Doing theology Vs. Knowing Theology...

Seeing as how I spent the last 21 years on the knowing theology team, and just recently changed over to the doing theology team, or rather, have been traded between the two teams but am not quite sure how I feel about it yet...

The predominant theme/idea/message at our church is do the theology that you know. And I love that, particularly since I see very clearly how when you don't try to do anything you learn, you just spend more time learning. Very much the pitfall I see a lot of Christians falling into.

Jesus gave a few very simple commands, which despite their simplicity (love your neighbor, honor your father and mother, don't lust or hate in your heart, mind, or body, etc.) have been almost impossible for the majority of Christianity to follow. And by majority I mean the majority of Christianity I have experienced or observed in close proxy.

I'm not attacking the pursuit of knowledge of scripture, the study of fringe theology like eschotology, predestination, or any other church word longer than five letters. All those things can produce vibrant communion with our God, but they do very little for communion with the Body.

D.A. Carson warned in his introduction to the book Exegetical Fallacies that any study that focuses on the negative can be dangerous. It can lead to high minded feelings of superiority, a negative attitude, an overall deadening of the transformative faith.

I would go one step further to say that any study solely for the purpose of knowledge, without application, is very dangerous. Not can be, could be, or is if it's some other denomination with bad theology. It just is.

Knowledge puffs up, inflating the mind (the most impotent of organs when not bent on moving the body) and squashing the heart, you lose empathy, mercy, grace towards those you are supposed to be reaching out to (the lost) and eventually you become so nitpicky that you are even isolated from your brothers and sisters in the faith.

What is the study of theology good for?

A deepening of understanding, but if you just keep deepening your understanding without it affecting your life you're only digging yourself a theological bomb shelter.

And like my man Matt Chandler said, "You are the salt of the earth, so get in the cupboard."

We don't need bulletproof theology, we need humble, broken bleeding theology. A test of whether or not your study is beneficial would be just that. Do you feel better capable of shooting down bad thought processes, or do you feel pulled to the weak, the hungry, the abandoned, the abused and lost?

So I guess, if you're like me, wanting to climb out of your bomb shelter and interact with humanity, you're probably asking something like "Help me know how to stop being obsessed with just knowing and get out and do it."

You're just going to have to start listening to those nudges the Spirit gives you, that guy you should have encouraged? Say something. The shady looking guy wanting you to put some gas in his car so he can get across town to help his sick daughter? Give him some gas despite the fact that he's probably just a bum.

You won't ease your guilt of not helping out people by trying to learn more about God.

Instead, listen to what God tells you to help people, obey Him.