d d d d d I think it is very important that Christians are theologically informed even if it
is not to the degree that one would receive from formal education and training.
Many believers are Biblically illiterate and do not know their left from their right
and this greatly hurts the overall body. Every believer does not need to know
doctrine terminology or even theology that does not pertain to salvation. The
theology of transubstantiation V.S. consubstantiation for instance does not rank
very high on the average believers things they need to know. However, the
doctrine concerning why the church partakes in the Eucharist is important, even if
they are unfamiliar with the term. I believe that as a pastor leads the sheep will
follow and according to our text book reading many of our pastors are not well
versed in theological principles as evidenced by 21% believing that the Bible is
made up of “fables legends, history, and moral precepts.”1 How can we expect
believers to become more grounded when leadership is failing?
d d d d d d d d d d When believers are not well informed they become easy targets for the
enemy to attack and destroy. The scriptures call him a “roaring lion, seeking
someone to devour” (1 Pt. 5:8 NASB). d Considering that these verses are written
to a group of believers it stands to reason that he is seeking Christians to devour
and lions will always go after the weak on the fringe of the herb animals before
the strong middle of the herd animals. I am unaware if contextually it is the best
verse but the concept I believe is biblical founded when speaking about priest
Hosea stats that “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. ‘Because you
have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priest’” (Hosea 4:6). Christians
need to have at least a basic understanding of theology in order to defend
themselves from the attacks that the enemy will use against them. Doctrines
such as sola gratia, atonement, and justification to name only a few are helpful to
keep believers from falling away and also for defending the faith that they claim.
As John Nicholls explains that Paul’s words to Titus actually meant not to silence
but to muzzle any theological opponents.2 It is hard to lead others to Christ if you
do not know where you stand before your maker because you have adopted a
works over grace mentality or a grace plus works combination.
d d d d d d I highly favor the study of scripture but also the study of church history
because if we do not know history then we are destined to repeat it. It is
important to understand why did the church in general not oppose the Nazis in
Germany as the systematically slaughtered millions of Jews and other
“undesirables”. How can the church look back and repent of this mistake and
move forward with the knowledge to prevent similar actions in the future? Where
will the church fall on the side of history with more recent movement such as
BLM and is there a close connection between these two times in history?
Word count:510
1. Rebecca McLaughlin, Confronting Christianity: 12 Questions for the World's
Largest Religion, (Wheaton, ILL: Crossway, 2019), 96.
Via Lydia Saad, "Three in Four in U.S. Still See the Bible as Word of God," Gallop,
June4, 2014, http://news.gallop.com/poll/170834/three-four-bible-word-god.aspx.
2. Todd Wilson and Gerald Hiestand eds. Becoming a Pastor Theologian, (Downers
Grove, ILL: IVP Academic, 2016), 155. Jason Nicholls, " The Pastor Theologian in
the Pastoral Epistles".
