Why Every Christian Should Care About Theology?

Why Every Christian Should Care About Theology?

Preacher Huijun - 4 June 2022

Weekend Devotion: Why Every Christian Should Care About Theology?

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Some Christians may feel that theology should only be the interest of pastors, preachers and church leaders. But most believers are simply concerned about how God can solve their problems and give them what they want. They care more about the practical aspects of their faith rather than the theological part. In other words, the right beliefs do not matter as much to them as having the “right outcomes” they desired.

Starting today, our church will launch a new training series on reformed theology. Let’s ponder why there is a need to get our doctrines and theology right.

 

What is “theology”?

This term comes from two Greek words “theos”, which means “God”, as well as, “logos”, which means “word”. Therefore, “theology” means the knowledge or study of God, based on the revealed word of God, the Bible.

 

Whether we realise it or not, every Christian is a theologian to certain extent.

The question is, are we a good and responsible theologian, and is our theology in line with God’s truth? Surely each of us has our thoughts about God, about His character and how He works, about how the world come about, about how we can be blessed, about afterlife, about how a person can get to heaven, and so on. In fact, every time we have a thought or our own perception about God and His doing, we are engaged in theology. However, if we simply undertake theology on our own without being taught right, we run a high risk of embracing a wrong theology. But God wants us to handle His word correctly, meaning, have a right theological understanding. (2 Ti 2:15) says: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 

 

The Christian faith can be reasonable.

It is not a blind, emotional, situational kind of faith. In other words, we exercise faith not based on our feelings, or on whether the situation changes for the better, but we exercise faith based on the right knowledge and truth about God. We build our faith based on what God says and does, and upon God’s character. Yes, we can have feelings, but our emotions should also be based on God’s truth. We must know what we believe in and why we believe.

 

Having a right theology is important.

1) It leads us to worship and love God.

We cannot worship and develop faith in a God whom we only know vaguely. Jesus tells us to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Mt 22:37) But how can we love a God we do not know? That’s why the Bible tells us loving God also requires our “mind”. Love and knowledge must come together. The more we know how loving, holy and good God is, the more we will be in awe and in love with Him, and the more we will be moved to worship Him and submit to Him. Therefore, the right theological understanding of God will deepen our love for Him.

A right theology will also help us worship God correctly, for example, in the way we pray to Him, and in the contents of the songs we sing to Him. If we pray to God with a mistaken theology, we may be disappointed when we didn’t get an answer from Him, but that is not the fault of God, it is just that we have prayed in a way that is not in line with His will. Or if we sing hymns based on the wrong theology, we are not praising God in a way pleasing to Him. Thus, theology affects our relationship with God.

 

2) It teaches us how to live.

Theology is important because the knowledge of God will influence every area of our lives. Our understanding of God will shape our worldview, values, self-identity, life purpose, actions and feelings. What we believe will affect how we react to the problems and happy things in life. If we do not know that everything we have and enjoy are by the grace of God, we can easily become proud when we achieve success. Or if we do not know that God is a powerful, loving and wise God, why would we want to look to Him in our times of troubles?

Furthermore, knowing God’s plan of doing away with the present world and establishing a new heavens and new earth for those who believe in Christ Jesus, will surely have an impact on how we live now and what we prioritise on. It will lead us to seek eternal glory rather than earthly blessings. So the right theology will teach us how to live right in the eyes of God. We will not know how to please God if we do not have a good understanding of His word.

 

3) It helps us preach the right gospel to others and guard ourselves from false teachings.

(2 Ti 4:2) urges us to: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. But if we do not have the right theology, how are we going to preach the word and correct others? How can we point them correctly to God? How are we even to guard ourselves and our loved ones from false teachings? Therefore, God wants us to study His word diligently. This is not just God’s charge to the church leaders but every Christian.

 

4) It helps us grow spiritually and bear fruits.

(Ps 1:1-3) Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. Thus, delighting in God’s word, being rooted in it and knowing God correctly through His word will nourish us spiritually and prevent our faith from becoming stagnant. As we study the word of God and grow mature in the right theology, it will help us yield fruit in season.

 

Therefore, theology is integral to every Christian’s life, it helps us know who God is, and how we are to live before Him; it also helps us make sense of everything in the world in relation to God. May we then take a serious interest in learning the right theology, and may God help us in this journey!

 

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Preacher Hui Jun
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Huijun serves as Secretary of The Blessed RUN Ministries. She is also the Preacher at The Life Church and Missions (Singapore). She graduated from Singapore Bible College and currently lives in Singapore with her husband, Chengji.

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