Doctrine Divides

Here’s a comment I hear quite often from people I’m sure have good intentions:  “Christians shouldn’t be so concerned about doctrine because everyone knows that doctrine divides.”  Those who say this to me are usually surprised by my response.  I tell them, “Yes, you’re right in saying that doctrine divides; but that’s all the more reason for genuine Christians to be very concerned about doctrine.”

How could I say such a thing?  Doctrine is nothing more than the substance of what the Christian Church claims and teaches is God’s truth.  So someone who says that doctrine is not important is saying that God’s truth is not important.  And since Jesus said that he is the truth, they’re effectively saying that Jesus is not important.  If they go on to say (as they sometimes do) that the truth cannot be known for sure, what they’re really saying is that Jesus cannot be known for sure.  I sincerely hope that no one who claims to be a Christian would want to say that; yet, that’s exactly what they’re doing if they say that God’s truth cannot be known with certainty.  And it misses the point of the Bible entirely.  God gave us his Word precisely so that we would know the truth.  He gave us his Word so that we would know Jesus Christ – the whole Jesus Christ, not just a minimal, “dumbed-down” version of him.

So perhaps we should look at the importance of the study of doctrine another way.  The fact is TRUE biblical doctrine never divides Christians; it unites them. It brings them together in the true knowledge of Jesus Christ and the salvation he achieved for us by his death on the cross.  Divisions between Christians are caused by FALSE doctrines.  Christians are divided by teachings that aren’t biblical and true. And these teachings don’t come from the Lord.  They come from the devil and from the minds of evil, deceived, or misguided men. They come from misinterpretations of the Bible.  This makes the study of doctrine that much more important.  We need to study and compare doctrines that are being taught in the light of God’s Word so that we will know what is true and should be believed and what is false and needs to be rejected.

And while doing this, we need to exercise careful spiritual discernment.  A statement can be 99% true and still be 100% false.  Consider the space shuttle Challenger disaster:  there were literally thousands of systems all working correctly, precisely as they should; but the failure of a single O-ring caused the whole mission to fail.  Similarly, someone’s doctrine can be mostly sound but still have an error in a critical place that has the potential (at least) to cause total system failure.  Not every error is that dangerous; but no error is good.  We should want to avoid them all.

Many people who mean well think we should avoid discussing doctrine because it might lead to an argument.  I say, “Bring it on”.  Let us who claim the name of Christ sit down under the authority of God’s Word and talk about our differences openly and honestly.  Let’s hold up what we believe to the light of God’s revealed truth and see what stands and what falls.  Let’s discuss, compare, search the Scriptures together, and yes, let’s argue if need be, not in anger or to have occasion to boast about superior knowledge; but to find the truth together.  Let’s seek real unity in Christ.  Let’s not just settle for a false unity based on an “agreement to disagree”.  Let’s do this because true doctrine unites Christians. And it also divides:  it divides truth from falsehood, light from darkness, salvation from damnation, and ultimately life from death.