IS THEOLOGY IRRELEVANT?

We call the intensive study of the Scriptures (Psalm 1) “theology.” However, this requires time and effort. Therefore, it’s not uncommon to hear people say, “I don’t need theology. I know what I’ve experienced. I believe in Jesus, and that’s enough for me.”

However, experience is not enough. This is because we also need to know how to accurately interpret our experiences and this requires theological maturity.

Many years ago, I had a life-threatening chainsaw injury. I was convinced it was all over. Suddenly, I knew that God was there, that He loved me, and would be there for me even if I died. I was ecstatic and vowed that if I survived I would seek out His identity.

I was miraculously rescued and woke up the following morning by my surgeon who informed me that I would have to begin to exercise my severed wrist or I would lose its use. However, I disregarded his professional instructions, believing that my Benefactor was all-powerful. Although I was right that this God is all-powerful, I lacked the theological sophistication to realize that I also had a role to play in this matter. Consequently, I lost much of the use of my hand.

Although this encounter had taught me some vital truths about God, it didn’t teach me all that I needed to know and how to know it. I later found that this required the intensive study of the Scriptures. Without this, I would remain vulnerable to doubts and deceptions. Even though we might know that God is omnipotent, we still have to cloth ourselves with the Word of God:

·       Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:13)

Experience isn’t enough to equip us to stand firm. I was reminded of a conversation I had had with a visitor to my city of NYC. He had met a number of very helpful New Yorkers and concluded that this was a safe city and that he could travel it safely. I think that he would have been greatly aided by also filling in the blanks with the appropriate warnings, a travel guide, and a road map to instruct him how to get around.

However, theology can do far more. It not only can interpret our experiences, but it can take us to places where experience cannot enter. One young man had been telling me about how God has used his study of the Bible to heal his depression. I could say the same thing and can give you many examples how. For one thing, I never felt forgiven when I confessed my sins to the Lord. I had been experiencing such intense self-loathing that I also felt that God loathed me and was just tolerating me. However, the Holy Spirit had made 1 John 1:9 very real for me. As a result, when I now confess my sins to God, I know that I am forgiven, whether or not I experience anything at that moment or not.

Galatians 2:20 taught me that I no longer had to obsess about my many failures and weaknesses because my life now belonged to Jesus:

·       I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

I no longer have to carry the burdens of my life. I was now clothed with Christ who carried my burdens for me.

I could now accept the fact of my neediness because Scripture assured me that weakness and vulnerability were even preferable, in the estimation of the Lord, to strength and competence, because, in my weaknesses, I would become strong in the Lord (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

Theology, the diligent study of His Word, has made me strong through my weakness. Fortunately, through decades of depression and followed by panic attacks, I had already learned that there was no other hope to which I could turn. If God didn’t rescue me, I simply wouldn’t be rescued. Lacking any self-confidence, I therefore turned to His Word in hope that I might find something there. Against all rational expectations, I have found the hope I needed, as David had confessed:

·       It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (Psalm 119:71-72)