Does church doctrine still have a place in our world today?
The family is in a crisis. Traditional marriage is under attack. The homosexual movement’s agenda is being trumpeted incessantly in our culture. Cohabitation and divorce are commonplace. Abortion is still the silent killer. Drugs and alcohol are a scourge upon our society and tearing apart our local communities. If statistics are true, pornography is the white elephant within many of our churches. Greed and materialism may be the greatest sins of America and the church. Our young people are leaving the church at alarming rates and many in their 20s and 30s have abandoned the church.
With our culture becoming darker, there is a temptation to neglect doctrine. Our preaching has changed through the years to address these moral, emotional, and social needs, and thus we don’t have as much doctrinal preaching and teaching. There is a temptation in our minds to think, “Do issues like baptism, the Lord’s Supper, a-cappella singing, the nature and identity of the church even matter now?” Are we just being legalistic when we focus on these doctrinal issues with the moral depravity and social needs all around us?
As I wrestle with these issues in my own ministry, I am reminded that doctrine matters! Paul and Peter wrote their epistles to churches surrounded by moral and social problems, yet they both emphasized church doctrine (Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, 1 and 2 Peter, etc.). We have to address the moral and social needs of our culture, but we also much teach sound doctrine. Just because doctrinal issues have become irrelevant, out-of-touch, and legalistic to our prevailing culture, does not mean they have to God. They certainly should not to His Church! We cannot allow the culture to determine what is important. We must balance our teaching and we must not throw out doctrine just because the world has become darker.
“He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:9 ESV)
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We have been studying in our men’s class a book by Dan Chambers that does a good job of addressing church doctrine in our current culture. It is called Churches in the Shape of Scripture. You can find it through Bible bookstores or contact Dan at Concord Road Church of Christ in Brentwood TN.
