“But don’t take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God’s ways had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenants and promises in Israel, hadn’t a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.”
Ephesians 2:12-13
I have never changed my own oil.
But to heap shame upon shame, I must confess this: I don’t want to change my own oil.
That’s not to say I don’t think that skill is valuable; I do—very much so, in fact. But I have grown to accept that I know some stuff about some stuff, and car maintenance isn’t on that list. Fortunately for me, some men and women in this specialized field have their own list of things they know about. And it’s okay with me that my list of things doesn’t intersect their list of things.
This works in almost any area of specialization. But there is one pervasive area of knowledge that we must not assign to “the experts.”
Theology.
If you’re a Christian, you MUST be your own theologian. There is no other choice.
You probably think I’ve lost my mind, but bear with me.
The word “theology” simply means the study of God. And all of us, even if we are atheists, are students of God. We all have opinions. We all have thoughts. At one time or another, we all have stared into the night sky and wondered, What’s it all about?
Whether we recognize it or not, we are all God-thinkers. We are hard-wired to be so.
But for Christians, this escalates to another level. And I turn to the Apostle Paul to tell us why, specifically in the book of Ephesians.
Ephesians contains all kinds of relevant and practical material. In fact, Paul will tell you about being a husband, a wife, a daughter, a son, an employer, and an employee. He will tell you how to resist common, everyday temptations like greed, lust, and anger. He will tell you something as practical as “Don’t turn off the light when you’re still mad at your spouse” Ephesians 4:26 MSG. (My paraphrase)
In fact, Paul gives 41 commands in the book of Ephesians. But here’s the thing: Of those 41 commands, 40 occur in chapters 4-6.
There is only 1 command in the first 3 chapters of Ephesians. (Ephesians 2:12 MSG)
Why?
Paul wants to ensure we know the theology behind the commands.
In Ephesians 1-3, Paul gives us a big-picture view of life and God. He reminds us that we were dead in our sins until Christ rescued us because of His grace and love (Ephesians 2:1-5). He ensures we know that the church has a cosmic purpose in the universe (Ephesians 2:6). He shows us how our unity reflects the power of the gospel (Ephesians 2:14-18). And he does all that before telling us not to go to bed angry.
We can’t leave theology to the “experts.” We MUST be theologians. All of us.
Because if we don’t know what we think and know about God, how can we possibly tell others not just the “how” that He changed our lives, but the “why?”
And that, my friends, is theology.
Written by Michael Kelley, Guest Contributor
DIG DEEPER
Read “Would You Recognize a Watered-Down Gospel?” by Bryant Wright
