In our world today, there is a concerning divide being created between theology and life. We have far too often created a dichotomy between orthodoxy (right doctrine) and orthopraxy (right action), rather than recognizing that neither should be separated from the other. The intellect of the mind and the affection of the heart are often portrayed as distinct and at war with each other within ourselves, with only the former to be informed by theology. We fail to understand that theology rightly approached is both deeply intellectual and deeply personal and practical. Our theology directly informs and affects how we live our life. Theology matters for everyday life.
So how does theology better inform the practice of the Christian life? How do hours in the library analyzing the meaning of a verse of scripture in Greek or Hebrew change how we reach the lost around us? How does reading Athanasius’, “On the Incarnation,” or John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion,” practically impact the way we interact with people at the grocery store? And how does studying a textbook on Systematic Theology change how we relate to those who are hurting?
Authentic theology becomes a lived reality when the heart is affected by the depths of truth learned, personal communion with God is passionately pursued, and when theology is viewed as worship.
Theology As Worship
Theology is ultimately grounded in the self-revelation of God. It is God who, through His self-communication to us (in Scripture), makes even knowing and learning possible. God is not known in the abstract, and the study of theology should never be approached speculatively. The God of the universe, the One who made the stars and the birds, He who formed you in your mother’s womb; He is the One you are communing with as you open a book on theology. You cannot love God without knowing God, and every time you study your Bible or open a book on theology, you are knowing Him deeper, so that you can love Him deeper. Orthodoxy informs Orthopraxy when theology is approached as worship.
The dividing of theology from life happens when theology is viewed speculatively rather than relationally. Often, the theologian is regarded as one who lives in the realm of the hypothetical, coldheartedly, distantly observing truths that are of little to no significance to everyday life. This is the farthest from the right view of theology and life. Right theology is both intellectually formed and deeply personal and practical. Theology engrains minds with truth, penetrates the depths of our affections, and moves every aspect of ourselves to live Soli Deo Gloria. Through the Word, God reveals Himself to us, and it is Scripture that exposes our hearts and heals us; it brings life, penetrates the depths of our hearts, and transforms us. The aim of theology is to sanctify every part of who we are: our mind, heart, will, emotions, everything!
The reminder of approaching the study of theology with a posture of worship is echoed in the words of B.B Warfield as he says:
“Sometimes we hear it said that ten minutes on your knees will give you a truer, deeper, more operative knowledge of God than ten hours over your books. ‘What!’ is the appropriate response, ‘than ten hours over your books, on your knees?, Why should you turn from God when you turn to your books, or feel that you must turn from your books in order to turn to God?”
Theology grows our burden and love for the lost.
As I’m writing this, I’m on the train back home from school for spring break. And sitting here, I’m reading a book in preparation for a research paper for one of my theology classes. If I don’t approach this reading with a posture of worship, I am losing the purpose of theology. If what I’m reading right now doesn’t move my heart with burden to share the gospel with the woman sitting next to me on this train, then I have failed to approach theology rightly. If what I’m studying doesn’t move me to action, I am approaching theology all wrong. We can’t (and should never try to) separate the intellectual from the practical function of theology. Equally important is orthodoxy and orthopraxy in the life of the Christian.
Communing with God in the depths of theology improves the way in which we simply communicate truth to those around us. And theology that allows us to walk past a homeless person on the street without our hearts breaking to stop and share the gospel, is theology that hasn’t penetrated our hearts.
It breaks my heart to hear people describe theology as “dry” or “boring.” Theology is exciting, life-transforming and of great importance for the everyday. The life-transforming function of theology is to deeply know and love God, be in communion with Him, be fed by the Word, be strengthened on our knees, and be comforted in our tears.
What is learned in the complexities of our books moves us to kneel in prayer. It breaks our hearts to weep with and comfort those who are suffering. It equips us to reach others with truth, in humility and grace. Theology changes how we think, how we live, and it matters for every aspect of life. We need to deeply know our faith so we can deeply live out our faith.
Theology and Knowledge of Self
John Calvin, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, reminds that knowledge of God always comes before knowledge of self. In other words, we can’t know ourselves without knowing God. The standard or measure of ourselves is not ourselves or even others, but it is God, and the deeper we come to know God, the more we come to know ourselves. In knowing God, the more we understand the human condition as totally and completely depraved, and the greater is our appreciation for His grace. Knowledge of God flows into greater humility, greater love for God, and greater love for those around us. The way in which we live our lives, how we relate to those around us changes as we come to better know the One who designed us. Every book opened that helps us better understand who God is changes how we know ourselves and overflows into a transformed way of thinking and living.
Living out our faith requires knowing our faith.
John Wycliffe was burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English. Jan Hus, following in the steps of Wycliffe, upholding the authority of Scripture, was condemned as a heretic and burned alive. Many martyrs of the faith are to thank for the copies of our Bibles we have today in a language we can understand. The cost such martyrs paid is never one for us to take for granted. Even today, thousands of Christians around the world will live and die never having touched a Bible in their life. So the Bible sitting on our table right now is to be deeply valued and never taken for granted. Yet, despite the thousands of Bibles and resources we have access to in America today, Biblical literacy is on the decline. If we want to passionately live out our faith, we have to know our faith.
To drink deeply from the fountain of theology is to come to a fountain that will satisfy like nothing else in this world, and one that we can never truly and fully exhaust in our life. A lifetime of theological study will only scratch the surface of the depths of richness of truth in Scripture. And such a lifelong pursuit will bring joy like nothing else. Let’s never use labels such as “simple faith” as excuses for not knowing our faith. And as we dive into the complexities and depths of theology, let’s never forget that theology that doesn’t move us to passionately love, care for, and serve the hurting, suffering and the lost is not theology at all.
Let’s deeply know our faith so we can passionately live out our faith.
“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure…More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” -Psalm 19: 7&10
