For much of my life, I’ve heard it said that sound Christian doctrine does three things:
These are paraphrases of statements I’ve heard from the pulpit and individual pastors over the years. In short, doctrine is supposed to protect us from error, unite us in truth, and help us better understand God. The question I want to ask today is this: Is the focus on doctrine in the 21st-century church achieving these results?
Before I go on, I want to mention three criticisms of the above statements that I’ve heard:
A Google search for “Christian doctrine” led me to some interesting reading. In many cases, the sources I found agree. In some interesting ways, there is a diversity of opinion about what doctrine is and what it is supposed to do. Here’s a sampling of what I’ve found:
Here’s my response:
It appears the common theme among most of these attempts to define what doctrine is and its importance in the life of Christians today can be narrowed to three specific things:
Two questions: Are these really what Christian doctrine is designed to do and, if so, is it working?
Almost every Christian commentator you speak to today will agree that sound doctrine is important. Most will agree that doctrine should be based on the Bible, and it affects behavior (for good or bad). You’ll even find a wide agreement that one practical use for doctrine is to protect Christians from false teachings. Yet, while most commentators agree on these matters, they disagree on the specifics of doctrinal content.
Isn’t that interesting?
Biblical commentators (pastors, teachers, elders, etc.) are in near-universal agreement that doctrinal content is important even as they disagree on content specifics. Here are some examples:
I could go on. Pick a Christian doctrine and you’ll find disagreement on it. This disagreement is evidence of two things:
In summary, the modern church places higher importance on doctrinal content than we do on unity in Christ. Am I the only one who sees this as a problem?
Ask any serious theologian today if Christian unity is important. Most will agree that it is. Yet, these same theologians will spend countless hours picking a position on a doctrinal matter and defending it against other positions. Why is that?
I believe there are three reasons why theologians, pastors, teachers, elders, and Christian leaders are geared toward argumentative approaches to Christian doctrine:
Many of these leaders are authors and conference speakers, both of which they are often paid to do. Secondly, they are as subject to falling into the ego trap as the rest of us (full disclosure: I’ve fallen into that trap a million times myself!). After all, they are human. Thirdly, fear of error is so prominent in the church today that we’ll tolerate anything (including gross sin) to avoid it. I once heard a pastor admit the reason he didn’t collaborate with other pastors and teachers was because “you never know what they’re going to say.”
Wow! My thought was this: They don’t know what you’re going to say, either!
Of course, I’m not arguing that doctrine is not important. What I am saying is that unity in Christ is important. In fact, it’s so important it is a central theme of the New Testament. Consider:
This is just a smattering of verses in the New Testament that exhort believers toward unity. There are many others!
It appears that unity in Christian love is one of the chief Christian doctrines. It also seems to be one we have abandoned in favor of ego-driven posturing. Could there be a connection between the loss of the church’s influence in the U.S. and a focus on heady, ego-driven—even divisive—church doctrine?
As I’ve said, I’m not suggesting that doctrine is unimportant, nor am I suggesting the church abandon doctrine altogether. But allow me to present a different definition of doctrine, one that is more closely aligned with the New Testament:
Doctrine is a set of dogmas taught by a particular sect, church, or denomination.
Note: A dogma is a statement of belief based on authority and remains inflexible.
Given that Christian leaders today are focused on doctrine (examine any church website and you will see a doctrinal statement, a canon of faith, or something similar), and that these doctrines are dogmatically adhered to by both leaders and congregants, the clear message is that you must believe in those doctrines to become a member of a particular church or sect, and if you don’t, then you may be disqualified from receiving communion, being baptized, or participating in other activities (selectively chosen by the leaders of that church or sect). This common practice is divisive on the surface and at its core.
Here are three things the church universal can do to fix this collective brokenness:
Now, I’m going to spend a little time unpacking that third statement. To what extent should the Bible play in what Christians believe?
The church has somehow lost its bearings. Most Christians today—because this is what their leaders have taught them—believe that the Bible is the most authoritative source we have for teaching what we believe. In fact, they’ll often say it’s the “final authority on matters of faith and practice.”
I’m going to shock the Nutella out of you and say this is patently untrue, and the Bible agrees with me.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
Here’s a lesson in logic: If all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus Christ, then the Bible cannot be the final authority on anything.
That is not to say it is no authority at all. Let’s make that point crystal clear.
How important, then, is the Bible, and what other sources of authority should we rely on for faith and practice? Here’s my disclaimer: This is my opinion. I am not suggesting this be elevated to some high doctrinal position or that everything else be abandoned so that the following statements become the official doctrine of all churches. But I have given this a lot of thought, and it makes sense to me.
There are three important sources of authority every believer should consider in determining what to believe. Note that I am talking about what individual believers choose to believe, not in what churches or denominations choose to teach. I hope you see the difference.
I contend that our authority for faith and practice is hinged on these three spiritual realities. Acts 2:42 tells us the newly formed church devoted themselves to three things:
These three pillars of faith are all equal. None of them are above the others. The Bible, guidance of the Holy Spirit (from within each of us individually), and the fellowship of believers (or, if you prefer, the witness of the church body itself, both local and universal) are all equal in authority. They must align with each other. If any one of them contradict the others, something is off.
Note that your pastor is not listed among these pillars of authority. No Christian teacher, pastor, elder, or alleged human authority should ever be your guide to spiritual truth. Rather, it should be the scriptural canon illuminated by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the consensus of the church universal (with 2,000 years of church history serving as backbone).
With that, I’ll leave you with this final word: Go in Christ’s peace and love your neighbors.
Allen Taylor is the author of I Am Not the King.
This week, I’ll be selling books at Kroger in Mansfield, Texas. Location: 3001 Matlock Rd, Mansfield, TX. These are the hours you’ll find me in the store:
I hope to see you there!
First published at Substack. Lead image from Unsplash.
