One of my best friends recently moved to a small town in South Dakota. He asked me if I could help him find a church there. After I did a quick Google search I was amazed to find 34 churches in this “small” town! I also visited some of their websites and read their statements of faith, values, leadership details, etc. In the end, I was able to categorize those 34 churches into three separate groups:
- Churches I wouldn’t even consider going to
- Churches I’d visit because they’re historically biblical
- “Proceed-with-caution” churches
I sent him my three categories (along with a list of critical doctrinal stances he should learn about from the churches he chose to visit.)
You might ask, “Why is this important?” Why not pick a church close to his house or one with fantastic music, good coffee, cool vibe, and fog machine? Why spend so much time analyzing church doctrines? Not to mention, how do we know our church doctrine is correct and theirs is wrong? Those are absolutely all great questions.
There is undoubtedly a reason all of this is important. Christian, we cannot base our beliefs (and establish our doctrine) on anything other than what God has revealed to us in His Word.
God’s Word Gives Insight
Where God’s Word gives us insight, promise, and direction, we must believe, obey, and apply that truth. This is not only in our lives but in our understanding and beliefs about God, too. For this reason, we cannot just make up whatever we want to believe about God, humanity, eternity, the Church, salvation, heaven, hell, justice, judgment, love, truth, wrath, etc. Just because it “feels” right, makes sense, or is convenient, doesn’t make it correct. These things are never up to us to determine. “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” — Romans 9:20
Many teachings and ideas in our world are dressed up as “Christianity.” However, suppose you compare them to what the Bible says (under the presentable, easy-to-understand surface). In that case, they’re unbiblical, heretical, and have eternally dangerous consequences.
As a rule, we need to be very careful about what and who we believe. Don’t be deceived by a good point or someone who seems to know what they’re talking about. Follow the example of the Berean church in Acts 17, “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” — Acts 17:11
Know Your Bible
Protect yourself from believing lies about God. By all means, study your Bible and decide where you stand regarding theological topics. Knowing what the Bible says on specific issues and having solid doctrinal convictions is necessary. In fact, the writer of Hebrews rebuked the Christians who had grown lazy in their desire to understand profound theological truths. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” — Hebrews 5:12-14
It is for sure wrong to present the truths of the Bible with an arrogant and prideful spirit. Your attitude shouldn’t be, “I’m right, and I’m going to tell you how wrong you are.” or “You’re a fool. I’m smarter than you because I’ve studied this out.” Needless to say, that’s the wrong spirit. We should always be gentle and respectful in how we discuss these issues. Let’s help people understand God’s Word without being puffed up, pushy, or prideful.
We plant and water the seeds of Truth. In due time, God is the one who causes the growth.
Semper reformanda,
Posted in A Word from the Pastor