Theology Gone To The Head

Yes theology can be a dangerous thing. That is no fault of theology itself. The fault lies with the sinful heart of man. The proud sinful heart of man to be precise.We've all encountered such individuals who have all the right theology. They can expound and defend the doctrines of grace with precision. They have all their theological I's dotted and T's crossed. They love to talk about all the major doctrines and are very great at proclaiming them. They are passionate about the discussion on supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism. They go into depth on the ordo salutis. They love all the five solas. They cherish and adore the creeds and confessions. To simplify, they have the mind of a theologian but the heart of Pharaoh.

Therein lies the danger. These men can speak of the truth but their hearts seem far from humbled by them. They have the right doctrines but their hearts are cold and and as hard as stone. They act pompously when others disagree with their cherished non essential doctrines. They demonstrate no fruit of the Spirit and lack love for the brethren, which mind you is the main way Christ said that all will know we are His (Jn 13:35, 1Jn. 4:7-21). They seems to especially eschew anyone that is outside of their theological camp. That which is meant (theology) to take the sinner before the throne of Christ and humble Him before the almighty and then others, is distorted to puff up the sinner. It is theology gone to the head. It is dangerous and quite obnoxious. The Apostle Paul puts it this way:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Cor. 13:1-7 emphasis mine).

Theology gone to the head is real, my friends. These people are not on the outside looking in, they are on the inside looking out (or so they think).They are right smack in the middle proclaiming and articulating but seldom loving. The sad thing is, is that these individuals are so familiar with the right theological language that they even distort the word "love" to justify their scorn and hatred of the brethren. Let me add that they are both old and young.

To be sure theology is a must. One cannot worship the Triune God apart from proper theology. But that is for another article. For now I am concerned with the danger of theology gone to the head. A theology that misses the heart is a theology gone to the head.

Here are some final words from Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

The business of the Christian faith is not to give us a knowledge of theology. You can have a great knowledge of theology and still not know God. I am the last man to decry theology, one of the greatest troubles is the lack of a knowledge of theology, but I say you may have a knowledge of theology and still be a stranger to the love of God.

...True theology always moves the heart

...Oh, you can boast of your understanding of theology, you can feel proud of yourself. But your real reason for studying and reading is to show off your great knowledge. I have known people who have had, it seems to me, nothing but a purely technical interest in the Bible. They are clever at turning up this and that verse and comparing them. They have topics and words all neatly classified. In a minute they can give you an analysis of a whole book of the Bible. But that is not true knowledge of the Scripture.

...Generally speaking, the truly great thinker is a humble man. It is ‘a little learning’ that ‘is a dangerous thing’.*

*Sargent, T. (2007). Gems from Martyn Lloyd-Jones: An Anthology of Quotations from 'the Doctor' (295-296). Milton Keynes, England; Colorado Springs, CO; Hyderabad, AP: Paternoster.