't! Suppose God was not able to cause all things to work together
for good because the events of this Earth were out of His control! We
certainly would not be able to have much faith in a God who cannot keep His
promises. So, we must learn about His sovereignty. This will gives us
faith knowing that He CAN work all things according to His will. But still,
how do we know God will do this for sinners? We must then be comforted by
understanding that He causes sinners to love Him, we must understand His
love, mercy, compassion, and grace towards sinners. But even then, how do
we know God will keep this promise? We must understand He is just and will
keep His promises. But even then, what if God changes? We must understand
that He is eternal and unchanging. The more knowledge we have of God and
His character, the more and greater faith we are able to have in Him.
8) Theology satisfies us in God.
-2 Peter 1:4 says the corruption that is in this world is by lust. This
lust is the unbelief that God will satisfy us, therefor we seek our
satisfaction in other things. However, this passage in 2 Peter says in
verse 3 that through the knowledge of Him we have been granted everything
pertaining to life and godliness. This means that all of our wants and
needs are fully met in the knowledge of Christ. Verse 4 tells us that the
knowledge of these promises is the means by which we are freed from this
lust. So then, the more knowledge we have of who God is and how He meets
our every need, will cause us to be more satisfied in who God is for us in
Jesus and we will be freed from lusting after the fleeting pleasures of
this world. So we should strive to get more satisfied in Christ through
the knowledge of His word.
9) Theology heightens our emotions toward God and fuels worship.
-Lately I have been greatly concerned for the direction of worship among
contemporary Christians. Certainly there are many that are overwhelmed by
who God is, who taste and see that He is good and then say "ahhhhh..."
over-flowing into worship of Him. However, I am concerned that many of the
intense emotions called �worship' may be fueled by something other than
Scripture. I know from personal experience it is easy to get very excited
and emotional over a setting, band, excitement, and other's emotions
running high. However we as Christians need to make certain that our
affections and emotions are raised through Christ's word alone.
Theology increases our ability to worship God. We cannot worship God for
something we do not know about Him. For example, we cannot sing �God in
Three Persons, Blessed Trinity" if we do not understand what it means that
God exists as a Trinity! The deeper our understanding of the Trinity goes,
the more we can worship God for it!
The more we understand who God is, the more we are able to worship Him.
As one person was telling me the other day: "I had joy in knowing that
Christ saved me when I became a Christian. But how much deeper it grew as
I understood that God saved me and it was no work of my own and nothing I
did; it was Him who worked my faith in my heart." We should have joy in
knowing we are saved, and we can deepen and increase that joy as we
understand God's grace in election, predestination, propitiation,
justification, atonement, adoption, sanctification, and glorification!
Too often it is assumed that theology shrivels our affections and emotions
and causes our faith to be dry. This is not so! Theology is not only a
matter of the mind, but also of the heart! Emotions are an essential
aspect of proper theology. If your affections for God are not heightened,
then you are doing something in your theology wrong! Jonathon Edwards
encouraged pastors to heighten the affections and emotions of their
congregations as high as possible, so long as they we being heightened by a
knowledge of God.
John Piper has this to say of theology and worship: "True worship does not
come from people whose feelings are like air ferns with no root in the
solid ground of biblical doctrine. The only affections that honor God are
those rooted in the rock of biblical truth. Else what meaning have the
words of the apostle, �they have zeal for God, but it is not according to
knowledge'(Rm10:2)?...and did not [the Lord] say, �you will know the truth
and the truth shall make you free'(John 8:32)? Holy freedom in worship is
the fruit of truth. Religious feelings that do not come from a true
apprehension of God are neither holy nor truly free, no matter how
intense."(Desiring God)
Deep meditation on the truths of God's doctrines in scripture does not
quench the emotions of the believer, but rather it fuels the fire of
worship. God's truth should, with prayer, cause our hearts to burst with
praise for who He is and gratitude for what He has done.
10) Theology glorifies God.
-As stated in the above reasons, when we study theology, we study God's
attributes and His ways. We are satisfied in Him. We gain a greater
understanding of His promises. We have faith in Him. All these things
glorify God because they exalt who He is. The more satisfied we become in
God, the more glorified God is in us. Therefor we should seek to glorify
God by being satisfied in Him through an understanding of who He is for us
in scripture.
Finally then, what are we as Christians to do? Study God's word! When
Billy Graham, the most well-known evangelist to have lived, was asked what
regrets he has near the end of his life he answered that he wished he had
done less speaking and spent more time studying God's word and with his
family. We, at this young stage in our life, have a tremendous opportunity
to do that. We should strive to get into God's word and know it and profit
by it and worship God in it. We should strive to:
1) Know scripture...memorize it and learn great truths
2) Call them to mind and dwell on them
3) Compare scriptures with scriptures
4) Apply God's word - act on it!
5) Be conformed by it. (have greater passion, affections, boldness, and
satisfaction)
6) Meditate constantly.
In closing, I want to share with you an exert from my journal of the benefits and glory of God's word:
"God's word brings restoration and rejoicing to our soul and enlightens
our eyes. His word created us and gave us life; the same word which
created the universe and upholds all things. By His word we are born again
and saved, and by it we continue to live. His word brings about our faith;
it was written so that we might believe. And this faith brings us joy. So
then, God's word is our source of joy and delight. By this word we receive
His Spirit. His word brings hope and confidence in God as it sets us free
to live with liberty. His word brings us wisdom and through wisdom we
receive valuable blessings and joy. God's word then finally gives
assurance, and by His word we can overcome the evil one.
"So then, with the promise of restoration, rejoicing, enlightenment, life,
upholding, salvation, new birth, faith, belief, joy, delight, His Holy
Spirit, hope, confidence, freedom, liberty, wisdom, joyous and valuable
blessings, and victory over our enemy, how shall we not seek out and
embrace, delight in and enjoy His word with all our heart, mind, body, and
soul?! To cast aside His word is to give up the greatest joy imaginable;
it is to give up everything. God's word is not only the means by which our
actions are conformed to His will, but it is the means by which we have
greater boldness, Holy passions and our affections for His glory are
ignited." (See Ps.19:7, Deut.32:46-47, Ps.33:6, Heb.11:3, Heb.1:3, James 1:18, 1 Peter
1:23, Matt.4:4, Rom.10:17, John 20:31, Rom.15:13, Philippians 1:25,
Ps.19:8, Ps.1:2, Ps.119, Gal.3:2, Rom.8:5, Rom.15:4, Ps.78:5-7, Ps. 119:45,
John 8:32, Ps.19:7-8, Ps.119:98, Prov.3:13, 1 John 5:13, Eph.6:17, Joshua
1:8)
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, by the Lockman Foundation.
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