John Piper argues that “wimpy theology makes wimpy women.” We get “wimpy theology” by choosing to let others tell us who God is rather than getting to know him for ourselves through his revelation to us, the Bible. We listen to songs about God, read books about God, we hear speakers who talk about God, and that’s good enough for us. No need to wade through the actual Bible ourselves.
But wimpy theology is dangerous. It keeps us from truly understanding our purpose here on this earth. It turns us away from Truth, it opens us up to be swayed by “every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). Wimpy theology destroys friendships, wrecks marriages. It creates self-absorbed people who train others to be as self-absorbed as they are. It is dangerous.
But it is preventable – we prevent wimpy theology by spending time in God’s word, digging into it, wrestling through the tough parts, “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). We prevent it by being like the Bereans (Acts 17) who examined the word of God to make sure what they were being taught was true. We don’t believe everything we hear. We saturate ourselves in the word of God so that when we are “squeezed,” His Truth comes out. And we cling to that Truth so that when false teachers try to deceive us, we immediately recognize their deception and we run from them.
The God of the Bible is worth knowing, He is worth serving. He is worth giving up everything to follow. But he is not for the faint of heart. And he is certainly not for the “wimpy.”
