After playing guitar for some time, thinking music theory was beyond me, someone explained the basics to me and it all became clear to me...a light bulb moment! It wasn't as complicated as I thought and it's been very useful since.
I was talking to a beginner recently and I thought, if I explain things to him in a simple way, he can have the 'light bulb moment' a lot sooner than I did. Unfortunately it only seemed to confuse him. He's more concerned with how sore his fingers are! I think you need to be a fair way down the line before you worry about this stuff.