Radically Christian Cafe: What about doctrine?

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What about doctrine?

Dina (ahavah)

posted

I used to host a Christian chat room for MSN. We were told not to have doctrinal discussions unless everyone was in agreement. As soon as a discussion began, we had to end it because that mean disagreement! *sigh* It was really supressing at times.

But what do you do in a group setting? What if all are not in agreement on a point of doctrine? In life, I fellowship with many that don't agree on everything (even my husband! LOL). But it hasn't been that way very often or on very many issues in an IC.

How do you handle doctrinal discussions? I appreciate your input.

God bless,
Dina

jvet

posted

Doctrine is teaching. What is the teaching (of the group - person)? In a home church you stay close to the Bible's teaching, use good commentaries to know where it all takes you, and doctrine can be part of what the church is about. As a pastor in a denominational church it was always of concern what your doctrine was that you were teaching. Was it offensive to some ? Would it be acceptable to enough listeners? Should there be a poll taken to determine if the hearers were in agreement about the doctrine being correct? My concern led me to stick closely with the Bible and then I found some good commentaries to help with the progress of the teaching. Commentaries are reviewed, they are to be evaluated just as you would evaluate any helpful book. You evaluate cookbooks by the way the food tastes, evaluate the commentary as it (also) sticks with the Biblical text. One of my favorites is "Matthew Henry's Commentary". It is old, available as a reprint, and full of information and insspiration for a teacher. I found the teaching perspective the best way to present the Gospel.

Bruce Woodford
Norwich, Ontario, Canada

posted

Jvet,
Just a word re. Bible study and commentaries: We always need to remember that the scriptures are the standard by which all of men's writings are to be judged and evaluated, not the reverse! Far better to read the scriptures, ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in our understanding of them and only after we have searched the scriptures carefully to turn to commentaries and evaluate what men have written in light of the inspired words of scripture. Far too many read commentaries first and accept their favourite commentary as the standard by which to understand scripture!

Let us all follow the example of the Bereans of Acts 17:11!

Your servant for Jesus' sake,
Bruce Woodford

Faith

posted

Amen! Bruce. It is the word that counts!

Faith

jvet

posted

Sorry that my suggestion was misunderstood. The WORD always comes before any commentary and after 69 years of experience (yes, I count those beginning years) I take some short cuts in explainations. The WORD does come first and last but sometimes a different interpretation can spark a interest in a deeper search. I don't mean to quibble about the value of commentaries or that they should be substituted for the WORD. Your commentary on what I wrote is a case in point. A comment can spark a discussion. I've had discussions with myself from reading a commentary and then when the WORD was shared with the study group it wasn't for the first time. Having had a seminary education, a lot of hard knocks in life, a military disability - I've spent more time with the un-churched than with the churched and their (the world) "commentaries" have always challenged me. I understand the meaning of,"The world was sent to judge the church rather than the church being here to judge the world". I believe this discussion is a "commentary" on the WORD and it might drive someone deeper into it and if it does, may God be praised.

chris

posted

I agree with Bruce.We have a member in our house church who wants to start studying this new christian book for the next year but I would like to stick to Gods word.She wants to use this book and refer to the Bible only if someone wants to.She says other house churches are doing this.My concern is this could start a trend where we are labled as "closed minded" by other members if we refuse to study anything other than the Bible as though to say other writings are just as good as the Bible.This really scares me.I think christians are being deceived by this.I can see good meaning christians incorperating other books into house church.Anyone have any thoughts on this?

MichaelD
St. Louis, MO

posted

Dina,

You ask a very good and appropriate question for 'house-churcher's'. My family and I have gone through many (sometimes painful) 'discussions' with others of different doctrinal beliefs.

I agree with Jeff Barth, author of "What About Church?" (a good book on house-church movement), who says we need to focus on why we are fellowshipping together, our purpose. My family's motivation is to be, and to raise our children to be, holy righteous and spotless from this evil world. We want to exhort (encourage) one another to good works and to flee temptation.

We all need to realize and deal with the fact that we all come from different backgrounds and teachings, and we all can and usually do interpret some scriptures differently. In answer to your question, I personally believe the church service/praise time/teaching time of the entire group is NOT the time to 'discuss' (debate) doctrinal issues. One exception is if someone from the pulpit speaks a clear heresy on an essential of faith and salvation, such as refuting the deity of Christ, the holiness of God, or the blood of Christ as payment for our sins.

It is my hope that if people believe on Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, that they desire to be sanctified more and more each day, that they want to raise up a Godly generation after them, then those people should be able to fellowship and worship God and exhort one another without going to swords over interpretation of scriptures regarding the sacraments, gift of tongues, end times, etc.
If everyone in the room believes in all their heart that Jesus is the Son of God and is saved, why debate on how they came to receive their saving faith in Jesus?

I believe the best time to 'discuss' doctrine is at a specially designated meeting for ONLY those interested and willing to discuss, not during the Sunday morning worship time, and when all participants have had time to search the scriptures and pray about the doctrinal issue, and ONLY if all participants agree ahead of time not to speak in anger, not to call each other names (in other words, to love one another), not to imply that if someone does not agree they are on the 'slippery slope' to damnation. Discussion participants need to realize up front that everyone may need to simply agree to disagree on certain doctrinal issues but they can still fellowship with each other.

I agree with all the comments about commentaries. They can be helpful, and insightful. But they can be extremely dangerous if a person accepts them as the "gospel truth". I agree that meditation on what the scriptures actually say (read them in context, ie an entire chapter at a time), prayer, and waiting on the Holy Spirit is the best way to interpret scripture.

Mike

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