Taken from pages 30 and 31:
One leader told me he wasn't interested in theology because it only causes divisions. He said his theology was Jesus.
While I appreciate the simple devotion to Christ behind his comment, it raises a few questions. As we lead others in worship, how will we clarify who Jesus is?
When we're dodgy about our theology, we're really saying we want our own Jesus. But our worship isn't based on people's personal opinions, ideas, or best guesses about Jesus. Nor should we base our understanding of Him on anyone's personal experiences. He has a name, a particular history, and a specifically revealed body of teaching. God has theology; will we sharpen our own biblical understanding to find out who it is?
You might respond, "But doesn't doctrine divide the church?"
Many of the most precious truths we live by were more clearly defined as a response to heresy. The result has been clarity and agreement on foundational truths from God's Word that the church has cherished for centuries. Truth has often been tested and confirmed in the fires of controversy and conflict.
"But doesn't doctrine and theology make life complicated?"
Theology and doctrine make life simpler. They protect us from reading verses out of context, restricting our diet to favorite passages, and making decisions based on impulse rather than truth. They put meat on concepts we tend to use mindlessly... They help us understand what we're actually doing every Sunday.
What complicates life is not doctrine but ignorance of doctrine.