theology: does it even matter?

yesterday i was having a conversation with someone and they said something like, "i'm sick of people talking about theology, talking about something that doesn't even matter. we just need to love people." i want to disagree with that statement, because i think that theology does matter--and it goes hand in hand with loving people.

a. w. tozer wrote that "what you believe about God is the most important thing about you." when you think about it, it makes sense. how we see God changes us; our beliefs really do make us who we are. if i don't truly believe that i am accepted fully in Christ, i'm going to struggle with self-image and trying to please the people around me. if i think that i came to God on my own, i'm going to have pride issues and see myself greater than i really am. if i don't want to learn about the state of our culture, i'm not going to be the best person to engage with it.

i think that i've found that the more i dig into theology, the more i see God for who he truly is. the more i learn about his Word and the more i understand my Bible, what i am reading, and the people around me, the more equipped i am to handle hard questions, to handle humanity that surrounds me. i have a keener eye for darkness in my own life and in our world. and i am more moved to love out of the love that God has for me, because it is continually proven to me over and over again--something i desperately need because of my unbelief. but if i wasn't learning and thinking, i think my heart would get harder than it already is at the pace of a roadrunner. i would be dead in both mind and spirit, and i would never be refreshed. i want to have a more right theology tomorrow than i do today, i want to get closer to God's truth than i have ever been before.