As the church has entered the postmodern era, historic biblical teaching has fallen by the wayside and new theologies have taken their place. The ‘new theology’ downplays the value of scripture and shifts the focus on emotionalism and experiential Christianity instead of Christianity based on truth. What makes us feel good is not the measure of truth. Feelings sway with the wind of circumstances but the truth of God’s word stands as a solid rock that does not change whether times are good or times are bad. Those who are founded upon the rock will never be moved even if the world around them falls apart. As biblical teaching is pushed aside, people are no longer standing strong in the Lord. In fact, very few have any concept of an immovable truth or even what spiritual maturity is all about. Unless a preacher or teacher stirs the hearts of believers with the truth, very few will ever go beyond their Sunday morning dose of emotional excitement. There is so much more to Christianity than getting an emotional charge and claiming self-centered requests from the Lord. Without understanding truth – all of the truth, Christians will be dwarfed in their growth and never experience the true things of God.
God has promised to give His secret counsel to the upright, reveal hidden manna to those who overcome, give wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discernment to those who seek God with their whole heart. The superficial Christian will never find the deeper things of God. The abundance promised to the Christian cannot be found by merely sitting in a pew and considering church attendance to be our weekly service to God. Look at Proverbs 25:2
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
This promise is not limited to earthly kings, for in Christ, we have all been giving the right to become kings and priests (Revelation 1:6 and 5:10). God takes pleasure in hiding the things of God so that those who seek Him will find His glory and be partakers of that glory. You will never truly experience the richness of God without first seeking Him with all your heart. The rich things of God will not be found on Sunday morning, but are for those who seek Him with their lives. If the better things of the Christian life are prepared for those who seek Him, why don’t we hear these things from the pulpits of the church today? Sunday school material has been watered down to the point of almost becoming irrelevant and the truth of scripture has been replaced with world philosophies and feel good messages.
Devaluing Doctrine
It is a growing trend to devalue doctrine and make the teachings of scripture irrelevant or unimportant. I have repeatedly heard statements from preachers like, “Doctrine is not important in Christianity. Nothing is important but having a relationship with Christ”. This can be made to sound good if presented with passion and this philosophy is packaged in many ways, but it is a completely false statement. In fact, it is IMPOSSIBLE to have a deep relationship with Jesus Christ without doctrine. Look at Jesus’ statements in John 14:
John 14: 15 " If you love Me, keep My commandments.
John 14: 23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
If you do not know the word, you cannot keep the word. If you do not keep the commandments of scripture, you do not love God regardless of how emotional you get and how spirited our time of worship becomes. Keeping the Word of God is the evidence that the love of God is in our hearts. The teaching of ‘devaluing doctrine’ has influenced the church through the emergent church movement, the seeker sensitive movement and various books and devotionals that have a pretense of sounding inspirational but are desperately lacking in truth. As teachers and preachers are influenced by these books and spend less time in the word, the postmodern thought seeps its way into their messages and are preached to a congregation that is also lacking in understanding. Ignorance of truth is an open door to sinful doctrines and ungodly philosophies; however, you have the God-given power and responsibility to search out truth and expose doctrine. If you do not know God’s word, how can you keep God’s word? If you do not know God’s word, how can you know God? Sound doctrine is critical because it reveals to us how to know and relate to our Creator and Savior.
The Value of Doctrine
Thirty-six times the importance of doctrine is stressed in scripture – and this is only the times that the word doctrine is used. There are many, many more times that the concept of sound doctrine is stressed by God throughout scripture. When something is stressed twice, this is intended to be an emphasis on its importance. If something is stressed 36 times, how can anyone say that it is not important? Not only can we see that it is important, but we can see that this is critical. The word ‘doctrine’ simply means the teachings of the scriptures. We are not talking about complicated theological concepts that professors argue over in a college classroom; we are talking about how God teaches us to relate to Him, live holy lives, inherit His promises and experience God to the fullest. If our only goal is to hear an inspirational message that makes us feel good and get through until next Sunday, any religion will do. However, if you want to experience God, sound doctrine is critical.
What do postmodern teachers mean when they preach that doctrine has little value and that knowing Christ is the only important thing we need to focus on? According to scripture, we cannot know God apart from His word. How do we experience Jesus if we are devoid of understanding? Not every Jesus presented to a congregation is the true Christ. The true Jesus calls for us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23-24). Yet the Jesus many teach requires nothing from the seeker and allows our lives to continue unchanged even though Jesus said that unless we forsake all, we cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:33). By evading doctrine, we are teaching church members to disqualify themselves from discipleship while falsely claiming that they are disciples. Through doctrine we discover what true discipleship is and we learn how to experience God on a deeper level. As we learn how to set ourselves apart for God, we also learn how to experience God on a deeper level. Look at these passages:
Psalm 119:63-66 63 I am a companion of all who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts. 64 The earth, O LORD, is full of Your mercy; Teach me Your statutes. 65 You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word. 66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge, For I believe Your commandments.
Proverbs 15:14 The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.
Proverbs 1:22 "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge.
Proverbs 19:2 Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, And he sins who hastens with his feet.
Our fellowship with true disciples is established on a mutual love for God and His word. We are able to walk in agreement with other believers who also love God’s word and keep His commandments. God teaches us good judgment and knowledge because we believe. If we don’t believe God’s word, we have removed ourselves from fellowship with God. If you have a heart of understanding, you will seek knowledge; however, fools hate knowledge and do not seek it. Why does the Bible tell us that it is not good to be without knowledge? It is because that without knowledge, we cannot know what it takes to live a godly life and keep ourselves from sin. Some love their lifestyles more than God; however, as a teacher or preacher, our goal should be to accurately portray the truth to challenge those who want to know God. If the truth of scripture offends, let it offend. The church should be pursuing those who want to be disciples of Christ – not those who do not. We cannot water down the truth and starve the seeker of God in order to retain the seeker of gratification.
Learn Knowledge and Understanding
The Bible teaches that knowledge is essential for understanding but it also warns that knowledge puffs up. Understanding is the key to knowledge. It is my goal to teach understanding and not knowledge alone. One of the most hateful and meanest people I have ever met could quote scripture freely. He was arrogant and his only use for knowledge was to put others down and lift himself up. He knew verses but he had absolutely no understanding about scripture. Before his conversion, the apostle Paul was well educated and knew the Old Testament law thoroughly, but he did not understand the scriptures and persecuted the church. Our goal is not to gain knowledge for the sake of knowing, but to gain knowledge for the sake of understanding how to love God, know His ways and conform to the image of Christ.
Through knowledge we learn that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Through knowledge we know that anyone who remains in sin is a slave to sin but those who submit to righteousness make themselves a bondservant to righteousness. Through knowledge we learn what displeases God and what builds our faith. Godly knowledge does not learn scripture to have an arsenal to beat down everyone in a theological debate but it is to increase learning for the purpose of knowing how to submit ourselves to God, walk in holiness and remain separate from the world. Knowledge teaches us the balance between liberty and self-control. Knowledge gives us the ability to discern between what will gratify us now and what will store up treasures in heaven. Knowledge is necessary for understanding and understanding is how we apply our knowledge. It is important that we seek God, not our own glory as we study. Our goal is to show ourselves approved to God so that we can grow our love for Him and express love toward Him in our daily walk. Proverbs is a wonderful book for learning how to apply ourselves to knowledge and understanding. Look at these four passages.
Proverbs 23:12 Apply your heart to instruction, And your ears to words of knowledge.
Proverbs 10:14 Wise people store up knowledge, But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
Proverbs 13:16 Every prudent man acts with knowledge, But a fool lays open his folly.
Proverbs 15:2 The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.
The first passage offers a valuable piece of advice concerning knowledge. We must apply ourselves to knowledge and instruction. We are not seeking to prove something to someone else; we are seeking knowledge to apply to our own heart. As we see how the doctrine of God applies to our life and follow through in applying it, we gain understanding. Those who are wise store up knowledge. Anyone who says doctrine is not important is following foolish advice. The Bible tells us to learn knowledge – which is knowing the commands and teachings of scripture – is wise. Those who neglect this principle are near destruction.
The above passage from Proverbs 13 affirms the first passage – we must apply what we have learned to our own heart and then act on it. If you have knowledge and never act in agreement with the teaching of scripture, it is useless. After we apply ourselves to learn doctrine, apply ourselves to what we have learned and acted according to what we learn in scripture, we then will have the understanding to speak knowledge rightly. It is God that gives understanding and He has promised to reveal these things to us as we seek and obey Him.
Many teach bad doctrine because they have not applied their hearts to the knowledge of God’s precepts and statutes. When people are not walking according to truth, they will seek ways to make truth fit their foolish decisions and justify their actions. When someone teaches that we can sin because Jesus has paid for all sins, chances are that they have a sinful habit that they are clinging to and need to justify. When someone teaches that doctrine is not important, they are either unwilling to study for themselves or they are preparing their congregations to go in a direction that is not in agreement with scripture.
As we listen to the teachings of others, we cannot always know their motivations but we can know if they are teaching according to truth. It is the responsibility of every teacher and preacher to uphold the doctrines of scripture as they apply it first to their own lives and then to teach others how to seek truth and apply it for themselves. It is the responsibility of every Christian to seek and know truth for themselves so that they can be thoroughly equipped for every good work and have true intimacy with God as they learn to conform to the example of Jesus Christ. We must learn not to be dependent on people but to stand on our own faith. Anyone who has the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ also has the anointing of God and is able to understand the scriptures. The Holy Spirit reveals the truth of scriptures accurately and there is no private interpretation of scripture. The reason scripture is misinterpreted is because we accept the teachings of men even when they are in disagreement to what has been clearly written.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
1 John 2:26-27 26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
If you have received Christ, the Holy Spirit abides within you. If you can not understand scripture, you first need to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith and receive the gift of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. Do not let anyone deceive you. There is no one whom God has set up as the source of truth for you. The word of God does not flow from God to a preacher and then out to the congregation. The word of God is revealed to you directly. You have the anointing of God and are not dependent on anyone to teach you scripture. Anyone who teaches that you need them to receive from God is a deceiver and is not in the truth. They attempt to create dependence within the congregation in order to retain their self-asserted power. As teachers, our responsibility is to teach others to walk with God. Teaching is good and we are commanded not to forsake assembling together; however, we also cannot place our dependence on man to be our source for giving us all the instructions of God.
