While in college, I often had people ask me what I was studying. Once, at a doctor’s appointment, the physician asked me about my major.
“I study the Bible and theology with a major in ministry,” I said.
Confusion passed over his face before he brightened. “Oh, so you are going to be a pastor.”
Instead of giving a long explanation, I just smiled and said, “I hope to use my degree to serve in ministry.”
Like that doctor, a lot of us have preconceived ideas of what it means to be a theologian. Such as assuming theology is something only for pastors and university professors. Or for the Bible college student cloistered in an old library studying tomes about the incarnation and hypostatic union. Even the word “theology” can scare people away – is not the term part of wider jargon meant only for insiders?
There is a place for the academic study of the different types of theology, such as systematic, historical, biblical, and practical theology. We can all benefit from the work of pastors, theologians, and writers who specialize in these areas and create resources to help us grow. However, limiting these areas to academic or pastoral roles is not helpful. We begin to think that only specialists should be engaged in such study and work and that “regular” Christians have no place in theology.
Despite the academic emphasis and specialization of this field, if we have placed faith in Christ and are following Him, then we already know a great deal about theology. And theology continues to influence us, even if we do not recognize it. Every Christian is a theologian – no courses, large books, or sermons are necessary.
In simple terms, “theology” refers to the study of God. We may think this word is surrounded by complex ideas, but really it is about the Lord. To be a theologian, then, refers to learning about God, knowing Him, and expressing our knowledge about Him.
Everyone has thoughts about God. These musings fall under the general study of theology, regardless of whether a person is a believer yet or not. By the time we place faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection for salvation, we have already started our study of God. As Nate Carlson wrote in an article for Relevant called “Like It or Not, You’re a Theologian,” a person must know the following theological truths before he or she can be saved: “You are a sinner and God is just, therefore, someone has to pay for your sin. You have to know that God Himself took your sin upon Himself and died on the Cross and rose from the dead.” We gained this good news from someone else, whether in the form of a spoken message, written words, or over time through the continual witness of another believer. Already, we were receiving theological knowledge.
Every time we pick up our Bible or open an app to read Scripture, we are engaging with our role as a theologian. The greatest resource we have about the Lord is His Word – the Bible. Through the sixty-six books of the Bible, we have been given everything we need to know who God is and what He has done for us.
Of course, we need to remember that no theologian can claim to know everything about the Lord. Theology has its limits. As God said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8, NIV). The living Lord who made all things is knowable because we can have a relationship with Him, but He is also fully incomprehensible, meaning we will never know everything there is to know about Him. But that is the astounding aspect of being in a relationship with the Lord. We will spend all eternity learning more about our great God and Savior.
So, we might as well start embracing our identity as theologians.
Correct doctrine is vital for individual believers and collectively as the church. We need to know and study the fundamentals of our faith so that we can share the gospel with others, disciple new believers, and defend the truth. To know, for example, that Jesus is God who took on flesh to save us. He died for our sins on the cross and was physically resurrected. We need to know that God is the Father, Son, and Spirit. He has given us the Bible, which is God-breathed and completely true. Scripture shows us the grand story of the Lord’s work to redeem and restore our sin-infected world.
We should prioritize correct theological belief but also recognize that a focus on knowledge often leads to pride. Head knowledge alone puffs us up (see 1 Corinthians 8:1). What every theologian, and therefore, every Christian, needs is a reminder that the head knowledge of theology must be lived out through our hearts and hands. We must prioritize love through proper motive and action.
To ensure our hearts are in the right place when engaging with theology, we must ask ourselves: Are we learning with the desire to grow in our walk with Christ because we love Him or because we want to appear smarter than others? Too often, we can be tempted to collect facts that will make us appear more spiritual or intelligent. If our motive for learning about the Lord is not based on love, then it is worthless (see 1 Corinthians 13:2-3).
Our theology must be securely grounded in a love for God and others. As it is, the two greatest commandments that fulfill the Law are to love the Lord and love our neighbor as ourselves (see Mark 12:30-31). We find the instruction to love others throughout Jesus’ teachings. And the Apostle Paul mirrored this when he told the Roman Christians to love one another because love fulfills the Law (Romans 13:8-10).
Not only do we need a proper basis for studying theology that is based on love, but our study should also lead to action. Lots of people could explain a doctrine and speak about their love for Christ and others. A theology based on love for God and others, though, will display love and truth through action. For as 1 John 3:18 teaches us: “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions” (NLT).
Similarly, the Apostle James wrote about the foolishness of those who think they can hold correct beliefs but bear no fruit in their lives. He explained, for example, how a person would be a hypocrite for claiming to love God while at the same time turning away from those in poverty (see James 2:14-19). Acting in obedience to God’s will and love is what demonstrates true belief.
Theology is more than just a matter of intellectual thought. It includes the heart and hands as well.
Every part of our life is interwoven with our knowledge about God. What we know to be true will influence the way we live. If someone genuinely believes that Jesus commanded His followers to make disciples of every nation, then evangelism and discipleship will be priorities (Matthew 28:18-20). The person will not just mentally acknowledge this need for mission work and gospel engagement in his or her community but will be involved in this work. Our knowledge of God affects our everyday choices.
However, the reverse is also true. How we live each day will, in turn, affect our theology. If we neglect the study of God’s word, then we will likely start making excuses for ourselves – that Scripture is too difficult to understand or even entirely unfathomable. As a result, we downplay the truth that God inspired and provided the Bible so we could better know Him and grow in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).
Or if we choose to treat the created world as unimportant. We frown upon people who mourn the death of their pets. We uproot trees and plants to make way for our projects. The more we treat nature as something to be used, the more our theology will reflect this attitude. Instead of upholding biblical stewardship, we will argue that Genesis 1:28-30 allows us to utilize creation for our purposes. Yet, many passages in Scripture display God’s glory in creation (Psalm 19:1-4), His care for animals (Proverbs 12:10; Matthew 10:29), and His plan for the restoration of the world (Romans 8:19-21).
We can also see how everyday choices affect people’s theology by studying history. For example, many people in America, including some Christians, owned slaves. Since their business and livelihood mixed with the institution of slavery, it was common for them to approve of the enslavement of human beings. They even created theological reasons behind enslaving Black people – such as the unbiblical view that Black people, as alleged descendants of Ham, were supposed to be slaves because of the curse on Canaan (Genesis 9:18-29). The choice of many Christians to support an institution that treated people as subhuman influenced their theological beliefs and vice versa.
Notice, then, how dangerous it is to not examine our lives according to biblical teaching. A close interplay exists between how we live and what we believe. As theologians, we need a willingness to study Scripture and obey it. We also need humbleness to examine ourselves and see if our everyday choices are interfering with our theology. In everything, we can hold up our lives to the perfect mirror of God’s Word to see what needs to be changed or let go.
Every believer is a student of God since knowledge about Him is inherent to our faith. There is a difference, though, between being a theologian and living as one. Lots of us can know the truth about the Lord, but the role of a student, and therefore a theologian, implies that we should always be learning.
Scripture encourages us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18, NIV). We are also told in the same epistle to add knowledge to our faith and goodness (see 2 Peter 1:5). Such an instruction means that our study of God must be intentional. Growing in knowledge of Jesus requires that we integrate study and the practical application of study into our lives.
This is where our everyday choices can be helpful since they work in shaping our theology. We can build habits and practices into our daily lives that encourage growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ. For our study of the Lord does not, and should not, be separated from other areas of life. We can start living as theologians today.
Countless options exist in the modern world for incorporating the study of God into each day. The Bible is available in various formats and translations, and we can listen to audio versions of Scripture. We can tune into podcasts that talk about Christ and what it means to follow Him. Sermons, videos, and books are also great options for learning more about the Lord, His attributes, and His great plan of redemption.
We need not have long intervals of quiet study either to grow in knowledge. Writing down a verse or a passage on a sticky note to take with us on a commute can help us commit God’s Word to memory. Or we can integrate a favorite hobby into our learning. Many versions of the Bible offer pages to color or paint. If we are a fan of handwritten notes, we could copy out passages in a special notebook. And for those of us who need more motivation, we could ask a friend or two to join us as we read through a theological book. The study would then become interwoven with friendship.
What we choose to do each day matters – not just for our lives now but also for eternity. Are we leveraging our daily schedules to enable us to learn and grow? Do we examine our choices in light of the perfect Word of God? Our training to become more faithful followers of Christ requires that we embrace life as theologians.
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