h 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?
h h h h h h h h h 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). 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.
h h h h h 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".
