How Our Theology Fuels Our Ministry
“I know theology is ultimately irrelevant, but—” I paused mid-sentence as I saw the mortified expression on my college professor’s face. I don’t even remember what my question was or where my sentence was going, but I do remember his gaping mouth.
You know those embarrassing moments that you look back on and cringe, even fifteen years later? That’s one for me. In any case, my professor was kind and walked me through a better way to think about theology. You see, somewhere along my spiritual growth journey, I had picked up the false idea that theology doesn’t matter, because “all that matters is our faith in Jesus.” But, in fact, theology is essential, because we have to believe something about God in the first place if we’re going to trust him. And we can’t believe what we don’t know. Furthermore, we can’t love who we don’t know.
Theology, or the study of God, affects everything we do. From purchasing clothes to ministering to others, our theology informs our practical living. Theology fuels us to keep our eyes on Christ and pursue him in all we do (Heb. 12:2).
“We can’t believe what we don’t know. Furthermore, we can’t love who we don’t know.”
A Life of Ministry
We might not all be called to vocational ministry, but following Christ requires that we sacrifice our own lives to humbly serve him by serving others (Matt. 16:24–25). We are to take up our cross and endure difficult circumstances because we identify with Christ. In doing so, we might lose some of the pleasures of this world, but we gain the joy of eternity for our souls. When we step into the universal Church as a follower of Christ, among other things we enter a new world of service. This doesn’t mean we forsake our families, jobs, homes, or other important areas of our lives, but there is indeed, a sacrifice of time, finances, and energy for the growth of God’s kingdom.
A lack of theology (or a lack of love for it) makes a difference in how a person serves. Imagine you’re serving in ministry with someone who loves theology and someone who doesn’t. Whether you’re singing on stage or cleaning toilets—what differences would you see between those two people?
Here are a few areas where I think we’d see differences.
Fuel for Perseverance
Ministry can be really hard; from serving in the nursery to groundskeeping to singing and preaching, you might experience a lack of gratitude and/or criticism. The music is too loud, the nursery is too small, the sermon is too long. Complaints, lack of gratitude, and difficult conditions all make serving less than desirable at times.
Why continue to serve in exhaustion or annoyance from the demands and criticisms of ministry if we don’t know the God we serve?
Without knowing why one serves God, a preacher or teacher may put less effort into the content and delivery. Caregivers for children during services might find it frustrating to care for “difficult” children. Maintaining a clean environment might matter less to a custodian.
A number of verses in Scripture point us to service even when it’s hard or inconvenient (Gal. 6:9; Heb. 12:1–2). Perseverance in doing good for others is easier when we know we’ve been encouraged in Scripture and when we know the encouragement of finding rest in Christ (Matt. 11:28–30). Christ offers comfort and rest for the tired, the criticized, and the spent. If we serve without knowing these truths, our fuel for ministry will quickly run dry.
Fuel for the Right Motive
Theology regarding God’s view of a Christian’s standing before God makes all the difference for the motive behind serving. Does one serve because she thinks service will make her stand taller than others before God? Or does she serve knowing that she cannot do anything to make God love her anymore or any less?
Our faith in Christ means we have the position of Christ’s righteousness before the Father (Phil. 3:7–9; Rom. 4:4–5). No amount of ministry service gives us more or less of Christ’s righteousness. If someone is involved in ministry to gain favor, she will become tired, bored, or defeated. She’ll never do enough, because there will always be more to do to gain favor. God is not pleased when our motives are self-centered.
But—thanks be to God—we can rest in the work Christ did for us and the fact that he accomplished the only way to make us perfect before God (Heb. 10:8–10). We can serve in ministry knowing that even when it’s not perfect, or we have to say “no,” or back out of a commitment, our standing before God is not changed. Our faith in Christ is the same, and God sees us the same—as his child wearing the righteousness of Christ.
“No amount of ministry service gives us more or less of Christ’s righteousness.”
Fuel for Serving All People, Not Some
Our knowledge of God ought to drive us to more deeply love those whom he created—that’s everyone (Gen. 1:27). Every single person, believer or unbeliever, bears God’s beautiful image and deserves to be loved by the church (Gal. 6:10).
Everyone matters, but sometimes we’re very aware how serving one person may be more rewarding than serving someone else. Maybe house sitting for an affluent person will result in a generous gift while making a meal for someone whose paycheck was stretched too far won’t gain you any worldly privileges. (It’s not bad to serve the wealthy; we just can’t prioritize them because of what we may receive in return.)
Maybe someone requires our service but that someone is extremely difficult to tolerate. Is she prone to irritability, rudeness, or just general unpleasantness? Perhaps she’s hard to love, but she still matters, and when we consider some of God’s attributes, we have great encouragement in serving the hard-to-love. Knowing who God is and knowing his Word makes a world of difference in how we serve.
For example, knowing that God is patient and longsuffering with us reminds us that we deserve the opposite (Rom. 2:4; Ex. 34:6). We are the hard-to-love ones. And so, when others are hard to love, we are helped if we know what God is like toward us. God is patient with us, so we can be patient with others.
Ministry Without Theology
Is ministry without theology worth it? Maybe, but it’s harder and emptier. I’m willing to wager there are a good amount of kind and loving Christians who serve in various areas that lack a love for theology. Perhaps those people would feel more encouraged, less tired or apathetic, and more capable or equipped when ministry is difficult if they knew of the value of theology. Knowledge about who God is, how he interacts with people, and how that plays out practically in our daily lives is extremely helpful when it comes to serving others.
Using the weekend to decorate the church has a different feel when we consider God’s love for creative aesthetics and beauty. Cleaning and groundskeeping is more meaningful when we consider that God cares for the earth and everything in it. Caring for the sick or those in need is life-giving when we remember that we were sick and in need when God pursued us.
Countless more examples exist, but we cannot know or understand these things without prioritizing the study of who God is. Pursuing theology is never a mistake and when it comes to ministry, it will only equip us and strengthen us to fulfill the tasks God has for us on this side of glory.
Kelly Ottaway lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband and children. Kelly serves at her local church in various areas, and practices as a Licensed Professional Counselor at a crisis pregnancy center in Ontario and a private practice in Jackson, Michigan. You can follow more of her writing on Substack.
MORE FROM JOURNEYWOMEN
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen articles are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select writers each week, articles shared on the Journeywomen website do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the authors or any other resources mentioned.
