Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Go Christ - Beat Satan
OK, I admit it, the graphic in this post from "A Church for Starving Artists" is what made me read it to begin with, but the concluding paragraphs are what made me link to it and comment on it.
Doctrine has limits. It helps us to understand the actions of grace and the Holy Spirit in our lives, but it does not substitute for those actions. Doctrine, like virtually everything else, has a predilection to become an idol. We worship our understanding rather than what it is we seek to understand. We hold up what we believe instead of Who we believe in.
We are fallen, we are finite. Our understanding is limited.
I love my tradition. I find it the best way to express my faith and serve as a spiritual leader. But if we expend too much energy within our little church sub-cultures, we are the losers. We lose perspective. We lose opportunities.He uses the analogy of college sports rivalries to make his point, but PC v Mac or Coke v Pepsi would be pretty good examples as well. I took a bit of heat at Article VI Blog a while back when I took exception to Al Mohler and said the following:
Following Jesus is not about indoctrination to a particular brand. It's more about living and encouraging others to live a Spirit-induced life.
I have to get a bit theological about this - "Reformed, Protestant Christianity" is doctrinal; greater Christianity, even exclusive of sects on the edge like Mormonism, is not so defined. (This definition, as Romney himself pointed out, excludes even Roman Catholics - a very large chunk of the worshippers of Jesus in the country and the world. It would even exclude many of the larger independent evangelical mega-churches. ) But more importantly, doctrine is decidely sectarian. When people say American is a "christian" nation most of them certainly do not mean it in the sense that Mohler here defines Christianity.Funny how the words "doctrine" and "indoctrination" share the same roots, isn't it? Now, of course, doctrine matters, the question is "how much?" Are we saved by doctrine? NO, we are saved by grace. Does doctrine change our loves? NO, the Holy Spirit changes our lives.
Doctrine has limits. It helps us to understand the actions of grace and the Holy Spirit in our lives, but it does not substitute for those actions. Doctrine, like virtually everything else, has a predilection to become an idol. We worship our understanding rather than what it is we seek to understand. We hold up what we believe instead of Who we believe in.
We are fallen, we are finite. Our understanding is limited.
