Doctrine Divides
Which is exactly what it should do.
Is Homogeny Possible?
It depends.
One of the great icons we venerate in secularism is the profound and prevalent bumper sticker that shares a hieroglyphic message, “Coexist”. It promises a sort of human unification. It assures us, love is all you need.
Love lost its sticking power, because of course it did without Christ. So we swapped love out for tolerance and now we’ve seen that tolerance didn’t put the screw to humanity like we hoped it would. Identity politics took an unexpected road of uniting us all by dividing humanity into its most granular detail (and giving trophies to everyone for some reason). But, you either jumped on board with celebrating all our differences (blasphemous and benign alike) or you were the enemy. Now we find ourselves trying to unite under various models of nationalism. All of these things point to a both pragmatic and metaphysical longing to be unified. The world taps into unity for control, but it’s not real communion. It’s almost like God made mankind for community, but we managed to mess that up too (ala Babel).
The trouble is, as seen above, we don’t agree on what we ought to be united around and under. Welcome to the problem that will face humanity for all its days because of sin.
But, something amazing happened 2,000 years ago. Christ came and satisfied the penalty of sin and began to unwind the emnity in mankind. One such reversal was its power to unite mankind to one another in uniting us to Christ. Babel was turned back at Pentecost. True union and fellowship is now possible in Christ! In Christ there is no longer Jew or Gentile, poor rich, slave free, barbarian or Scythian. This is a reality (Eph. 4:5-6), a pursuit (Phil. 2:2), and something to be guarded (Eph. 4:3).
So Why Dogma?
If Christ died for unity, why emphasized theological dogmatism? This is a great question. The short answer is, even as Christians we don’t all agree on what to believe. The Bible is big, Christianity is big. Which leads us to consider a historical phrase that has proven useful for centuries.
“In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity.” -Rupertus Meldenius
But is this just a Coexist sticker from the 1600’s? No. It grounds unity in matters of essential doctrine. That means that if a belief falls outside of sound and essential doctrines there be no unity. Mark Dever reinforces this important message when he says,
“the most important things about a Christian church are the things that make it a Christian church.”
These two mantras help us to preserve the unity of the Gospel. They affords us charity towards brothers and sisters who have differing beliefs on matters of lesser consequence.
Now, what this does not mean is that secondary doctrines are unimportant or fussy. They’re just the archaic holdover of two men arguing about when Jesus comes back. We are tempted to perceive them as troublesome or impractical.
This is partially because we want to reduce Christianity to the lowest common denominator. Put it on the bottom shelf. Part of this is laziness no doubt. We are just not nearly as intellectually driven as a faith as we have been in different periods of our history and contexts (part of that is by design, see Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman). However, part of this is sincere and laudable.
We don’t want to ever put a bar higher than Christ did in coming to Him. We see examples of this in the thief on the cross. He couldn’t recount the Heidelberg Catechism, he wasn’t even baptized for Peter’s sake!
What we have to do is separate (in one sense) what is necessary for salvation and what is necessary for Christian life especially as it pertains to the healthy function of a church. Remember, the Bible isn’t just one sentence, “Repent and believe in Jesus Christ the God-man who died for your sins.” No, it’s much longer than that. So it seems like God does in fact care about what we understand since He’s given us so much to learn and obey for our good and His glory.
The Gospel as a formula tells us little in how to live together as Christians.
Division Not Divisiveness
Clarity, agreed upon terms, and boundaries define all of our relationships. Whether its a boss, a parent, a barista, or someone making a right turn at a red light, all are guided by rules and boundaries.
Marriage is my favorite example. Marriage is by definition a covenant, a rules based relationship that has sharply defined boundaries. We (generally) agree and make no fuss about the defining, regulating, and restricting nature of marriage. Part of this is because it provides the framework for a safe relationship where all its benefits and beauty can be experienced. Without the covenant, marriage is like a house with busted windows and a missing front door. The warmth and safety of it is sucked out and its a sad shell with broken promises. People get hurt because of this.
The church’s doctrine defines its nature, relationship, boundaries and blessings. We know what to expect if the church is up front with it. Everyone understands who they are, what their job is, what delight can be expected, and what protections are afforded when things go sideways.
A church, and I mean the people not just the pastor, without clear doctrine is like a toddler driving down the freeway. It’s only a matter of short order before our tiny vehicular menace sews chaos. Likewise, when a church isn’t clear on what it believes the relationships will remain shallow out of necessity because the terms and boundaries cannot be comprehensively agreed upon. A place of suspicion is created where intimacy is intended. This is quite possibly the worst trick because it subverts the expectations. When I go to the gym, I know I’m going to hurt in a few days. If I stand up too fast from the couch and my back goes out, I have been dealt a serious injustice.
Without clear doctrine that permeates the whole body, it is left unguarded from wolves, charlatans, and well-meaning but misguided fools without any recourse. The body has no immune system to fight off infection. Clear doctrine boosts the immune system and reminds people of what God has commanded for His church.
Isn’t This Exclusive?
Yes. The church is exclusive. Let me explain, because we as American Evangelicals hate this kind of thing.
The Gospel is for everyone, but it only offers them one thing: Jesus. Radically inclusive, unapologetically exclusive. We must have the right Jesus, the right terms, the right posture. We come to Jesus on His terms, not ours.
Likewise, the church is very inclusive. So long as no one is making a ruckus they are welcome. They believe they’re born in the wrong body? Welcome. They journey from a far off place, welcome. They vote for a different politician, welcome. They openly worship Satan, welcome. All are welcome to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.
However, welcome is not the same as belonging. Belonging is a matter of freely and mutually being enfolded into a people through covenant. I don’t walk into a pottery class and say I’m here to do slam poetry (although, this is Eugene so anything is possible), and expect everyone to indulge my spoken word.
No, the church is created by Christ, defined by Christ, ruled by Christ, and fueled by Christ. He makes the rules. So it is up to a body to determine what they believe about what Christ has instructed the church by His Word to unite under those definitions, roles, and doctrines. His house, His rules.
All are welcome, but not all have submitted to what it means to be the church with these particular people according to a specific agreed upon doctrinal framework. Not all belong.
Conclusio
Doctrine is essential because God gave it to us in His Word. We might not all agree with each other all the time, but we must gather with like minded people to obey the commands to be of one mind. This is why denominations, and different churches are a good thing. Most doctrine doesn’t divide a brother in Christ from another brother in Christ, but that doesn’t mean those issues are not important and might require gathering with another church to faithfully obey Christ and not act against their conscience informed by God’s Word.
Doctrine divides, because we can’t all believe different things and pretend like it doesn’t affect our duties and delights as a body of Christ.
This is why, as we plant Coram Deo, we put doctrine first. We believe and teach that clarity is kindness. Doctrine is what will square our church with Christ’s design in Scripture.
Petulant Prophet
Sunday we looked at possibly the worst prophet in the Bible. In examining the first chapter we saw how God’s sovereignty pursued Jonah in spite of his petulance to accomplish His will. Take a listen!
Prayer Requests
Pray for our association’s parenting conference that is happening in March. If you’re interested please register here. It’s going to be an encouraging time to help equip parents in a perilous age.
Our first training happens in 24 hours. Pray that it’s an encouraging time of worship, unity, and instruction. I can’t wait!
A sister in the church is raising money for her mission trip to Africa. Please pray for her trip, that it is spiritually beneficial for her and the people she will minister to. Also, consider donating to her labor here: https://www.childrentolove.org/ under give > give now > team member support > Grace Averill in the memo.
