I had a conversation recently with a person who grew up in a Christian home and now is married with three kids of his own. We were conversing about some of the challenges of raising kids and discipling them into the fear and the knowledge of the Lord. We reflected on the ways that we both had been brought up in the church, and we both wished that we had been given the opportunity to know more about a system of theology. You see, knowing Bible stories is important, but how do they all fit together? We know that Paul writes to churches, but what exactly makes up a church? Who should be in charge, is it necessary anyway?

Systems of theology help us understand how all our Bible knowledge comes together. It is kind of like flesh and muscles and tendons are all the Bible stories (Biblical theology) and verses we know, and systematic theology is the bones on which all soft tissue hangs. Both need each other to make a fully functional body. My friend made an interesting observation when he told me that certain churches in the Flathead valley do a good job at attracting people who wouldn’t normally come to church, while others do a good job at this or that, but not many churches do a good job at equipping people with a system of theology that helps them actually grow as disciples. Would it not be great if we could be a bit of both! While we may need to work on areas of our church, I certainly want to be a church that not only makes disciples, but matures disciples as well.