I arrived home after church one Sunday. We had just started a brand-new series called, “A Firm Foundation.” The eleven-week series focused on the core doctrine of the church.
As I sat down for lunch with my family, my daughter Hayley rattled off these three questions to me:
If Jesus is God’s Son, how can He be God too?
If Jesus died, how can He be God?
What happens to our bodies in heaven?
Even as a pastor, I felt overwhelmed trying to explain these theological tenets to a preschooler. I also felt sobered to have this conversation with my daughter at this early age.
Theology might seem dry and boring to you. Theology might seem more like a debate to be won. Theology may seem like it’s for pastors and professors.
My four-year-old is a theologian. In those three questions she’s wrestling with immanence and transcendence of God. And you know…you’re a theologian too.
We read The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones as a family. To understand how to apply the Bible to our lives we have to recognize the rich theology these stories communicate. Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit reveals the sinfulness of humanity and the effects on our lives today. The birth of Jesus displays His divinity and humanity. The death and resurrection of Jesus reveals our salvation.
As Lloyd-Jones reminds us throughout the whole book, “You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love his children—with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.”
Ultimately, theology leads us back to Jesus and the gospel. It’s not some cold subject for a classroom. In engaging theology we realize the scope of the story of God. We learn and apply the gospel to our identity—the good, bad, and ugly. Ultimately, it leads us to a deeper and more profound worship of our Creator.
So theology is not just for professors and pastors. It’s for you. The more you realize that, the deeper your faith will go.
Peter Englert is Adult Ministries Director at Browncroft Community Church. He graduated from the University of Valley Forge with a B.A. in Pastoral Ministry and a M.A. in Theology. He also blogs at smallgroupnetwork.com and peterenglert.com
