Why Do I Need Theology?
“Theology used to be regarded as the ‘queen of sciences.’ If you look back across the history of the Church, and indeed secular history, you will find from the bare standpoint of intellectual interest that there has been nothing that has so stimulated man to effort as a consideration of these particular truths.”[1]
“I don’t need theology. I need Jesus.” This statement reveals one of two things about the person who makes it: Either they don’t know what theology is or they don’t know who Jesus is. Christian Theology is in large part the study of the Person and work of Jesus Christ. You could also say, “I don’t need theology. I need the Bible.” This statement, likewise, reveals a misunderstanding. The best theologies are those that summarize the teaching of the Bible about a given question or topic, so good theology (and that distinction is important here) is the explanation and application of the truth of Scripture.
If I’ve convinced you that theology is not unimportant, you may still be thinking, “But isn’t that what we pay our pastors to know?” Yes, you do want pastors with good, biblical, orthodox theology, but the reason that you want your pastor’s theology to be right is so that he is equipping you and your family with right theology. The Apostle Paul says that the pastor’s job is to “equip the saints for the work of the ministry” (Eph. 4:12). Do not think of the pastor as a tradesman who has knowledge that you don’t need and pay him to have, but instead as the trainer of other tradesmen (i.e., his congregation) to equip them with the information they must have to do their work well.
Learning theology is shorthand for discovering what God and His world are really like. Theology Proper answers questions of who God the Father is. Christology answers questions of who Jesus, God the Son, is. Pneumatology answers questions of who God the Holy Spirit is. Theological Anthropology answers questions of who we are both as image bearers and as those who are fallen after our first parents, Adam and Eve. Bibliology answers questions about the nature of God’s special revelation, the Bible. Each of these (and every other major theological category) is vitally important to your Christian walk. If Christianity is a relationship with the living God, then theology is learning the details about the Person with whom you are in a relationship. Just like with a spouse or a friend, your relationship with God is helped by increasing in your knowledge of Him.
The last point I will make is that we all operate from a theology—a set of teachings about who God is, what He is like, and what He does. That theology will either be intentionally formed by and conformed to the teaching of Scripture, or it will be a set of assumptions based on your personal experiences and preferences. The danger of the second kind of theology is that you are unintentionally creating a god in your own image—even if you call him Jesus. When you build your theology on the truth of Scripture rather than your own assumptions, you are learning about God from God.
Give yourself to the careful study of theology. Over time, it will right-size your view of God and self, which will in turn lead you to deeper love and commitment to God, richer experiences in worship, and more confidence in the promises that God makes.
[1] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Walking with God, (Wheaton: Crossway, 1993), 24.