The importance of Doctrine

I think one of the advantages of pastoring a church that closes is being able to reflect on the lessons God taught during the process. In my comments about that four year period of my life I don't want to come across as negative but rather realistic in seeing what happened and learning unto the glory of God. It was in July of 2006 that our elder team met to lay out the goals for the fall and 2007 church year. After a time of prayer, fasting and much discussion the one area that kept coming back up was the importance of church doctrine. Therefore we mapped out what we believed was a God ordained vision to teach those at the Shepherd's Church basic Bible doctrine that we estimated could take one to two years. In addition to my preaching schedule we even planned to teach this on Sunday nights at the Charlotte Swim and Racquet Club. In our kick-off meeting in September 2006 we (the elders) met with some significant resistance as we laid out the plan to approximately 30 people within church leadership. At that time we were handing out "Bible Doctrine" by Wayne Grudem as the text book that we would be using in our deeper study of these issues. Unfortunately one of our key leadership persons (the name will remain anonymous) handed the book back to me and said he/she would not be reading or participating in this vision. As I look back this was the beginning of the end for our church. The next year was painful but I must say a tremendous blessing from the Lord in helping place Nancy and myself in the next ministry opportunity.

This article is from "Against Heresies" Blog Site and it has to do specifically with the importance of doctrine. How sad it is to see from a leadership perspective some of the things most needed by those in the church and yet they are most resisted. The comments and discussions during those years in pastoral ministry helped me to see how much we have neglected especially "the doctrine of God." I think the most feedback from the church came during the preaching of the Trinity and on the attributes of God such as glory, self-sufficiency and sovereignty. All that to lead you into this article again on why doctrine is critical for the church today.

"Evangelicals who are indifferent to doctrine are a danger to Christianity. Church leaders who do not "hold firmly to the trustworthy word as taught" will never be able to bring God's people to mature godliness (which requires instruction in sound doctrine), nor will they be able to ward off infiltrators who teach another gospel (Titus 1:9). Somehow they know better than Paul what is best for the health of the church.

But it is not only leaders who are held to account for their attitude to sound doctrine. The epistle to the Galatians is directed to churches who are departing from the apostolic gospel. If we are indifferent to sound doctrine, and neglect its intrinsic importance, we are guilty of treating the precious truth that we have been entrusted with as worthless. We take care of the things we love. When God entrusts us with the pattern of sound words he tests our love toward him by how we use, abuse, treasure or neglect his revealed truth.

When you cut through the forest of rhetoric surrounding doctrine, what becomes clear is that indifference toward doctrine is often a cover for indifference toward particular doctrines. Personal experience is not a sufficient or appropriate source from which truth for life can be derived. At the end of the day resistance to true doctrine is empowered by a non-negotiable commitment to other doctrines."

In summary, the person who refused to participate in our study of doctrine could not see their own blind spot(s). I can see how these people are not only a danger to themselves but to their families and to the church. They will only allow in their sphere of influence those who can tell them what they want to hear.
How can we remain teachable if we don't think anyone can teach us anything more that what we have learned?
How do we become humble if we aren't willing to submit our pride and arrogance to those who have leadership responsibilities for us?
How do we help others when we refuse to receive help for ourselves?
People have the right to be ignorant about Bible doctrine and unfortunately many practice that right daily.