Theological Indifference

The tragedy is that our eternal welfare depends upon our hearing and we have trained our ears not to hear. — A.W. Tozer

As I look at the Church (the universal church) these days I am struck by the fact that so many believers are indifferent when it comes to theology.  Theology in general is not considered to be important to living daily as believers.  There seem to be whole movements founded on the fact that doctrine is less important (or not important at all) than “living out the gospel”.  The seeker sensitive movement in particular is inundated with the “social gospel” and post-modern humanism which teaches people that anything that divides (doctrine & theology) is to be avoided for the sake of maintaining community unity.

As the Tozer quote alludes to, we have a whole generation of believers that have been trained not to hear certain things.  The consequence is that we have a whole generation of believers that don’t know what they believe and why they believe it.  They have been trained to think that this does not matter, that living out the gospel in community is what really matters.  Living out our faith does matter but it should be a result of our understanding of what our faith teaches us and not what we trust for our salvation.

So, what can we do to remedy this situation.  The answer is not difficult to identify but it might be difficult to implement.  Theology needs to be taught starting at the earliest age possible in our churches.  We need to add an apologetics component as well as a church history aspect.  Over time the problem will be beaten as people are taught and embrace the importance of theology in understanding and living out our faith.

Do you agree?  Are there other steps you would recommend?  Do you believe this is not really a problem?  Leave a comment and tell me, and others, what your thoughts are on this.