"...Who are You, Lord?..." Acts 9:5
Theology. It is a tragedy of unspeakable proportions that this word has somehow become associated with something dry, a bit cold, and far more ethereal than practical. The word basically means “the study or doctrine of God”. And if anything, but anything, was meant to take our breath away, set fire to our hearts, and radically alter the steps of our lives; surely this is it. A.W. Tozer puts it so well in his classic work, “The Knowledge of the Holy”. Please, please don’t pass over his words quickly or lightly:
“If some watcher or holy one who has spent his glad centuries by the sea of fire were to come to earth, how meaningless to him would be the ceaseless chatter of the busy tribes of men. How strange to him and how empty would sound the flat, stale, and profitless words heard in the average pulpit from week to week. And were such a one to speak on earth would he not speak of God? Would he not charm and fascinate his hearers with rapturous descriptions of the Godhead? And after hearing him could we ever again consent to listen to anything less than theology, the doctrine of God? Would we not thereafter demand of those who would presume to teach us that they speak to us from the mount of divine vision or remain silent altogether?”
How I love his statement, “And were such a one to speak on earth would he not speak of God? Would he not charm and fascinate his hearers with rapturous descriptions of the Godhead?” What could possibly be more endlessly fascinating, unimaginably heart ravishing, or thoroughly life transforming than an all-out assault to answer the question which dominated the whole of Paul’s life – “Who are You, Lord ?” (Acts 9:5). These were the first words he ever spoke to our Lord, the first question he ever asked Him. And his white-hot pursuit to personally and intimately answer this question became the unrivaled priority of his life - “That I may know Him…” (Phil. 3:10-15). It was the answer to this question that sustained him in his last hours - “…nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know Whom I have believed…” (II Tim. 1:12)
I seriously doubt you could convince Paul that theology was dry, dull, or seemingly impractical. Easier to convince an adolescent male that sex is boring or a young maiden that she will yawn at her wedding. No, theology properly pursued, is the greatest adventure entrusted to man. May God grant that none of us settle for anything less.
