In this sense we will do our work...

Here's a little snippet I came across while reading Barth's book on the Heidelberg Catechism. He's talking about "the responsibility...of those who find themselves in the community of the church which is founded on the good news of Jesus Christ and to which is entrusted its interpretation and transmission." He says,

The gospel must ever again be explored and sought and inquired into. It demands work, reflection, exertion. It demands faithfulness and independent investigation. The church may not avoid this effort, for its existence as church depends on it. Doctrine is thus not its own goal. One can work at theology for theology's sake just as little as he can work at art for art's sake. Christian doctrine is rather a part of the service of the community, service to God and to neighbor. It is thus a part of the church's liturgy. In this sense we will do our work, and in this sense only can it be done. When we teach or study theology, we stand in the service of the church.

Karl Barth, Learning Jesus Christ Through the Heidelberg Catechism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 19.

So keep this in view as we read. We don't study theology for theology's sake, or for learning's sake, or for whatever's sake. We study theology so that we may become more faithful servants, stewards, teachers, witnesses, ambassadors, interpreters, and transmitters of the good news of Jesus Christ.