DOCTRINAL CONVICTIONS

The church at Antioch, featured in Acts 11:19-15:41, has always been a shining example to me for what a New Testament church needs to be. I have preached numerous messages about this. One series I have looks at “The Model Missionary Church,” from Acts 11:19-21; “The Model Church Member,” in Acts 11:22-26; “The Model Church Leader,” in Acts 11:27-30. So, is it any wonder that the title of Jeff Iorg’s book called, “The Case for Antioch: A Biblical Model for a Transformational Church,” captured my attention? In chapter six, he states that one of the marks of this model church is “Doctrinal Convictions.” Here is how Iorg begins:

Doctrine can be a polarizing word. It sounds dry and boring to some, divisive and legalistic to others. Churches sometimes soften their doctrinal positions, or at least mute their intensity, to lessen this tension and become more attractive to unbelievers. That effort, though well intended, is a misapplication of Paul’s example of becoming “all things to all people, so that I may by all means save some” (1 Cor. 9:22). Flexibility in missionary lifestyle doesn’t equal and must not include compromising doctrinal integrity, especially truth about the gospel. In Antioch, Paul broke new ground in contextualizing the gospel’s presentation but without compromising its message. On the contrary, he undertook extreme measures to defend its purity. Jesus taught a clear gospel. Paul and other New Testament writers articulated its theological nuances as well as its implications for daily living. Healthy churches uphold the gospel and its discipleship demands for believers. Transformational churches stand for truth rather than dilute the message and explain away its requirements for holy living. (pp. 98-99, Kindle edition).

He goes on to note that at Antioch, they established hills “to die on.” These were fundamentals of the faith worth fighting for, and yet there were other matters of preference, instead of principles, that should not divide the church. This was codified in a major church business meeting in Acts 15. The outcome of that was an explosive evangelistic expansion into Gentile territory. Our message must be defended, but methodology can be debated, and that way the mission is not distracted. The old axiom is: “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.”

Saying this is one thing, and doing it another matter. Just read the New Testament! You will see the application of this principle quite challenging. Yet, it, it must be done. Here is how we try to work it out in the churches I serve in the Haywood Baptist Association.

We have essentials that are stated in The Baptist Faith and Message 2000.  To be part of our association requires these be affirmed. Sadly, during my time serving in the role of Mission Strategist, we have had to remove one of our churches that would not align with this doctrine. We will be united in these essentials. There is no room for debate.

But, within that there are non-essentials where we call for liberty. For example, we have pastors and churches that while agreeing that salvation is solely by grace through faith in Christ, differ on exactly how that salvation comes, some holding to traditional Baptist evangelism methods and others defending a Reformed view. All of our pastors and churches believe that Christ is literally coming the second time, judging the world, and that in eternity there will be a heaven for the saved and a hell for the sinners.  Yet, there are varied views on how this will work out. It makes for some interesting debates in Pastor’s Conference, and especially around the lunch table following. 

That calls for charity—for Christian love among the brethren. I will not compromise my views on soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) in my preaching and teaching. I am not a Calvinist, but I can work with, love, and support those who are, so long as they believe, “Jesus saves!”  Nor will I personally bend in my eschatology (the doctrine of last things), as I am a dispensationalist who believes in the rapture of the church and the return of Christ to reign for a thousand years on earth. We have preachers and churches who see the way the end times works out differently, yet I can embrace them and encourage them so long as they affirm, “Jesus is coming again!”

This can be messy. It was in the first century and it still is in the twenty-first century. But, we cannot compromise our core convictions. Sound doctrine must be embraced and taught in our churches. When “love” becomes an excuse to tolerate anything and everything in beliefs and behavior it is not truly love. It is liberalism and licentiousness. We must also guard against legalism where we make mountains out of molehills and turn our personal preferences into dogma. 

May the Holy Spirit guide us through the Holy Scriptures to steadfastly hold to doctrinal convictions!