A young man was sitting on the very last row in his classroom sound asleep while the teacher taught. Unbeknownst to the sleeping student, the principal was in the hallway observing his nodding head and closed eyes. After a few moments, the principal barged into the classroom and asked the teacher, “Do you know Stephen is sleeping in the back of your class?” After the teacher acknowledged that he did, the principal said, “What are you going to do about it?” The teacher responded, “Nothing. He’s a lot better behaved when he’s sleeping.” Perhaps you could have related to Stephen while you were in school. Chances are that when test time comes for Stephen, though, he won’t be behaving: he’ll be grouchy, irritable, stressed, and possibly short-tempered, because he slept through class.
The same is often true for some people: they “misbehave” outside class, because they have a habit of sleeping through class. They didn’t learn the important things that they needed to know in regard to how to behave and respond to the things happening around them.
I believe a lot of people respond poorly to their past, because they have been sleeping through theology class. Right theology is the key to responding right to the things that have happened to us in our past. When we read the word theology we often think of some stuffy academic content that has no relevance to our lives today. R.C. Sproul said the following about theology:
“No Christian can avoid theology. Every Christian is a theologian. Perhaps not a theologian in the technical or professional sense, but a theologian, nonetheless. The issue for Christians is not whether we are going to be theologians but whether we are going to be good theologians or bad ones.”
As I have worked with people over the years, I have seen direct improvements in their feelings of depression, guilt, discouragement, and fear as their knowledge of God (i.e. theology) has grown. These people were not just reading their Bible and attending church. They were reading their Bible and attending church with an alertness to find out more about God! They didn’t just learn about God, they started becoming doers of the Word and applying what they knew about God to their everyday lives.
I’m afraid too many people are sleeping through theology class and wondering why they think, behave, and react the way they do. Too much is at stake. By God’s grace, may we stay alert this week and learn more about our wonderful God.
I’m praying for our church to be students who are awake in theology class!