Why Does Theology Matter?
It is two o’clock in the morning. A Christian man stands in a hospital hallway as his wife lies asleep in the room behind him. He’s holding a cup of coffee in his hands, unable to summon the strength to sip. Only hours before, the doctor came into the room and used words like “aggressive,” “stage 4,” and “months, not years.”
Underneath the glow of fluorescent bulbs, that man understands why theology matters.
Although the word theology likely doesn’t cross his mind, he finds himself thinking about God, which is the meat and marrow of theology. He believes God is there. God hears prayers. God is good. God can do something about the suffering. Those convictions sprouted long before the cancer diagnosis, in times of prayer, study, and worship, and they now uphold him in his grief.
R.C. Sproul rightly taught that everyone is a theologian. The question is never whether we will have thoughts about God. The question is whether our thoughts are true.
Consider four reasons why theology matters.
1. Theology matters because God matters.
Everything else flows from this most basic fact: God matters. Theology is not a hobby for the intellectually inclined or academically apt. Because theology’s subject is the only true, living God, it is for every man, woman, boy, and girl.
Jeremiah knew that people are prone to boasting. Sinful man exults in fleeting things—wisdom, strength, and wealth. “But let him who boasts boast in this,” the prophet declared, “that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord” (Jer. 9:24). The Lord calls us not to know simply about Him. We are to know Him. Jesus spoke similarly. While praying on the night of His betrayal, He showed that theology stretches to eternity: “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
Far from being a mere part of the Christian life, theology is paramount. It is the mind and heart’s action of bending toward God as a plant leans toward the light. Hosea’s summons still rings, calling us to “press on to know the Lord” (Hos. 6:3).
2. Theology matters because false doctrine is dangerous.
Job’s friends were theologians, solemn and studied. After days of watching Job sit in misery, they came with a coherent doctrinal system: God is just, and all suffering is punishment for sin. Every premise sounded reverent. Each pronouncement aimed to vindicate God. Yet, the Lord’s verdict on their well-reasoned counsel was that they had not spoken rightly of Him (Job 42:7).
Theology is paramount. It is the mind and heart’s action of bending toward God as a plant leans toward the light.
Thoughts, ideas, and beliefs about God are not static realities. They fashion and form. This is why false doctrine is so dangerous. The woman who is convinced that God’s love is conditional will read every difficulty as withdrawal. The man who has been taught that faith guarantees prosperity will interpret his layoff as divine rejection. The child who believes religious performance earns blessing will despair when sin remains.
Paul charged Timothy to watch his life and his doctrine closely, promising that in doing so he would save himself and his hearers (1 Tim. 4:16). Nothing less than salvation depends on sound doctrine.
3. Theology matters because worship requires it.
Meditation on God fuels adoration of God.
The Apostle Paul reveals that rhythm over and over. Take Romans, for example. Paul spends eleven chapters laboring through some of the weightiest truths in Scripture—sin, election, propitiation, the mystery of Israel—and then, without warning, his writing breaks into worship: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Rom. 11:33). The doxology is no break from the theology. Viewed rightly, doxology is theology matured into its fullest expression.
Shallow thoughts about God hollow out a congregation’s worship. Give the church a small God, and she will return tiny praise, but raise her view of God’s glory and her worship will swell with joy and awe.
4. Theology matters because ordinary days need it.
A Christian’s typical day has no small number of mundane tasks: folding laundry, answering emails, sitting in traffic, engaging a teenager who does not want to talk, paying a bill that arrived earlier than expected. Theology shapes how you suffer, forgive, parent, and die. The doctrine of providence means the delayed flight is not random. The Spirit’s intercession means prayer has power even when you are too weary to utter words. Justification means criticism should not destroy your heart, because the verdict that matters has already been announced.
God’s truth enables the Christian to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord” (Col. 1:9–10) from sunup to sundown.
Your Hallway Is Coming
Theology really does matter. So, study. Read and mark your Bible. Wade into deeper waters of doctrinal instruction. Sit under preaching that stretches your soul. Think about God carefully and listen to Him faithfully.
A hallway of some sort is coming for all of us, and when it comes, let us lean on the Lord we’ve come to know, believe, and trust.
