Mike Wagner & Pastor David Tank
3-Minute Theologian
God is Theology Proper | S2:E1
8 / 26 / 2024
Mike: Welcome to the 3-Minute Theologian. A theology podcast about what we believe, written by the pastors at Waukee Community Church. I’m your host, Mike Wagner, and today I have Pastor Tank joining me in the studio for the kickoff of season two!
Tank, thanks for being here:
Tank: Hey Mike, thanks for having me, and thanks for hosting again! I’m super excited to be jumping again into this podcast about Systematic Theology with our church family.
Mike: Alright. Last season, Pastor Dave said Systematic Theology divides what we believe into ten big buckets. What can we expect for this new season of 3-Minute Theologian?
Tank: So, in S1, we looked into the category of Bibliology. --what we believe about the Bible.
Now in S2, we’re focusing on Theology proper --what we believe about God himself.
Mike: The word, theology means “study of God” right?
Tank: Yes. We use it both as an umbrella term for the study of doctrine as a whole,
but it also specifically refers to what we know about God in particular.
So, some of the topics that we’ll be discussing this season include:
• The Trinity
• God’s Attributes
• His Sovereignty
• Why God allows evil and suffering…
And all these things will help us know God better.
Mike: You know, this sounds fantastic. But, while I like theology, and I know you like theology, why is this important for the average person at Waukee Community Church?
Do all Christians need to know Theology proper, or is this just a hobby for us nerds?
Tank: Yeah, Mike! All Christians need a theology of God, because all people need to know God!
In Mark chapter 12, Jewish leaders are testing Jesus, and they ask him: “What is the most important commandment?” And Jesus answers, citing the Old Testament:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
and with all your mind, and with all your strength. (Mark 12:29-30)
The greatest command in the Bible for you and me is to know God.
Mike: Alright, but what does that have to do with learning theology proper?
Tank: So, loving God means knowing him, and we can only love God so far as we know him.
• If loving God is the most important thing we can do.
• Theology Proper is how we learn more about God.
• And yet, knowing theology is more than just an academic exercise: it is an attitude.
The Greatest Commandment says that we are to love God not just with our feelings, but
• With all of our heart and mind,
• With all of our life and being, and
• With every resource and opportunity.
What we believe about God, shapes the kind of people we become.
• So, we can’t escape the study of God.
• All of us are theologians.
Mike: This reminds me of a famous quote written by St. Augustine (a fourth-century pastor)
In his autobiography, the Confessions, he says about God:
You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for
yourself… our heart is restless until it rests in you. (Augustine, Confessions, 1.1.1)
Tank: That quote gets it exactly right, Mike! We need theology proper because we were not made for ourselves. We were made for God.
Mike: We live in this world filled with videos, headlines, notifications, and constant distractions, But theology reminds us about what’s most important. That God is most important.
Tank: We need to regularly pause --to take at least three minutes and consider the glory of our God. Because God wants you and me to know him and to love him. And there can be no greater pursuit in this life than that. And that’s what Theology Proper is all about.
Mike: Thanks, Tank. New episodes release every Tuesday and Friday. We hope all you theologians will join us again, next time, for 3-Minute Theologian.
We hope all you theologians, will join us again, next time, for 3-Minute Theologian.
12 сен 2024
