excerpted from:
Ligonier
Stephen Nichols
2019
Have you heard the story behind our ministry’s mission statement? In the 1970s, a consultant ran Dr. Sproul through a gauntlet of questions.
What’s the most important thing you can teach non-Christians that they don’t know? R.C.’s answer: “That’s easy. They don’t know who God is.”
What’s the most important thing Christians don’t know that they need to know? R.C.’s answer: “That’s easy too. They don’t know who God is.”
R.C. said we need to know theology, especially the doctrine of God.
From our inception, Ligonier Ministries has been about proclaiming the fullness of God’s holiness to as many people as possible. That is, Ligonier has always focused on theology.
The reason is simple. All the problems and challenges we face are ultimately theological, so all the solutions are ultimately theological, too.
All the problems and challenges we face are ultimately theological, so all the solutions are ultimately theological, too.
You see the crisis in both the church and the world.
- Our leaders lack a moral compass.
- A new barbarism ricochets through pop culture.
- An entrenched post-Christian secularism and statism dominate Europe where the Reformation once reigned.
People around the world have forgotten who God is, so they’ve forgotten who they are and how they must live.
But this is nothing new. Travel back to 1971, the year R.C. opened the Ligonier Valley Study Center. In the United States, it was a time of assassinations, riots and protests, sexual immorality, and political scandal.
By any measure, it was a time of crisis. Sound theology was needed then, and in that moment, R.C. founded Ligonier to be a beacon of truth to serve the church.
Reaching out to youth, laity, and pastors, Ligonier stood on the solid foundation of the Word of God, proclaiming the timeless truths of theology.
The need for sound theology remains. Your donations and prayers make it possible to proclaim sound theology around the world. A gift of any amount this month will help reach even more people with God’s truth.
People look for solutions in a crisis. They turn to politics, programs, or gimmicks. They may retreat, or, crumbling before the challenge, they live compromised lives.
Yet, how did Paul exhort Titus to deal with the difficulties of his day?
“Teach what accords to sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).
“Teach what accords to sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).
The Greek word translated “sound” here is the word hygienic. Titus and the church needed healthy doctrine. You and I, and the church, still need healthy doctrine. Our lives-and the lives of our neighbors-depend on it.
Until Christ returns, we will face crisis and challenge. The answer to trouble is always theology. Sound doctrine produces knowledgeable, articulate Christians who can stand for Christ and answer the crises of our day.
That is why we teach theology here at Ligonier.
As president of Reformation Bible College, one of Ligonier’s most strategic outreaches, I see this very thing played out every day-students are being transformed as they learn from godly faculty who are teaching sound doctrine. Imagine the impact one life dedicated to living for God’s glory alone can make for generations to come.
For forty-eight years, Christians like you have enabled more people to be equipped with sound theology through the outreach of Ligonier. Our publications, broadcasts, and conferences connect the trustworthy teaching of God’s Word to students of all ages to help them know what to believe, how to think, and how to live.
You likely recall exactly when the lights came on and you were awakened to the sovereignty and holiness of God and the riches of sound doctrine. Ligonier may have been there at that moment and has been with you ever since. You know that you cannot overestimate the value of sound theology. That is why the work of Ligonier continues to bear fruit.
Originally published at https://www.ligonier.org.
