DEEP ROOTS: Why study theology? Why is theology important? Why does theology matter? Does theology affect my life? 4 reasons theology is imporant.

 It could be said that theology is like the roots of a tree. If the roots are shallow, than the tree will not live, but the tree will die. But, if a tree has deep roots, it will grow to be strong, and produce fruit and leaves. How many of us have shallow roots? How many of us, when the wind blows, do we topple over and fall, or do we stand strong, because our roots are so deep that no wind, no storm, no hardship could take us down?

The bible teaches that these strong roots to endure hardship come from deep roots of belief about God. Sadly, however, many of us do not know, or care to know, who God is, or what He is like; but we should realize that theology deeply affects our day-to-day lives. We often see the tree itself, but we do not see that it is the roots, under the surface, that are affecting the visible part of the tree. In the same way, it is our unseen core beliefs that affect our outward actions and outward problems.


Here are four reasons theology affects us and we should study it:

First of all, there is such a thing as absolute truth according to Scripture, so study theology to believe the truth instead of a lie.
- The word “truth” is used eighty-nine times in the New Testament, and it is often referred to as “the truth.”

- Jesus said, “I have come into the world to testify to the truth” (John 18:37), so absolute truth is essential to Jesus.

- We are to worship God in Spirit and truth (John 4:24), so experience and emotions should be grounded in truth.

- We are told that the truth will set us free (John 8:32), so if we are in bondage to something it is Truth that sets us free!

- Jesus claims to be the truth Himself (John 14:6).

- The Holy Spirit is said to guide us into all truth, so we need His assistance in studying theology (John 16:13).

- Jesus also says that the Word is truth (John 17:19), so we understand theology by the Spirit in combination with studying the Word.

- Knowledge of the truth is often in combination with obeying the truth 1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Timothy 2:25, 2 Timothy 3:7, Titus 1:1, and Hebrews 10:26

- We are told from the bible that many people have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. (Romans 1:21)

How many of us are affected by these lies? How often do we continue throughout our day believing a lie, and suffering from the consequences?

Secondly, after affirming truth, Scripture teaches that we should be in churches that hold to certain doctrines or teachings, so that we can guard our minds from the lies of the world around us. 

- In Matthew and Mark Jesus challenges the Pharisees for “teaching as doctrine the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7). How often do we just follow the teachings of people, and not even know the doctrine of God Himself?

-  In Ephesians 4:14 Paul calls us to become mature so that we are not tossed back in forth by every wind of doctrine.

- In 1 Timothy 1:3, 1:10, 4:6, & 6:3 Paul urges Timothy to charge certain people to not teach any different doctrine; he tells him not to teach anything contrary to sound doctrine; and he says that he was trained in the words of faith and of good doctrine.

- Paul then tells Titus to “teach what accords to sound doctrine” (2:1), and Paul also says to “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” (2:10).

These verses imply that doctrine is very important to God, and that there are teachings of people, which are in accord with philosophies, commandments, and teachings of men, and there is the doctrine of God, which is in accord with Scripture.

How often are we tossed back and forth by the teachings, philosophies, and commandments of people, especially from the media? We should have a solid church that is teaching us the truth from in the Word.  

Thirdly, we are to study theology for our own personal relationship with God. Jesus said “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…soul… and mind”  (Matt 22:37). To understand theology is to understanding truth, and our heart, soul, and mind are all connected. One cannot have an improper view of God and still love God with his whole being. Therefore, we must study theology to truly have a deep relationship with God. 

Fourthly, we study theology because it directly affects how we live, how we respond to problems, and how we view the world. In the words of C.H Spurgeon, "Nothing makes a man so virtuous as belief of the truth. A lying doctrine will soon beget a lying practice. A man cannot have an erroneous belief without by-and-by having an erroneous life. I believe the one thing naturally begets the other."

For these reasons we study theology, and this is why I believe theology is at the root of all problems. As Dr. Bill Bright once said, "We can trace all of our human problems to our view of God."

Hopefully, as I study theology and post about it, our belief in God can become larger as we began to see Him as the ultimate, and then everything else will become so small in comparison.

Keep posted the next couple weeks as I make posts about theology, and I pray that it will give us deeper roots so that when the storms blow we can stand strong!

The Individuality of American Christianity

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing..." Hebrews 10:25

This past Sunday got me thinking about something really important in our culture. In order to prepare for the overflow of attendance many churches will have to create an overflow room for Easter Sunday. Many churches, which are usually not completely full, will be so full that they need an overflow room, because it is Easter Sunday, so that is what people do; they go to church.

Now, is going to church on Easter Sunday wrong? Of course not, but this brings to light a greater problem: America's Christianity is often only individual. some people are only going to church once a month, maybe once a season, and sometimes once or twice a year - Easter and/or Christmas.

In our post-modern culture today, Christian and non-Christian alike, the idea of Church attendance has been minimized. Even Personally, when I was in college, I spent many Sunday's sleeping and told myself that "attendance is not important, all that is important is my personal relationship with God."

This type of thought is rampant within our post-modern culture where individuality is valued over community. Why go to church? If we have a individual relationship with God, and the priesthood is for all believers, why does going to church even matter? I can read my bible at home; I can pray at home; I can worship with my I-pod; my Christianity is personal, individual, and not communal. I believe this is a big problem, because Christianity has always been BOTH personal AND communal; it is BOTH individual AND community.

Gathering together does matter. Taking communion together does matter. Fellowshiping, encouraging, and loving each other Christians does matter. Worshiping together as a church does matter.

As we see from the bible verse above, this is not a new problem; in fact the early church dealt with this problem, and Hebrews 10:25 is a Scripture principle that encourages us to be in church community, not just on Easter, but regularly. 

Everyone, if you claim to be a Christian, find a biblical church, become a church member, because we need each other. Let us not fall into the extreme of saying that church is useless and let us find the balance and paradox of the a relationship with God and Christianity as BOTH personal AND communal.

We need community. We need others believers. We need the church.

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing..." Hebrews 10:25

The Pendulum of the Church

Why is it that whenever the church finds out that it is doing something wrong, it seems to jump to the opposite extreme?

Today I read something in a popular Christian book that said God is love, so it is wrong to fear Him, or think of Him as a judge, or think of His wrath, or think of His discipline. Refer to 1 Peter 2:17, Psalm 75:7, & Heb 12:6. 

I read that grace is by faith, so any attempt to test someones fruit or tell them that being made holy is part of the gospel is a flat denial of grace. Refer to Matt 7:17.

I heard a sermon that said the church exists solely for unbelievers not the saints, and that evangelism is the only reason the church exists, and not discipleship. Refer to Eph 4:12

I heard another message that said learning about propitiation, justification, sanctification and all of those "theological" words make people "fat" and useless.

I see churches that rarely ever practice communion, and in order to be culturally relevant they neglect these great historical acts of worship. 


I heard another famous speaker say that churches should not be marked by "belief in a set of doctrines or beliefs" and actions is what matters.