Wimpy Theology

I was raised in a Christian home with certain notions of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Point number one was "don't water down the Gospel". So, as long as everything included sin and the death burial and resurrection of Christ, our basic Christian-ness remains unscathed. For many years, I agreed. Lately, however, I've begun to not edit but rather expand my definition of what that means. And that's where things get scary.

I've heard of a "wimpy theology", referring to any teaching on God that isn't soundly based on the Bible. But let's go beyond that. Wouldn't a weak theology be one that seems to require nothing of us? One that says "Pray this prayer, then read the Bible, pray, and continue your life as you normaly would"? Don't get me wrong, sin, a need for a Savior, and faith in Him are vital to the Gospel, but isn't leaving out Christ's teachings on people who hear the words and don't do them or those who see others in need and say "be fed" or "be clothed" and keep on walking at least a bit wimpy? Shouldn't all that reading and praying make a difference?

I'm not talking about works based salvation, as that would be a hopeless black hole (see "Adventures in Dogooding" a few posts back for one example). I'm just talking about common sense, sort of. If we have faith, it should make a difference in more than just our heads. But what gets stressed more? Or am I just overreacting? That's always a possibility, so I'm not ruling it out.

Please feel free to comment. A strong theology might include more than I even mentioned. What do you think?