The first time I saw the ocean it was a shocking experience. I had heard other people tell me about it and had seen pictures. I even knew the names of the oceans and could identify them on a map. But something about standing on the shore looking out over the vast body of water produced in me a deep sense of awe and made me feel really small.
Now, if in that moment I decided I should sail across the ocean and then jumped into a boat without any supplies, map, or training, I hope someone in their right mind would have stopped me.
In the same way, if I was content to stay on the beach instead of jumping into the ocean, I hope someone in their right mind would have tossed me in.
It is not enough to know about the ocean—we must enter it. It is not enough simply to sail the ocean; if we want to get anywhere, we need a map and the training to navigate it.
Theology Is a Map
God is an infinite ocean, and many people who first encounter him are struck with a deep sense of awe, wonder, and the feeling of being really small.
But Christianity is not primarily about a deep sense of awe, wonder, or the feeling of being really small. It is about entering into the infinite ocean of the life of God (John 17:20-26). And if we want to actually do anything other than drift aimlessly on the water, we need a map and some training.
Theology is the map and the training. Theology is not God, just as the map is not the ocean, but both allow us to navigate effectively and avoid the dangers that come from elementary mistakes.
What Is Theology?
The most basic definition of theology can be stated as thoughts about God. In this sense, anyone who has ever had thoughts about God has a theology and is therefore a theologian.
Unfortunately, the word “theology” carries quite a bit of baggage. If we were to take a survey, it would not surprise me if a majority of people associate theology with either ivory tower scholars who can’t say 10 words without referencing Greek, Hebrew, Latin, the ANE, or some saint in the history of the Church.
In my experience, most people think of theology as a mental exercise only—picture a stuffy study with lots of books, not enough light, and a pale academic who needs to get out more. This image not only makes theology inaccessible (and for sure undesirable), it also betrays the common misunderstanding that only an elite few are theologians and that theology is a mere mental exercise.
To the contrary, theology affects everyone and is inherently practical. It deeply influences every area of our lives, even in ways we don’t realize.
Thinking Rightly about God
If we are to think rightly about God, we must start from the right point and appreciate the complexities regarding our belief about him. The right starting point is God himself and what he has said about us.
So while the thoughts we have about God are extremely important, the most important thing about us is not what we think about God but what he thinks about us. Let that simmer for a minute.
We also must acknowledge that our thoughts about him are not mental only. We are complex people, shaped by our environments, our experiences, the way we were parented, etc. Therefore, our idea of God is not just informed by doctrine; it is formed in us through other factors that mold us.
We can have an accurate intellectual concept about God (information), but experience an emotional projection of him that is inaccurate because of deep wounds (formation). This is why we can intellectually agree that God is love but sometimes struggle to believe that God loves us.
That has implications.
The Danger of Unexamined Theology
Unfortunately, too many of us live unexamined lives. We operate out of ideas and emotional projections of God but fail to critically examine them. We set out on the ocean with no map, no training, and no rudder for our boat. It’s no wonder so many of us feel like we’re drifting.
Too often, we have failed to take God seriously, lacking even the basic information concerning the essentials of Christianity. We have allowed ourselves to be formed by factors that are at least indifferent to God and (at the risk of sounding dramatic) at most demonic.
As C. S. Lewis said:
“If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones.”
And wrong ideas—both intellectual and emotional—are dangerous. They’re dangerous because they contribute to the lens through which we view God, ourselves, and others—the lens that informs the decisions we make. Functionally, we operate out of intellectual and emotional ideas that are simply not true.
To put it bluntly, we believe lies and act out of them.
The Right Response to Theology
The answer to this is not to paint a caricature of theology and then ignore it, nor is it to reduce God to a mere mental exercise so we can fit him in a nice little box and tie a bow on it.
In other words, we should not set out to sea without training, nor should we stay on the shore and stare at maps. The answer is to pick up the map—shaped and formed by God’s self-revelation, his inspired Scripture, the creeds of the Church, and many faithful men and women who have gone before us and sailed the waters well—and set out with brothers and sisters to find the “depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.”
Who doesn’t want to do that?
The Litmus Test of Good Theology
The litmus test for good theology is not to make an A on a theology exam, although that is a worthy endeavor.
The litmus test for good theology is that we:
Think rightly about God because we have put in the work to correctly handle the word of truth.
Encounter God, who is conforming us into the love and image of the Messiah by his Spirit.
If we think rightly about God but are not formed by his love, or if we “love” in ways that are not shaped by an accurate understanding of God, then we’re doing it wrong.
Are You a Good Theologian?
Everyone is a theologian because everyone has thoughts about God. The question is, are we good ones?
Some of you reading this may have believed the ivory tower academic caricature of theology—maybe even for a long time. If so, you have believed a lie, and it has stunted your growth.
This is not a shame statement but an invitation in.
The map is available to you, the ocean is waiting, and Jesus is inviting you:
“Come to me . . . and learn.”
How will you respond?
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
~ Jesus
Nathan Wagnon
Eden Project
1 While the experience was my own, I borrowed the ocean analogy from C. S. Lewis’ chapter “Making and Begetting” in part 4 of Mere Christianity.
2 See You Are What You Love by James K. A. Smith.
3 C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), 155.
