Tags
All in good humor here, but oh boy, did Failing Pastor trigger me today! Yep, he really nailed it in a post called, My Opinion About People Who “Can’t Find a Church With Good Doctrine”
So this has been my nemesis, my pet peeve, my aggravation du jour for about a decade now. I live in an area that is actually the second most secular county in the nation, an area just rife with addiction, suicide, 3rd world poverty, and assorted other human suffering.
I think the church is called to such a thing as this, for such a time as this. Right? Aren’t we preaching the good news, loving our neighbor, inviting people into a better way, once actually called “the way?”
You know what makes me crazy? When I see that people are literally dying and I try to talk to Christians about it, but I just come up against a wall of “good doctrine,” which really just means “my entire faith revolves around having my ears tickled and my worldview constantly validated.” That’s a harsh thing to say, but sheesh, it’s the truth in my world.
I have literally been in the midst of talking to somebody wrestling with a heroin addiction, inviting them to church, any church, and had “good Christians,” interrupt and say, oh no, don’t go to “that church,” with “those kind of people.” They’re not doctrinally sound. The woman is living on the streets enslaved to a heroin addiction, for crying out loud!
I started getting seriously angry about this problem and confronting people. Name the doctrine! Yes, name it! If you believe something is not “doctrinally sound” and you’re afraid to get your hands tainted by those cooties, then name it.
It absolutely crushed me to realize that 90% of those doctrinal purists, have absolutely no idea what doctrine even is and haven’t even picked up a Bible in years. They are slaves to utopian fantasies about denominations of their youth, slaves to politics, slaves to ideologies.
You are tearing down your own brothers and sisters in Christ because you believe the sole purpose of the church is to validate your own worldview and to affirm your politics. So pretty much like joining a country club or belonging to the Elks.
And people are dying of drug overdoes and children are being abused and people are sleeping in cars and on the streets, but hey, at least you can say you never got tainted by any “false doctrines.”
Tell me the Lord doesn’t have a sense of humor! I actually started hearing these things and literally gagging a few times, as if I had just drunk lukewarm salt water. Yep, spitting that stuff right out of my mouth every time I heard it. Talk about transference. It totally threw me for a loop.
God is good to me, even in the midst of my frustrations, and one fruit that I have born in this struggle, is a keen awareness that I have a really good understanding of theology and doctrine. I’m a bit of nerd actually. That was born of these struggles, these constant moments of study, of going, “But wait, did God really say that…?”
90% of those complaining about sound doctrine, don’t even know what their own churches believe. And “90%” is totally made up statistic by me, I am just saying, I call that bluff, I name it bovine poo. There are creeds, history, the Bible itself, and good chunk of doctrinal purist cops haven’t got a clue as to which end is up.
It’s been good too, because I’ve been stretched to be merciful, to be patient, to be forgiving. I literally want to slap that religious spirit upside the head, to ping the blind and foolish right between the eyes with a well aimed coffee cup. It is worse than nails on a chalkboard to me. It is like going to the dentist without any novacaine.
Jesus Himself said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”
All of it.
That’s your doctrine. That’s your theology.
The Lord is not going to care that you loudly proclaim to be a postmillinealist, anti-paedobaptizing, hermeneutical, exegesis tulip tripper, He just wants to know, did you love your neighbor?
gmgoetz said:
😀😮😮😀😀🌹
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
LOL! Thanks, George. Sending you a big hug.
LikeLike
authorstephanieparkermckean said:
Amen, Amen, Amen. Thank you. I differ on only one thing…I believe God does have a sense of humor! But I agree that He is not laughing at those who turn away their neighbor over doctrine.
LikeLiked by 3 people
insanitybytes22 said:
Oh, He totally has a sense of humor! I like to think I keep Him amused, too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
R said:
Ok, yank my chain,, give me a donut, let’s talk deep state theories, argue about 45, I’d invite people to a meeting about Christ, do we still follow him? Or is it about the building, the numbers, the personal ambitions, the pets- theological and others,,, I’m done with promoting the 501c3 organization, let’s get together and have the real church! Watch out though, somebody might get set free, or healed!! I hear it still happens around the world, but we have ,,,,,,
LikeLiked by 2 people
insanitybytes22 said:
Yep, you got it! I’m with you there. I call it the ABJ syndrome. Anything But Jesus. Church as sterile institution, and who wants to live in an institution? I have been healed, I have been set free, and even better, it is totally contagious! But too many people are afraid, don’t want to come out of their comfort zones, or are captive to personal idols.
LikeLike
authorstephanieparkermckean said:
I imagine that you give Him at least a couple of laughs every day! God bless you. Thanks for your honesty, reality, wisdom – and great sense of humor!
LikeLike
Lisa V said:
Another great post. I’m not sure if it falls under the “good doctrine” rule of thumb per se, but there are more and more churches (at least in my area) that rarely, if ever, open their Bibles and teach. It’s all about “witnessing,” and “feeling good” these days. Give me a church where the Pastor opens the Bible and teaches from it, and I’d be happy. Quite frankly, the pastor’s opinion means squat to me, and if he isn’t willing to open the Bible to teach the Word, then all that other stuff is just fluff. I can’t tell you how many Bible studies I’ve been to where members say “well, Pastor So-and-So said this.” Pastor So-and-So is just like you and me. I’ll take the Bible’s “Love your GOD with all your heart” over love what your pastor said any day. Just my two cents.
LikeLiked by 3 people
insanitybytes22 said:
LOL! Agreed. I dearly love pastors and there are many I quote all the time, but the essence of that attitude is a good one, “the pastor’s opinion means squat to me.” That is especially true of celebrity. Pastors can’t do it for you. We tend to follow celebrity, denominations, politics, tribes, anything but Jesus.
LikeLiked by 1 person
ColorStorm said:
My doctrine is good because it is sound. It is sound because it did not start with me; I just happen to agree.
Yet, if the river of love is not contained in the banks of truth….. there be some muddy waters .
Great post btw
LikeLiked by 2 people
insanitybytes22 said:
Amen, Colorstorm. I really love that sound doctrine, because it’s a solid foundation to put your feet on. I don’t like slip sliding around in quick sand. That said however, 90% of these alleged “doctrinal divisions” don’t matter because we aren’t saved by our own brilliance anyway. And those who believe they are, well, that’s bad doctrine. 🙂
LikeLike
seekingdivineperspective said:
It’s interesting how the Good Samaritan (Have they read that parable lately?) who helped the man in his trouble was one of the “outsiders.” It was the religious people who crossed to the other side of the road to avoid helping.
LikeLiked by 2 people
feministdestroyer said:
Awesome!
This message hit home hard to me 💖💖💖💖👍👍👍
LikeLiked by 1 person
joseph elon lillie said:
Bazinga!That was good.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Clyde Herrin said:
Love is the most important thing but sometimes love requires that you reject a church that has false doctrines. There are beliefs that are essential to the Christian faith, such as the virgin birth and resurrection of Jesus, salvation by faith, and the deity of Jesus Christ. Any church that denies these truths is teaching error that can damn those who believe them. If we love our neighbors we must warn them against such false teaching.
I do agree that we shouldn’t refuse fellowship with those who disagree on minor doctrines that don’t affect our salvation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
I think my problem with the whole issue of “warning people about false teachers,” is that is used as an excuse, a weapon thrown about at anyone and everyone we disagree with. In other words, we deceive ourselves, we mask our relationship dysfunction and inability to communicate with grace, behind alleged virtue. I’m just “speaking the truth in love,” protecting people from the damnation of their souls. No we are not, we are pridefully and arrogantly seeking revenge against those we don’t want in our tribe, those we disagree with. We lie to ourselves.
The Bible addresses this in a couple places, Matthew 23:8, “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.…” Jesus is our teacher. We should be following him and not Christian celebrity or idols.
Also Philippians 1:17-18, “The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains.What, then, is the issue ? Only that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice….”
LikeLiked by 1 person
patrickhawthorne01 said:
Funny how our posts are similar but from different sides of the spectrum. You have your doctrinal purists who have absolutely no idea what doctrine even is. I, on the other hand, have the doctrinal purist who is running the show as the shepherd.
LikeLiked by 1 person
insanitybytes22 said:
Ha! Good point, Patrick. So just to muddy the waters here, I suggest that even a doctrinal purist who actually knows what he is talking about, is not practicing good doctrine if he is elevating doctrine above love. Somebody smart once said, “hang your doctrine up at the door on your way out to love people.” That really resonated with me, because I can be a purist too, and fail to make space for the journey Jesus is taking other people on.
LikeLiked by 1 person
calhouns2013 said:
“I literally want to slap that religious spirit upside the head, to ping the blind and foolish right between the eyes with a well aimed coffee cup.” IB you are too much. I shared on 3 social platforms. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Citizen Tom said:
You may find this passage helpful with people who worry to the extreme about doctrine, Philippians 1:15-18.
The Apostle Paul cared about doctrine, but he wanted the Gospel preached even if it was not preached perfectly.
LikeLiked by 2 people
consideringthebibletogether said:
Agree. Orthodoxy needs to be balanced with orthpraxy. Good deeds done in love to others.
LikeLiked by 1 person