Everyone is a Theologian
Everyone is a theologian. When I say theologian, I do not think of monks in secluded places or scholars in ivory-towers smoking pipes. I do not necessarily think of men or women with bible or theology degrees. I think of ordinary people like you and me. I think of mothers and fathers, adults and teenagers and children too! I think of doctors, lawyers, military servicemen, construction workers, servers, baristas, bartenders, nurses, realtors, business owners, and entrepreneurs alike.
Everyone is a theologian for at least two reasons. First, everyone has thoughts about God. Whether you are Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, atheist, or believe in "the Force." Every person has an idea of who he/she/it is attainable or distant, transcendent or immanent, whether he is real or a figment of the imagination. Secondly, everyone is a natural theologian because everyone has thoughts and opinions about the world and everything in it. Some call it their worldview others their metanarrative. Whether we use philosophical language or everyday terminology, we all have answers to some of life's biggest questions: Is there a God? What is the purpose of life? Is there life after death? What is right and wrong? Or what is "truth"?
Author and theologian, A.W. Tozer, famously said, "what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." What did he mean by this? He meant that how we view God affected everything about us. Whether we view God as holy or down-to-earth or non-existent, our view of God affects everything we see, feel, think, and do.
And if our view of God affects the way we live or the choices we make, it is essential to think right thoughts about him so that we answer life's biggest questions with a right thinking-grid. Nothing is more wasteful than going about life doing what we think is most important only to find out that we missed the mark or have done less than what God desired of us. We all desire to do something meaningful. We all desire to live for something greater than ourselves. The best way to do this is to think rightly about the Maker and Ruler of all things. We do this by understanding him through his revelation of himself through his word and his world. And as Christians, God tells us we can know him through his Son––Jesus Christ.
When Jesus was on earth he taught the greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37–38).
Notice that part of loving God is to love him with your mind. Not just your heart but with your mind as well. This is to say that we cannot love someone truly without getting to know and understand them rightly. And if we truly love God, as we do our friends and family, we will take the time to get to know him personally and accurately. So, let's love him with our mind, our will, our emotion–– all that we are, for in this is our lives most effective and in this is God most pleased.
