Going to Covenant has taught me a lot about doctrine and the importance of leaning on scripture to inform my view of God, life, and faithful living. My whole life, I’ve viewed Christianity as counter-cultural and have never been shocked by the objections to my faith that often come in the media, at my place of work, and on secular college campuses. However, what has been more of a surprise to me is how different Christain denominations and Christain colleges have theological views that significantly challenge conservative theological thought and question whether Christian tradition has taken a correct stance on a myriad of doctrinal issues.
For example, I found it quite surprising to discover that an increasing amount of Christians and churches have taken an affirming stance on homosexuality. Also, progressive thinkers have shifted beliefs about other issues such as beliefs about divorce, gender identity, the existence of hell, and the inspiration of God’s Word. These challenges have led me to question the importance of orthodoxy and wonder if the Reformed tradition is off base by making secondary issues primary ones.
How is it that two college campuses or churches that proclaim Christ’s death and resurrection can seem so similar on the outside, but disagree on so many issues? What is at the root of one church or school that claims to believe in the Gospel, but does not believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God? Does orthodoxy even matter at this point? Why do we fight so hard to hold to Christian tradition?
We know that the truth is vital in our walk with the Lord, and no matter what one believes, it does not change the reality of something being true. Therefore, it is of utter importance to interpret scripture correctly to know the truth and faithfully discern how God wants us to live our lives. How can we faithfully serve the Lord without knowing what does or does not honor him? If we simply dismiss certain sins and pass them off as no big deal because it is difficult to determine what scripture says about a particular issue, we can easily permit any sins in the name of ambiguity.
I fear that if we start interpreting scripture to align with our desires over what Christ desires for our lives, we create a version of scripture that God did not intend for us. This version will be one that is suited for our needs and neglects a desire to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus.
So, the heart behind people’s beliefs and interpretations of scripture can reveal a lot about their relationship with the Lord. It is essential to question whether one interprets scripture differently from a heart of knowing the Lord and a desire to serve and follow him, or rather out of a spirit of serving oneself. At times, those holding to more tolerant interpretations of scripture seek such interpretations out of a desire to get scripture to align with their lifestyle better. In such a case, the self becomes the authority over God. It reflects the attitudes that Satan reflected in the garden when he asked Eve, “did God really say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?” (Gen 3:1).
Further, I believe that people may attempt to conform to cultural norms and make the Bible more palatable for themselves and non-Christians. Such an attitude is not honoring to God if it comes from a place of contempt towards God’s law. Further, the more we tolerate sin in the church, the more we reject our need for Christ.
On the other hand, many people who hold to progressive positions may do so out of a heart for loving their neighbor and showing compassion to others rather than a heart of undermining scripture. While it is true that we are commanded in scripture to love our neighbor (Mark 12:31), we also need to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:17). Therefore, we may be hurting rather than helping our fellow brothers and sisters if we do not hold to the truth and encourage them to live in sin. Granted, speaking the truth in love can be a tricky balance, and people in the church have at times spoken the truth in hate rather than love. Yet, I don’t believe the solution is to change our stances on issues either.
The Bible has never been a book that has aligned with cultural norms. If anything, it has always been one that challenges cultural norms and pushes Christians to be holy as Christ is holy. Jesus is counter-cultural and challenges us to be counter-cultural as well. In Revelation 2: 18-29, John challenges the church of Thyatira for tolerating a prophetess who was seducing his servants and encouraging them to practice sexual immorality and offer sacrifices to idols. The church was still Christian, and John even affirms them for their love, faith, service, and patient endurance. Yet he warned them of God’s intolerance of sin and challenged how they were becoming accepting of sexual immorality and challenging the authority of scripture.
So, why is this a big deal if churches tolerate different sins and can still be Christian? We can not pick which parts of the Bible we would like to agree with and ignore the parts of scripture that do not ease our minds and hearts. If we do that, we have no solid ground to stand on and have lost a sense of what is true and what is relative. Paul states in Romans 7:7, “what shall we say? That that the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not know what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘you shall not covet.’”
Therefore, we ought to always seek out the truth to live faithful lives and know what deeds and actions are truly pleasing to God. That is why it is vital to seek out the truth and care about orthodoxy. When we flee from orthodoxy and try to obey the Lord on our terms, we can easily slip away from the truth and rely on our wisdom.
Nevertheless, we must always approach theological discussions and debates with humility. I acknowledge that I am wrong about many things, and some of my stances on issues could be incorrect due to human error. Additionally, I realize that too much of an emphasis can be placed on loving the truth without any weight on grace and love towards others. Too often, I have seen others weaponize the truth in a manner that shames others and fails to reflect how Jesus would have spoken the truth to others. Yet, it’s important to continually seek out the truth and the Lord’s wisdom in all things. The Lord will satisfy above all else. May we all submit ourselves to God’s will for our lives, knowing our boundaries have fallen in pleasant places (Psalm 16).