Why would anybody in their right mind do theological study? I serve at a “theological seminary.” It’s in our name: Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. But how do things like reading assignments and written exams actually form us as Christians? How do they prepare us for real ministry in the real world, with real people? Strange as it might sound, I’d like to propose that in order to have godly, distinctly Christian relationships, and in order to conduct our ministries in a biblical, distinctly Christian way, we must have sound theological knowledge.
What is “Theology?”
“Theology” is a fancy English word taken from a Greek word that we might divide into two other Greek terms: theos (God), and logos (speech). Theologos, or “theology,” is nothing more and nothing less than our thinking, our talk, our conversation, what we say about, God. It’s how we articulate our understanding of, say, the nature and the being of God, the way in which God exists as three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). It’s what we say in answer to questions like, “Who is Jesus Christ?”, “What did his death accomplish?”, “What is a human being?”, “What are angels?”, and “What is a church?” Theology is what we say, what we believe, and what we proclaim about God and His relationship to His creation, God’s relationship to Jesus Christ, and God’s relationship to all of us.
We Need Theology for Our Relationships
Let’s direct our attention to Ephesians 5:25: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” This passage tells us that Christian marriage is built upon Christian theology. That might not sound romantic, but maybe we think about romance differently in the 21st century than they did in the first.
Paul’s concept of marriage is based upon (1) the doctrine of Christ’s death, what it accomplishes, and (2) the doctrine of the Church. First, a Christian marriage is founded upon the doctrine of Christ, particularly the work that Christ did on our behalf, for husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Jesus Christ gave Himself, denied Himself, offered Himself as a willing sacrifice, in order to sanctify the church – this is every Christian husband’s model for marriage. Ephesians 5 doesn’t say anything about doing the dishes, or being a good listener, or learning good communication skills (or maybe it does!). It does say a great deal about the kind of self-denial and self-sacrifice that should characterize a Christian husband, the kind of sincere affection, sensitivity, and servant heartedness that his soul should live out in domestic responsibilities and interpersonal interaction.
The second doctrine that Ephesians 5 brings to the foreground is the doctrine of the Church. Paul’s talking about the Church as the global gathering of redeemed human beings in all places and all times. Christ died in order to forgive us of our sins, but it’s more than that. Christ’s death also leads those who believe not merely to have their sins wiped out, but also to begin their sanctification, growth toward being holy men and holy women. As Timothy Keller argues in The Meaning of Marriage, the purpose of marriage is the co-sanctification of the two partners in that marriage, the growth in selfless holiness of both partners.
Christian relationships are planted in the soil of the Bible’s theology. Ephesians 5 gives us the specific example of marriage, but we are to imitate Christ’s self-sacrificial example in all our relationships. We are to have no sense of entitlements. Instead, we are to be completely devoted to making sure that others have their needs met (Phil 2). The husband’s responsibility in marriage is planted in the soil of his understanding of the death of Christ, and his understanding of the self-giving ministry of Christ to the church. In other words, we cannot have a distinctly Christian marriage, friendship, or relationship of any kind, until we understand the basics of two doctrines, the doctrine of Jesus Christ and the doctrine of the Church.
We Need Theology for Our Ministry
Let’s consider the ordinance of baptism. Jesus institutes the ordinance of baptism in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.”
In this passage, Jesus inaugurates this ordinance as a thing connected, not merely to evangelism, but to discipleship, to the process of believers moving from conversion to a mature, Christ-like life. Discipleship is the placing of a pupil’s feet in the footprints of the teacher being followed, and so our imitation of Christ becomes the defining characteristic of a disciple. As His disciples, man or woman, we are obligated to imitate Christ, even if His footprints lead to persecution and crucifixion.
But notice the language that Jesus uses here: “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Baptism is done in the Trinitarian name of the only true God. Matthew, in his recording of the words of Jesus, is assuming that the person being baptized has some level of knowledge of the God of Christianity, who eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The God of Christianity is unlike any of the other religious options out there in ancient or modern culture. Believing in the Christian God means to believe that He exists as three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. And so, prior to baptism, there needs to be some teaching about the distinctive being of the Christian God. Then, following baptism, there has to be the continued ministry in view of sanctification in the continuing life of this disciple as he or she progresses toward being a mature, faithful disciple. This will include further doctrinal instruction and training about God and so many other theological essentials. Part of becoming a Christian disciple involves getting to know God and His relationship to His creation as the Bible reveals it.
So…Why Seminary?
Some people want to say that seminary makes you too bookish, too academic. Some people talk about study and reading and writing as things that are dangerous to development in Christ’s image, and threatening to godly passion for Christ, evangelism and ministry to people. But the truth is quite the contrary. A theological seminary is devoted and dedicated to passing on to you a mastery of basic, biblical, Christian theology, so that you can have the fertile soil within which your distinctly Christ-like relationships and ministries can be planted and flourish.
Moreover, the teaching of theology doesn’t only take place in intellectual activities. It also takes place in and through your relationships at seminary. It takes place in your friendships with fellow students, within a seminary community that can share both the blessings and the struggles that accompany the life-long process of being formed into a disciple through biblical-theological learning and training in making actual life-on-life impact. Such opportunities to gain the basics about how to flourish in ministry also takes place through your relationships with your professors, who are devoted to your progress in Christian discipleship and your development as a Christian minister.
So, here’s the bottom line. Both personal relationships and Christian ministry require theological study. Theological study is a virtue and a blessing, because it is the fertile soil within which and by which, through the mercy of Christ, you become a disciple who relates to God and neighbor in a distinctly Christian manner.
