Theology…. why does it matter, anyway?

The term “theology” sometimes gets a bad rap. Often, when people are encouraged to “study theology”, all they can see is their mind is “academic, complicated, boring doctrine”.   They say, “A personal relationship with Jesus is what’s important. I’m to grow in my love for him, not fill my head with facts.”  A personal relationship with Jesus is important – 100%.  But how do we do that, that’s the question, isn’t it?

On a more serious note, is the general result of a generation that has not taken theology as an important part of Christian life.  Daniel Nealon, in an article on CoreChristianity.com talks about MTD: Moralists Therapeutic Deism.  American teens were interviewed about their Christian beliefs. Here’s the breakdown: people are basically good, and God’s job is for God to reward good behavior with heaven, and punish bad behavior with hell.  My personal happiness is of utmost importance – the goal of life is to be happy with self; God created the world but isn’t involved in it. 

Now, most of my readers likely don’t see this in the teens they know.  Most of my readers likely go to a solid, Bible preaching church, and who raise kids to know and love God.  But those teens who believed in MTD were church goers.  And this should serve as a warning alarm for us now as we raise the next generations to be disciples of Jesus! 

So, I submit to you that knowing “theology” is important for all of us – young and old alike, for anyone who desires to follow Jesus.  The word theology is just two Greek words:  “theos” – meaning God, and “ology” – meaning, study of.  So, theology is simply the study of God.  Of whom God is, what He has done, what He’s doing, and how this shapes our lives.  And the Bible – God’s Word – is, unsurprisingly, full of theology of course!  The Bible is a book about God.  All the 66 books teach us about God. 

Look at Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. It’s packed with doctrine – yes, doctrine.  Whoa. Doctrine?

Okay, another boring sounding word, right?  Doctrine is simply a belief or set of beliefs. And it isn’t reserved just for Christianity. There is government doctrine, law doctrines, military doctrine.  The word doctrine comes from the Latin word “doctrina” which means “teaching” or “instruction”.  Christian doctrine is the teaching found in the Bible – about who God is, who we are, creation, sin, suffering, salvation and more.  Everyone has doctrine – it’s just a matter of WHAT your beliefs are.

Knowing theology then, isn’t about abstract ideas. Theology is truth! God’s truth! Theology helps us understand the heart of God – and how He calls us to live for Him, for His glory. Why is it so important? A rich understanding of theology can help us “… to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and  to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  (Ephesians 3: 18-19)

“Yes,” you may say, “Ephesians 3 talks about us knowing Jesus’ love! So why bother with “theology”? It sounds too academic and complicated.”

But is it?  It’s challenging, but not complicated. When Paul wrote his letters to the churches, he addressed the church as a whole.  Not just educated and learned elders and leaders.  He was writing to regular, ordinary people – farmers, carpenters, tanners, tent makers, seamstresses, weavers, bakers, doctors, lawyers, men, women, children.  He wrote theology to help them understand who God is and how then to live!   You could even argue that we have more knowledge than they did, and so if they could learn and understand it, so can we.

Knowing theology/doctrine has another very important facet to it.  Without having good knowledge, it’s easy for us to drift away from the truth of the Christian faith, from God’s inerrant Word, and into a place of doubt, confusion, and being lost at sea as it were.  The Word of God has already been watered down in churches all around us.  Key doctrines of the church that have been upheld for 2,000 years are being thrown out in favor of self-love, self-truth, self-success, the goal of happiness, and more!  It’s creeping into the church in alarming ways and has led to MTD.

Daniel Nealon says, “Theology anchors us in what’s true about God and the world and keeps us from being ‘tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.’ (Ephesians 4:14)”

Jen Wilkin’s statement, “Your heart cannot love what your mind does not know”, has been instrumental in my pursuit of knowing God.  But way before Jen came along, many other Christian authors have written about this.  J.I. Packer wrote a book called, “Knowing God”, and A.W. Tozer wrote one called, “The Pursuit of God”.  It comes down to this: if you want to have a closer walk with Jesus; if you want to  grow in your love for God; if you want to have a vibrant prayer life….you NEED theology.  You NEED to study God.  It’s why Jesus said, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matt 22:37)

To love God fully, we need to know Him fully. Not on a surface level. We need to dive deep into Scripture to know the heart of the Father and His love for us. As I wrote earlier, someone might object to studying God because a personal relationship is more important – and in that they mean that it’s about feelings and love and heart.  But studying theology doesn’t get in the way of that at all.  As a matter of fact, the opposite is true.

How do our relationships grow here on earth? How do we decide to marry so-and-so? By knowing them. Knowing them well is what makes the relationship meaningful, it’s what draws people closer to each other, whether spouse, friend, co-worker etc.  Take the state of marriage as an example.  I’ve been married to Martin for almost 30 years. (September 23, 2025!)  I’ve gotten to know him much, much more deeply in 3 decades compared to when we got married after knowing each other for 3 years.  I loved him then, but my love is that much greater for him after living together for so long.  The more I know him – and he knows me, the more we grow in relationship together through time together, long chats, trials, joys, dates… the more love there is.  If that is true for an earthly relationship, how much more so with our God!

Dear friends, pursue God. Study His Word. Listen to sermons and podcasts. Read books and articles. Join a bible study in your local church. Take a free course online. Go to Bible College.  But DO something.

I promise you, the more you learn about God by studying theology, the more you will come to desire Him, to love Him, and to glorify Him.  The more you know God, the more vigorous your prayer life will be.

The Westminster catechism tells us that “Man’s chief end is to love God and enjoy Him forever.”

I promise you, the more you pay attention to the doctrine of the Church, the more you know about creation, God, Jesus, Unity with Christ, God’s providence, His sovereignty, salvation, the life to come, the more you know about God’s amazing attribute – all that makes God, God…..the more you will love Him, and the deeper your relationship with Jesus will be.

Grace and Peace!