Do you like theology? Some Christians like theology in the same way that people like to build Lego sets or collect dried butterflies in sterile glass cases. They enjoy collecting terminology and “-isms,” following theological instruction manuals, and stacking ideas neatly into rows. Others, driven by a penchant for debate, like learning theology as a way to win squabbles on social media. Yet, theology isn’t just for these sorts of people. We need to see theology as something that all Christians should cherish.
Theology is a field of study that stands in a class of its own. It’s a study that transcends other studies because God is its source, its object, and its goal. It’s from him, it’s about him, and it leads us to him. It’s only when we appreciate what theology is that we can appreciate why it’s good and necessary for our Christian life.
What Is It?
At its most basic level, theology concerns the knowledge of God and how God relates to everything. It concerns the one “who was, and is, and is to come” (Rev. 1:8). He is the one for whom and by whom all things exist (Col. 1:16–17). He is the one who creates and sustains all things without need of anything (Acts 17:25). He is holy. Because he is holy, we don’t consider God as if he’s a bug to be dissected, but we approach the one who is “clothed with splendor and majesty,” who “covers himself with light as with a garment” (Ps. 104:2). To consider God as the object and goal of theology is to approach the infinite and eternal one. We must remove the sandals from our feet. We stand on holy ground.
Ironically, those who study theology are themselves examined and dissected by the very God they thought they were studying! Like the prophet’s experience in Isaiah 6, when we rightly apprehend the Lord as he truly is in the majesty of his holiness, we will realize that we can only fall on our faces in worship. We will see that we are an unholy people in the presence of a holy God. It reveals to us who we really are in the penetrating light of who God is.
Theology and Your Relationship with God
Of course, we might be tempted to think that theology is too rigid or too inauthentic to have a relationship with God—perhaps even unnecessary. Yes, we enter into a relationship with God in Christ through faith alone. Yet, our faith cannot grow and mature without maturing knowledge. This is why God characterizes an authentic and active faith as one where we mature in our knowledge of him (Prov. 1:7, 8:17; Jer. 9:23–24; Eph. 4:13).
Furthermore, we don’t have a choice whether we have a theology. There is a knowledge of God that is innate to our world. It’s baked in. We know something about God before we ever pick up a book about him. This is why Paul says in Romans 1:18–22 that we are prone to sinfully suppress the knowledge of God that is evident in nature.
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.— Romans 1:19–20
The late R. C. Sproul once famously said, “everyone is a theologian.” The question we have to ask is whether the theology we possess is true. Do our thoughts correspond to what God makes known about himself? Do we know, love, and worship the one, true, and living God? Or, do we worship a god who only exists in our imagination?
Theology Matters
Many of us tend to assume that our thoughts about God are inconsequential to our lives or aren’t too far off from what’s probably true. Sure, not everyone is called to teach and write about deep doctrinal topics. But, in a broad sense, everyone possesses a theology, and because of our sinful nature, ours actively suppresses the realities of who God is. It falls short of the glory of God. In other words, our theology needs recalibration.
What God reveals about himself dictates not just what we’re to believe in terms of big long lists of boring words. To know God’s character is to recognize and acknowledge him as he is and respond in worship. It’s to color our worship within lines that he’s drawn. It’s to acknowledge who he’s revealed himself to be in Scripture and nature. It articulates what it means to live happily in a relationship with him: to know what it is to be his people and have him as our God (Gen. 17:7; Ex. 6:7; Jer. 31:33).
Theology gives us a safe harbor to find shelter when the storms of life threaten to undo us. When we acknowledge God as he reveals himself in his Word and in nature, we are able to hold fast to a theology that shows us that God isn’t like us, that he’s not prone to similar foibles. Doctrines concerning his immutability and impassibility become a comfort to us, because they explain that God doesn’t change and isn’t affected by circumstances like we are. We understand that we are held fast by a God who is just in his judgments, awesome in his holiness, frightening in his power, but everlastingly, unchangingly, all-encompassingly good to his people.
Our theology allows us to rest more fully in his everlasting arms. Though we are weak, he is strong – in the depths of shame, in the valley of the shadow of death, in the loneliness of loss and abandonment. We have a God who is high and lifted up (Is. 6:1), but truly stoops to care for us in every circumstance (Matt. 6:25–33). True theology expands our love for God, our understanding of who we are, and our trust in his sovereign power.
