Do You Outsource Your Theology?

These are tough times for theology. Good doctrine seems to be assaulted on every front. From the church to the seminary, men and women, boy and girls have neglected the study of God. But this neglect on the part of the church might not be the kind of neglect one might expect.

Lately it would seem that this neglect is not of the active sort. Theology books are selling like hotcakes. It would not be a mistake to say that there has been a sort of resurgence in reading theology. Between the advent of E-Readers and the publication of a plethora of good books on God, many people can become and, indeed, are becoming theologians. On one hand, this is good and commendable. Pastors long for their people to understand theology and actually enjoy studying it. So this soaking up of theology is certainly not all bad, but it can be neglectful of God and His truth in a very real and profound way. Let me explain.

If people are actively reading and learning theology then how can it be that theology could actually be neglected? Well, the answer has to do with source. Where do people get their views on God? Think for a moment about where you get your views on God. If someone asks you a theological question do you answer with a explanation from a systematic theology book? Or, perhaps, do you appeal to well-known proponents from certain theological groups? Again, much of this sort of theological pursuit is good and healthy. But there is something inherently dangerous, lazy, and not very wise to locate the source of your theology primarily in a system or a scholar instead of in scripture.

A good corrective to this tendency would be to read and study scripture and then read and study scripture some more, perhaps even investing in some good commentaries to supplement your reading. Sometimes the English translations (for various reasons I won't go into now) distort the original authoritorial intent revealed in the Greek New Testament and the Hebrew Old Testament. You don't necessarily have to become an expert in biblical languages but you ought to consult those commentaries that actually exegete the original text. Spend more time in the text and your theology will be refined and developed exponentially.

Some may respond that they do this already. The unfortunate reality, however, is that the rampant biblical illiteracy in the church, at least the American evangelical church, exposes a bitter truth. Despite what they profess, people know little of the things they confess. Spend more time in the word than you do in the pages of your favorite Christian author. Be more exegetical than theological. The end result will be that you know more about the 5 chapters of 1 Peter than you do about the 5 points of your favorite theological system. But that's definitely not a bad thing.