Theology is something that certain Christians hold way too highly in their lives. Theology is the study of the Bible and that is all it was meant to be. However, as people seem to get smarter, they seem to understand this less.

I am not a genius; in fact, I am very dumb. The only reason I can understand the Bible is through the Helper that Jesus tells us He will send in John 14:16, known as the Holy Spirit, and the wisdom being gifted to me from God. This fact humbles me. Knowing that I am too dumb to understand Scripture on my own is how God keeps my pride in check and forces me to stay humble enough to ask Him for help instead of relying on the nonexistent wisdom that I have earned.

However, as I look at the church right now, I see that intellectual people are spending less and less time in Scripture and instead have their noses buried in an apologetics book. Now, I am not immune to this act of reading theological books more than I read Scripture. In fact, up until a few weeks ago, I would go days without reading the Bible because I read a theology book that day and thought it was the same. What a fool I was.

There is no inherent problem with reading theological books; the problem stems from where we get our worldview and what sources we use to build that worldview. If you base your opinions on infant baptism solely on what a theologian said, then you are a fool. As Christians, our opinions should come from the Bible, not what Spurgeon or Sproul says.

The body of Christ, as of late, has slowly forgotten how to supplement their faith versus feed their faith. When you eat dinner, do you just eat vitamin gummies and take all the magnesium or iron pills you can stomach? No, instead you eat real solid food. It is the same with Scripture; Scripture is real, solid food that our spiritual body needs to sustain itself, and sermons and outside books are only supplements. Scripture must be consumed to grow the spiritual body in the same way food must be eaten to grow the physical body.

There is nothing wrong with taking supplements; however, they should be taken to help digest Scripture and meditate on it or help fill in the gaps where you do not understand Scripture. However, even filling in the gap with supplements is a last resort, not a first option. Scripture is sufficient, and it can interpret itself in a way a commentary cannot, so use Scripture first and base your doctrine on that, not a sermon or an outside book.

I ask the reader not to cut out all supplements entirely, but instead to take them only when needed.

All Glory to God, Amen.