Know Your Theology
“How much arsenic is too much arsenic in your diet?” I had a friend ask me this one time and it was some interesting food for thought (pun sort of intended). It may not be considered poison, but I often eat things that aren’t that good for me. I love a good piece of prime rib, marbled with fat, and I even eat the fat with it. I know that isn’t good. Or when my sweet tooth gets the best of me, I’ll buy myself a box of candy and notice that the serving size says something like “5 pieces” but I interpret it as “5 handfuls.” That much candy isn’t good for me. Or have you ever noticed that a 20-ounce bottle of soda is two servings? Who is capping off a bottle after half of it? No, we finish what we started.
Many of these foods aren’t good for our bodies, yet we are willing to take the risks because we enjoy what we’re eating. So, what we are really saying is that some “poison” in our bodies is OK. We’re willing to put harmful things in our bodies willingly, whether it’s too many sweets, fatty foods, drugs, alcohol, or some other poison because somehow, we think that just a little bit is OK.
Our mindsets can quickly change after we’ve done damage to our bodies though. I know of someone whose body is shutting down because of years of drinking. He never thought of drinking as a poison. It was social. It was “under control.” He had many good times drinking. Needless to say, now he wishes that he never started drinking in the first place. The physical pain and the pain that his declining health has had on his family now make him think that even a little poison was too much.
And it would be one thing if we actually had the willpower to keep the doses of things that are unhealthy to a minimum. But often, we lack the self-control. As the great poets, Guns N’ Roses, once wrote, “I used to do a little, but a little wouldn’t do it, so the little got more and more.” The little bit of poison that we put in our bodies can easily grow and get out of control until we’re left in addiction, helpless, and maybe even hopeless.
How much arsenic is too much arsenic for the body? It’s a great question. An even greater question is “How much poison in your theology is too much poison?” (Theology = study of God). How many lies or errors can you believe and not have it affect your spiritual life? There are lies all around us that we believe that have negative effects on our spiritual lives. For example, when bad things happen in life, we often believe that God is against us. He is the one who sends bad things to happen in our lives. He is the one who is out to get us. In believing this, we have ingested poison that is harmful to our souls! We’ve ignored the truth of the Bible which tells us that Satan and his forces of sin are our enemy and that God is our Savior who has come to give us life! These lies, the poison, keeps us from knowing the truth and turns us against God.
We believe other lies too. We believe things like, “I can forgive him, I just don’t have to like him,” (even though Jesus said, “love your enemies,” Luke 6:35). Or “God helps those who help themselves,” (which isn’t in the Bible). Or, “I can get away with my sin because I can always run back to God and He’ll forgive me,” (Paul wrote, “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? By no means! – Romans 6:1). We don’t like the teaching of hell, so we disregard it. We explain away God’s laws because they’re “antiquated.” These are some “drastic” examples, but we also take in the poison of bad theology, too. In the age of YouTube preachers and podcasts, can we discern what good, Biblical preaching is? Can we identify bad theology in the worship songs that we sing? In all of these beliefs, and so many more besides, we may be taking poison which harms our souls! As we live in this world, we will always be surrounded by lies that only seek to separate us from God.
So, what are we to do?? Know your theology. Know what the Bible says. Read it and seek to understand it! Read what theologians have been regarding as good theology for thousands of years! Seek to stretch yourself in your knowledge of Scripture so that when the lies and half-truths of the world meet you, you can combat them with the truth of Scripture!
Knowing good theology that is rooted in Scripture will only become more important as the days move forward. Satan, the world, and our own sinful flesh will constantly try to deceive us and will constantly try to get us to believe bad theology, a poison to our souls. By guarding truth and knowing good theology, we will find rest and comfort as we understand Him and His incredible love more and more. To grow in our study of God will keep us rooted so that we may have life and have it to the fullest!
If you don’t know where to start on learning good theology, please come talk to me! I have many resources and places to help you get started on this journey that I would love to share with you!
Sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Evan