The State of Theology – 2022

Every two years, Ligonier Ministries partners up with Lifeway Research and they put out a survey to measure The State of Theology. They ask a series of questions regarding Orthodox Christian beliefs, the same questions every time, to see what Americans believe about God, salvation, ethics, and the Bible. The State of Theology is almost like a diagnostic tool to see how Christians in America understand culture versus Biblical worldviews. And, it can be used to help equip the church to respond to these trends, both in culture and in Christian orthodoxy (and the lack thereof).

If you read the survey and you’re an unbeliever, you might agree, you might disagree, but I would think that you may not understand the gravitas of the questions AND of the responses. If you’re a believer, you may or may not understand the gravity of what these mean. For those who do understand, this offers a bleak view into what has become of much of the church, the “western church”, or, as I refer to it sometimes, Americanized Christianity.

So, in light of how difficult reading through the results has been, I offer two solutions, suggestions some might call them, but commands they should be; commands from the Scriptures themselves. First, pray. We must pray for doctrinal unity amongst believers, amongst the church universal. We must pray that pastors and leaders, Sunday school teachers and parents alike, take a stand and understand that theology, the study of God, matters. The statement “Theology Matters” leads to my second solution, discipleship. We, as the catholic church, must take discipleship seriously—true, orthodox Christian discipleship-for there is no substitute. One of my favorite passages from Psalms addresses this very issue:

“Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.” (Psalm 78:1–8, ESV)

So, I urge you, whether you are a pastor or parent, child or adult, leader or lay person, each and every one of you must pray. Pray for wisdom and discernment in all that you do, for opportunities to proactively disciple those around you. As talked about in Titus 2, the older, more mature believers discipling the younger. This is not an option, but a call to arms. This is not a passing trend, but a wake-up call for the desperate need for the Bible in our lives. Regardless of age or of how long you’ve been a believer, we need to study God, we need proper orthodox theology. Now let’s pick up our Bibles and go.