Doctrine Matters

When George Burns, playing the title role in the 1977 movie Oh God!, was asked if Jesus was his son, I can distinctly remember my stomach lurching as I heard him answer...yes, Jesus was his son-and Buddha was his son, and Muhammed was his son, and in fact, all human beings were his sons and daughters since he created them all.



Later, whenever I was with Christians and this movie was brought up, there was no mistaking the comradrie I felt when discussing this movie's, "bad theology".

Fast Forward thirty-three years later and I am appalled by the popularity (with Christians!) of the book "The Shack", by William P. Young. It was a recommended good book for me to read by my christian friends. I read it, and my stomach could not handle what I deemed the worst read of my christian life. As far as I was concerned, it belonged in some new-age bookstore, not on the shelves of the church library!

Googling the book turned up a  near-unanimous enthusiastic (and almost unbridled) praise for the book. Reviews by christians everywhere claimed, “This book is a life-changer, a transformer.” “[The Shack] has become a favorite book OF ALL TIME.” “I am changed. I pray indelibly. My oh my!”

I couldn't believe what friends and christians were saying. How could they claim that the book "straightened out their understanding of God", when the book is simply riddled with bad theology, and actual mistruths concerning basic tenets of the Christian faith? Along with perpetuated misconceptions concerning the Trinity, forgiveness and man's free will, the book also undermines the uniqueness of Christ for salvation.

The book contains surprisingly little teaching about salvation. When Young does discuss conversion, he places it firmly in the camp of relationship but also uses the stereotypical phrases such as “this is not a religion” and “Jesus isn’t a Christian.” Jesus apparently loves all people in exactly the same way, having judged them worthy of his love. Young also wades dangerously close to universalism saying that Jesus has no interest in making people into Christians. Rather, no matter what faith they come from, he wishes to “join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa.” He denies that all roads lead to him (since most roads lead nowhere) but says instead, “I will travel any road to find you.”
           ~Tim Challies (Book review)

Christians have historically believed that Jesus is nothing less than the incarnate Son of God in whom the fullness of the deity dwells in human form-fully divine and fully human-and the Way, the Truth, and the life. But from everything I've been reading lately, it seems this, and other historically affirmed Truths, are now up for grabs.


According to a 2008 national survey on religion and Public life, 52% of all American Christians believe that non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life. Though I realize many factors account for these findings, it is surprisingly clear based on my readings and conversations with fellow Christians, that these statistics are not so far off.

Saying that you are certain of the Truth, is not so popular anymore.

Evangelical leaders like T.D. Jakes and Peter Wagner no longer think the doctrine of the Trinity is essential. In his 2004 book Changing Church, Wagner says the wording of the doctrine of the Trinity — which states that the Godhead is made up of three Persons — needlessly excludes Oneness Pentecostals (who deny the Trinity) and prevents many Muslims and Jews from converting to Christianity. And Grady called the differences between Oneness Pentecostals and Trinitarian Pentecostals “pointless doctrinal hair-splitting” in a July 2002 issue of Charisma magazine. He also applauded several Pentecostal denominations who decided to no longer divide over the doctrine.

The Trinity is not the only doctrine to be challenged lately. Leaders in the emerging church movement are calling into question the doctrine of Hell and the exclusive nature of Christ's claim to be the only way of Salvation. They’ve also questioned whether the objective truth of Christian teachings can be known with certainty, believing people are so influenced by their cultures, languages and historical settings that they can’t see outside the lenses of their biases.  Open theists dispute God's omniscience claiming that he cannot possibly know in advance human actions freely chosen.

King Solomon had it right...

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
             ~Ecclesiastes 1:9

If we look back in time, a couple of centuries ago to eighteenth century Europe, and the "Age of Enlightenment", a number of key thinkers reacted against state churches and their "dogma". They questioned the authority and truthfulness of the Bible, and sought to strip it of elements they deemed false or superstitious. This unbelieving line of thought eventually trickled down to seminaries and churches causing many in traditional church traditions to fall away from orthodox faith.

In the second half of the twentieth century, churches began to accomodate this "postmodern" spirit, avoiding "dogma" of any kind, and embracing mystery. Instead of emphasizing absolute truth, they spoke of truth for communities. That is, certain communities believed one way, and that was truth for them; others might believe something entirely different, and that was also truth (for them).


Sounds like what you'd hear on Oprah doesn't it?


But would you ever expect to hear it from a current Pastor-University Professor from a mainline conservative denomination?


He was the guest speaker at my church this last Fall.


It seems many denominations are drifting away from staunch doctrinal stances. They instead are accomodating post-modernism and have moved from the teaching of absolute truths of Scripture. They give great weight to personal experience and emphasize that as the world has changed, so the church and the church's gospel must change. They consider those who claim truth to be "judgemental".

                The worst sin of all in the post modern world.

Sound, biblical doctrine is a necessary aspect of true wisdom and authentic faith. The attitude that scorns doctrine while elevating feelings or blind trust cannot legitimately be called faith at all, even if it masquerades as Christianity. It is actually an irrational form of unbelief.
         ~T.S Husker  

Scripture plainly teaches that we must be sound in the faith—which is to say that doctrine does matter (1 Tim. 4:6; 2 Tim. 4:2-3; Tit. 1:9; 2:1). It matters a lot.
        ~John MacArthur

If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing.
        ~1 Tim. 6:3-4

The content of our faith is crucial. Sincerity is not sufficient.

Evangelicals stress that the Christian faith is essentially a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But it’s precisely because Christianity is a relationship that doctrine is so important. In any relationship, if you want to grow closer to the other person then you have to know more about him or her. Our view of God affects how we relate to God and others. Wrong doctrine or the misrepresentation of right doctrine has consequences.

Those who sow disdain and disinterest in biblical doctrine will reap a harvest of rootless and fruitless Christians. Doctrine is not a challenge to experiential religion; it testifies to the content of that experience. The church is charged to call persons to Christ and to root them in a mature knowledge of Christian faith.
          ~Al Mohler

Numerous national studies conducted by pollsters such as The Gallup Organization, the Barna Group, and the Josh McDowell Ministry have revealed that the lives of Christians are largely indistinguishable from non-Christians. When it comes to divorce, materialism, and cohabitation, Christians differ only slightly from non-Christians, if at all.

For those who question the importance of doctrine, it may come as a surprise that it is Christ­ians with a biblical worldview who live radically different than the world. Forty-nine percent volunteer­ed more than an hour to an organization serving the poor, whereas only twenty-nine percent of born-again Christians without a biblical worldview and twenty-two percent of non-born-again Christians have done so. They are nine times more likely than all others to avoid “adult only” material on the Internet. They are twice as likely not to watch a movie specifically because it contained objectionable material and four times as likely to boycott objectionable products and companies.
         ~George Barna. Think Like Jesus.

The worse consequence of all,  of not being taught that doctrine matters...is that we have willingly  been lead to believe...it doesn't matter. We do not even recognize when we are being led down the road of false teaching, or that it is even important. Getting people to care about what they are being taught is very difficult. It is distressing how biblically illiterate many Christians have become.

Americans love their Bibles so much, they keep them in pristine unopened condition.
            ~Collin Hansen 

     

If our lives are based on Bible truths then we will not be steered wrong. Instead of accepting what a preacher, teacher or leader of a church says, you write the scriptures down and study them and asking God for help in understanding them. If you study God's Word and these teachers are teaching false doctrine, and lies, then you can make your decisions of attending that church or not, based on God's Word.

It is this lack of knowing the Bible and its purpose for revealing God's truths that has allowed some Emergent leaders to promote the idea the Emergent is bigger than Christianity. A female Emergent pastor of Journey Church in Dallas, TX argued that experience is a greater authority than the Bible.


She argues that Jesus, not the Bible, is the Word of God.


There is a conference occurring at Point Loma Nazarene University called "Nurturing the Prophetic Imagination". This conference has the goal of deconstructing Christian witness into social justice.

The Gnosticism [an ancient heresy that the early church faced and defeated] in our day is associated with a revival of liberalism. Brian McLaren [founder of the emergent Church] should no longer be seen as a provocative thinker seeking to stimulate the church. He sees the Fall the same way the Gnostics do. The spirit of Marcion[ancient heretic] lives on in McLaren. McLaren was invited by the Vision Project to add his vision to a list of that of many other progressive liberal thinkers. Their vision is based on synthesis. McLaren says he got there with the help of Ken Wilbur [New Gnostic prophet]. He comes to the position that there is nothing distinctive about Christianity. It is simply one expression of mysticism, the experience of the "spirit" within, and an impetus (one of many) toward social justice.
      ~Peter Jones

Ultimately it our responsibility to know the truths that God has revealed about Himself in His Word, the Bible, and in turn to teach these truths to our children. It is first and foremost the responsibility of  parents to make sure their children learn the basic truths of the faith. While they are young we need to ensure that a solid doctrinal foundation is laid for them so that when they are out in the world that disregards absolute truth they will be able to stand up against every wind of false doctrine that comes their way.

And then maybe, our children will grow up relating to the God who’s

really there...

instead of the God others want them to imagine him to be.

Always Seeking Higher Ground,

Nora