If you’d like to hear President Tim Russell and Pastor Drew Gysi discuss this topic, please click here.

Why Should Christians Care about Theology?

Theology – Knowing who God is. As a Christian, what can be more important than to know more about God?

Theology matters! Unfortunately, many people think that theology is boring and divisive. Yet, we all do theology. We all believe something about God and the Bible!  Those beliefs guide, steer and drive our long-term and everyday actions! Therefore, as Christians, we really need to KNOW and UNDERSTAND what we believe.  And on top of that, it is critical, as believers, that what we believe needs to be shaped by the Gospel.  We need to make sure that our understanding of the Word of God is actually based on the Word of God.  Take a look at this key verse which applies to every one of us, with no exceptions:

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB 95)

We should care about theology because theology shapes the way we live.

As Christian stewardship educators, we know a lot about money and the Scriptures, and we still wrestle with spending desires and Godly stewardship actions as it relates to how we live with money – because we are on this same journey with you!

We also face really difficult decisions and situations that we don’t know the answers to. But, there is one key thing that helps us decide how to move forward. It is understanding Scripture and what God says about the world and how He wants us to live.

Check out Everyone’s a Theologian, by R.C. Sproul

 

Theology matters when it comes to stewardship

Our blog “Gospel Promises for Weary Stewards” is a great example of this. We used theology to come up with Gospel promises to give us hope in times of weariness, challenge, and even despair. Theology, rightly divided, gives fuel to the fire of encouragement and hope.

Theology also gives you ammunition against false doctrines and beliefs. There are false promises out there that constantly deceive believers.

If we have a good grip on Christian theology, we will know what is counterfeit when we come across these false promises. 

Bottom line, Biblical theology, rightly divided, guides you when you are challenged with false teachings, including those false teachings about money, finances and stewardship!

 

Scripture Gives us Wisdom & Guidance

Also, the Scriptures offer wisdom and it prescribes the right way to think and live when it comes to our money!  In these current days you have choices as a believer who to listen to.  You can follow God’s plan for your money, finances and stewardship, or follow the most popular social media influencer of the moment.

On the flip-side of knowing what TO DO with our money, finances and stewardship, the Scriptures also speak to what one ought NOT to do.  Theology matters because if we want to be careful and not offend God’s character, and work toward “making God look good and glorious”, we should know what His Word says to avoid!  And, once we learn this (through rightly dividing the Word of Truth), we then ought to make our best efforts to avoid what God has clearly said to avoid.

 

Doing stewardship without theology can lead to some dangerous results

Theology matters because if you approach stewardship without a solid understanding of who God is, and what His desire is for our lives, you may fall into a few kinds of snares:

  • Loving money more than God
  • Being more concerned about money rather than relationships and people
  • Wealth and security become your end-goal, not your relationship with the Lord, Kingdom building and storing up rewards in Glory for ALL of eternity! (Matthew 6:19-21)

 

How do we get theological truth and apply it to our lives?

Your stewardship and finances are shaped by the Holy and transcendent God who owns all things.  How does God do this?  It is best to put it this way:

In order to understand how we navigate money/stewardship from a Biblical worldview, we MUST first understand how to read, interpret, and apply God’s word.

 

EXPOSITORY APPROACH:

“Expository” means a method of study that presents the truths, concepts, and principles from a passage of Scripture.

The word exposition is related to the word expose—the expository preacher’s goal is simply to expose the meaning of the Bible, verse by verse, looking at it as a whole in that paragraph, then to that chapter, then to the chapter before and after that, then to the entire letter/book writing, and finally to the entirety of the Word of God. Contextual examination exposes the truth of what the author is saying/expressing.

When you and I read the Scriptures, we are looking for what it plainly and clearly says (in context) about money, finances, stewardship, and possessions! It’s as simple as that. Yes, there are certainly truths that take more work to mine than others. However, we always want to let the Scriptures speak the truth of God into our lives instead of us declaring what we think is best, and then attaching Bible verses to it.

 

Where should you start your journey?

If you are just starting out, and you don’t feel like you know a lot of theology, here is a simple plan to get you moving in the right direction:

  • Read your Bible. Read for breadth and depth! (Read a lot and focus well)
  • Familiarize yourself with theological concepts. Check out some commentaries and read good books!
  • Talk to other Christians who are wiser and more knowledgable than you. Seek them out and be discipled.
  • Understand that radical transformations will take time. Transitioning to a Biblical view of life takes time if you were rooted in a secular worldview.

Using the Expository Approach to understanding the Word of God, and applying what you see in the Scriptures, this framework will allow you to understand how God desires us to live in many areas of our lives, including our finances and our stewardship!

 

How does knowing theology change the way I handle my money?

The concepts of Biblical theology and Systematic theology inform our Practical Theology (i.e. how we handle our money)

We won’t have an understanding of practical theology without having a robust understanding of Biblical and systematic theology.

  • Biblical Theology – focuses on the teachings of the individual authors and books of the Bible and places each teaching in the Scriptures’ historical development. (CCU)
  • Systematic Theology – Takes a concept and threads together what the Bible says about that topic, which in our case is money, finances and stewardship.
  • Practical Theology – How do we live in light of what the Word of God says?

 

How does Money fit into all of this?

Scripture has a ton to say about money!

  • Jesus’ teachings about money and possessions make up nearly 15% of everything He says.
  • 1 out of 10 verses in the Gospels deal with money.
  • Nearly 25% of Jesus’ words in the New Testament deal with biblical stewardship.
  • For example, the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl compare the kingdom of heaven to riches.
  • Jesus has more to say about money and possessions than He does about heaven, hell, love, and parenting combined!
  • And finally, it is important to note that Jesus’ words about money are not just passing communication, but almost always, His words are strikingly strong.

Theology matters because today, more than ever with widespread communications that are in the palm of our hands, we are seeing that there are many Christian money influencers taking Bible verses wildly out of context, which creates a damaging false theology about money and stewardship.

Falling into these false theologies and false promises can be disastrous, on many levels, for the believer.

This is why a proper Biblical exposition matters. This is why theology matters.

 

Theology Matters Because it Helps us Follow God’s Plan for Stewardship

As we have stated previously, there are a lot of counterfeits out there that claim to speak the truth of God. The only way that we can identify and avoid these counterfeits is if we know AND apply the truth of God’s Word. We do this by having a proper exposition of the word that will lead to understanding and applying the Biblical truths about money, finances and stewardship.

 

 

 

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