God wants to be the object of our love. Not the subject of our study.

Hello

Jesus told us that the most important commandment is that we should love God.

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'” (Mark 12:28-30. See also Matthew 22:34-38; Luke 10:25-28)

That’s it. Jesus says the most important commandment is that we love our heavenly Father. Our Father loves us and he wants us to return that love.

Unfortunately, over the years, we Christians have developed the idea that our loving Father should be a subject for study. OK, some people love to study. For at least one of my friends, studying God and loving God are the same thing. Not for me, and not for most people on the planet, I would think. Is our Father only interested in people who like to study or are capable of study? Of course not. So why do so many Christian leaders and teachers stress the importance of bible study when the first and greatest commandment is that we should love God? I don’t know the answer to that question. But I do know that, for me, loving our loving Father means spending time with him in prayer.

Emphasizing the importance of bible study may discourage many people who, like me, are not studious types. (I should acknowledge at this point that I spent many years studying at a seminary and I have a master’s degree in Divinity. All I can say about that is to repeat that I am not a studious type, but our loving, heavenly Father wanted me to study and he carried me through it.)

What did Jesus say about studying scripture? Nothing. He never encouraged his own followers to study scripture, and he criticized the religious leaders of his day for the way they studied scripture saying:

“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, but it is they that bear witness about me, yet you do not want to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40)

Jesus also said something quite remarkable:

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. (Matthew 11:25-26. See also Luke 10:21.)

Got that? God gets pleasure from hiding things from the wise and learned and revealing them to little children. Yet, throughout our history, Christians have gone the world’s way; paying attention to the wise and learned – the people with degrees. (Yes. I know I’ve already said that I have a masters degree in Divinity. Does this mean you should stop reading what I have to say? I leave it to you to decide.)

There are a few examples of people who are, today, regarded as great Christian teachers but who were not well-educated. (My favorite is Brother Lawrence, see link below.)

Let’s talk about theology. (I promise this won’t be boring.)

Let’s talk very briefly about theology. “Theology” or “systematic theology” is the formal study of God and our Bible.

According to my Oxford English Dictionary, “theology” is:

“The study of the nature of God and religious belief.” or “Religious beliefs and theory when systematically developed.”

And “systematic” means:

“done or acting according to a fixed plan or system; methodical.”

How far away from the warmth and intimacy of loving our loving Father can you get?

I once asked a friend who lectures in Systematic Theology if he could identify one undisputed truth that theology has revealed in the last 1700 years. After a few seconds thought he said, “That’s not what theology is for”. Don’t ask me what it is for. I’m not the person to answer that question.

I reckon that theology has probably done more to create division between members of Jesus’ church than anything else. People argue over issues that are not important. How can we decide whether an issue is important? One way is to ask whether anyone’s eternal salvation is dependent on what they believe about the issue. If the answer is “no”, then the issue is probably not worth arguing over, and it is probably a distraction from getting on with the important stuff, which is obeying the commands of Jesus (See the article “What does Jesus want his followers to do?”. Link below.)

Importantly, it is very unusual to hear Christians disagreeing about the commands of Jesus. We tend to disagree about human teachings.

You may be getting the impression I don’t like theology. You’re right. I don’t. Here are some quotes. Feel free to use them.

“Theology is the devil’s strategy for making sure that many of Christianity’s best and brightest minds spend their time doing something that is almost completely useless. They argue with each other over doctrines and theories while billions of people in our suffering world desperately need to hear the good news and be discipled.”

Peter Oliver

“Studying Theology is like panning for gold. You have to spend a lot of time working your way through large amounts of worthless mud to find, on rare occasions, one or two tiny bright specks that are going to make you very slightly richer.”

Peter Oliver

“Theologians: Determined to determine the indeterminable… interminably.”

Peter Oliver

I hope this has been helpful. Please leave a comment or email me if you’d like to talk about it some more. peter@followtheteachingsofjesus.com

May our loving Father bless us and encourage us as we walk the path he walks with us.

Peter O

Related Articles

“Loving God, the good parent.”

“How does the devil attack the church? Answer 4 – Distraction.”

“What does Jesus want his followers to do?”

“What did Jesus say about prayer?”

“Brother Lawrence”