Thursday, August 21, 2014

DOCTRINE: It does the Body good


"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires."
(2 Timothy 4:3, NASB, emphasis added)

Recently, a pastor expressed to me his growing discomfort with churches refusing to specify their denominational affiliation in the name of their church. For example (we'll pick a generic one), Grace Baptist Church becoming Grace Community Church or Grace Fellowship. While I certainly notice this trend (and have yet to voice an opinion on it), I think there is another trend in churches that discomforts me more. Shakespeare points out that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet", so I would happily belong to a church with a strange name on the outside, so long as I knew what they corporately believed on the inside was biblically solid.

Many churches today don't even have formal (written) statements of faith. They do not openly express what they believe regarding the key doctrines of the faith... and when you prompt the leadership of the church as to why, they tell you things like "We just believe in Jesus". I certainly can understand that... but even JESUS had firm doctrines of the faith that He held to (and even some He created).

So the question I want to lay out on the table here is this... WHY are Christians today so afraid of doctrine? Why is what they believe either somewhat unknown or otherwise unstated? Why do they keep to the basics of Christianity, but when it comes to probing deeper into the finer details of scripture, they are trepidatious? While I'm certainly not the expert on the mind of the contemporary American Christian, let me propose a few of the reasons I think words like "doctrine" have become taboo:

1. The Church doesn't emphasize it. Many people can plead ignorance when it comes to going deeper into God's Word because they have never been encouraged to do so. Churches may fail in this regard for a variety of reasons. These include, but are not limited to, not wanting to be offensive or controversial, designing a worship service for the non-Christian ("seeker-friendly", aka unbiblical), emphasis by the leadership on the same message ad-infinitum presented in a variety of different ways, apathy by the church leadership for anything doctrinally below the surface ("keep it simple"), or even a lack of confidence that their congregation can handle the "meat" of deeper doctrines rather than the "formula" they're being given now ("let's preach through the gospel of John again rather than teaching Ephesians or Romans"). Long story short, churches need to commit to doctrine themselves and encourage their congregations to do the same.

2. It's hard work. An emphasis on doctrine being in decline is possibly for the same reason that Sunday School is in decline. People favor the comfort of relational fellowship (small groups, for example), and while that is good, that doesn't give churches (or individual Christians) the right to de-emphasize teaching God's word. With that teaching (like any teaching) comes holding one's students to an expectation of learning something... going deeper... asking the hard or life-applicable questions... synthesizing the meanings of those answers into the practice of everyday life.. and so on. To the average American Christian, that sounds a lot like school. Our kids feel they get enough school during the week, and our adults think they're done with school. For example, according to the Jenkins Group, 1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives. 42% of college graduates will never crack open a book again. 70% of American adults haven't stepped foot in a bookstore in the last 5 years. And yet we're supposed to ask these people to not only read, but to study? Both weekly in church and daily at home? The short answer is... YES. That's exactly what we're supposed to do.

3. It's difficult to understand. Translations of Greek and Hebrew texts, lengthy genealogies, long historical narratives, challenging New Testament vocabulary words like "propitiation". These are enough to rack anyone's brain, making you want to throw up your hands and say "I give up. I don't get it". While these concerns are certainly understandable, they're not a valid excuse. That's the bad news. Here's the good news... You have HELP. Why do you think your pastor spent all that time in seminary? Why do you think he has all those books on his shelf in his office? If you don't understand something, ASK them. If you're too shy, fear not. There are a ton of resources (free or otherwise) to help you understand every word, phrase, and passage in the scripture. Search for them. The problem is... these things take time. Study of God's word is definitely a thing where you get out what you put in. A five minute devotional daily, while helpful, is like Steak-Ums in the microwave, whereas probing the depths of God's word in diligent study is like an aged Filet Mignon. "Your words came to me, and I ATE them, and Your words became to me a JOY and the delight of my heart" (Jer. 15:16)

4. Knowledge is Power. Going deeper into God's word and what He has to teach us will open up whole new worlds of possibility. Most Christians have no problem acknowledging that God has given them a Spirit of love (2 Tim. 1:7), but few seem to emphasize that He also gave us a Spirit of POWER and a SOUND MIND. Encountering God deeper gives us strength and equips to face the difficulties of life, and many Christians fail to probe deeper into their doctrines because they don't believe that God is sovereign enough to give us that strength... that power... that sound mind. And even if He was able to give us that power, many Christians don't want it, because...

5. With great power comes great responsibility. Why is it that people don't like stepping on the scale or looking in the mirror early in the morning? Quite simply, because they may not like what they see. The main purpose of the Word of God is the same reason for our words in everyday conversation... to, ultimately, reveal more of the person we're listening to. The deeper we probe into God's word, the more we come to know Him (surprise, surprise). The uncomfortable part comes in the fact that the more we know what He IS, the more we know what we, by comparison, are NOT (See Isaiah 6). Many Christians don't want to dive deeper into their faith for fear of what they might find there... both their dependent unworthiness and the subsequent accountability to change themselves, becoming conformed more and more to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). People fear that change and would rather settle for less accountability that comes with being a Christian on doctrinal cruise-control. After all, "ignorance is bliss", right?

OK, so I'm not exactly arguing that a commitment to deeper Christian doctrine is easy or un-demanding. I'm simply arguing that it's worth it. God's word is meant to be a delight to us... a love letter... for our loving God has chosen to reveal Himself to us through His word. It is, therefore, highly beneficially for you to read... study... know that Word as best you can. It can only help you. Don't believe me? Try it. Pick a portion of God's word you've never read before... one you've always been afraid to turn to. Read it. Study it. Ask questions about it. Get answers. Then go back to the passages you love. Probe them deeper. Study specific words and what they actually meant from the person (and in the time) they were written. Whatever you do, go deeper. If necessary, demand your church go deeper too... but start with yourself. For if you go deeper, seeking to fall in love with the great doctrines of blessed Scripture, you will be surprised at the wellspring of blessings that will come as a result.