Friends, if you
know me, you know that I love theology and believe that doctrine is a
crucial part of every Christian's walk. I believe it is important to
know what you believe and why, that you study it and are able to share
the Gospel with a firm, tangible grip of substance in your thinking.
While in the end, one must ask himself, "Do I believe in Jesus Christ as
my Lord and Savior?" it it so important to know why it is that you
believe that "Yes, I do," and all the twists and turns in between that brought you to
your answer. But while all the studying and understanding of God is so
important, I ask those who are highly involved in doctrine:
What's with
the attitude?
If you know me, you also know that I am part of a traditional church background. While I was raised this way, I continue to attend this "type" of church because I believe it's teachings are Biblical, solid and God-centered. I believe that it is structured to make the sermon the main focus and the response lively, but does not overshadow the Word. I find traditional churches to be lead moreso by the preaching of the Word of God rather than catering to entertainment*. Sure, traditional churches can have a "boring" feeling (sitting for an hour or more listening to one person talk can be very appealing to the lecture-based learner, but distracting for the more tactile learner. BOTH need self-discippline), but that's only when I'm not making myself heed to the purpose of church. Naturally, no man wants to sit and listen to sermons (or anything not focusing on self) every time they are given. It's a battle at times - a battle with our selfish nature to defy God and live to ourselves. But like a child who desires to please his father and do as he is told because he loves his father, we also must train ourselves to respond to the faithful preaching of the Word because what it teaches (and who is rightly proclaiming it) is nourishment for our souls. We must not only look for entertainment, though our response to the Word should be passionate and lively - REAL. This briefly sums up why I am a "traditional" Christan. But be sure I also believe that no church is perfect.
And so we come to the attitude. What I am finding is this:
Contemporary Churches ...(the con) who do not focus or understand theology, and might I add - cringe at the word "doctrine" because it "separates" (funny thing though - it is non-denominational churches who are the more recent of groups to separates themselves FROM doctrine, not the other way around - I will post a blog on this - it's in the works), can tend to have a light understanding of the Gospel (or, in some cases I've run into - no understanding), little or no discipline for a fallen, struggling brother and tend to base their relationship with Christ off of more emotion than tangible, substantial understanding. THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH EVERYONE while this is the majority that I have ran into. (the pro) But! Contemporary churches have a good grasp on acceptance and love (emotion) - though their acceptance can go too far and not exude the proper amount of discipline for those attending church with lifestyles that need to be confronted.Like I said though, they are more outreach-bound and are more comfortable with seeking out the lost.
Traditional Churches... (the pro) As for more traditional churches, there is a great amount of time spent learning Bible-base church doctrine and Bible-based theology. Because of this, children at a very young age are raised to know what they believe. They understand complex ideas about their salvation (because this world through SO many abstract questions about religion at any Christian, it is important to sharpen our minds!) and the work of the Lord, church and Biblical history and scholastically speaking, tend to be very well-rounded and educated through systematic thinking. They understand what they believe and why and are able to explain it through almost all conflicting opposers. THIS IS NOT EVERYONE while this is the majority that I have run into. (the con) But! Just as the smartest kid in class can get an ego, so this is with the traditional church. I see too much pompass, ignorant and arrogant attitudes towards the less "Biblically educated" and "doctrinally sound" believers and I despise this. Sure, it feels good to be ahead of the game and be more educated with this type of knowledge. Be proud of what you know! But calm the heck down, be realistic and have a serving, loving heart. The only thing that seperates the non-believer form the believer is that God chosen one over the other unto Himself. It's nothing that we've done, but Him, therefore to boast arrogantly about a gift is a disgrace to those whom the Lord has (or hasn't yet) adopted through faith.
I believe there is a healthy balance. We are to speak the truth in love. We are to be honest and upfront in a way that positively convicts one another to build us up for the Lord by changing our ways and living for Him. Love isn't acceptance. Love is doing what you can to better one another and in this case - to support our brother in his walk with Christ for the sureness of their salvation. It is action, not just emotion or knowledge alone. Christ Himself loved with harsh action and words. He didn't candy-coat the truth. If someone sinned, He called them out - but by doing so, He brought them out of darkness to the Light, that they might understand their wrong doings and seek first the His kingdom of righteousness. But while we are to positively convict to train and reconcile one another, we aren't supposed to be all up in people's business in a way that glorifies the finder and exploits the sin. Too often I find that it becomes a game to point fingers to who is doing what without responding to it in a way that changes the fallen lifestyle. Truth be told, we're all messed up. We all have sins we need to ask forgiveness for. But it's when we go to one another and say, "Hey, I know you are struggling with ________. Is there anything I can do to get you back on track? Rest assured you are in my prayers, brother," that we take that step of discipline in love.
It's time we let go of the arrogant "I'm better than you" attitude and preach the gospel with a beautiful combination of passion, thorough understanding of our message and loving but just action!
*Questions to consider:
- What do you look for when you "shop" for a church to attend?
- Why or why not are you a member of a congregation?
- What is a turnoff for you about churches?
- Are you allowing one bad experience (or more) to shadow your view of other congregations, generalizing them all to be bad - hindering you from communing with the body of Christ?
- Are you someone who overlooks an obvious stumbling block from a fellow Christian or someone who looks down upon others in the church who do not live to your standards? Remember, both do nothing for the soul of your brother.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ...
Ephesians 4:15
"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
