Should We Defend Doctrines?

Is there any reason for Christians to defend specific doctrines? We live in an age bent on unity, and there is good reason for unity. Christ spoke of it, St. John does as well. It is supposed to mark us. But, say some, doctrine divides, so why should we defend doctrines? There is good reason, though you can go overboard.

Good Reason

"I don't want to know about God, I want to know God." Most of us have heard this phrase, or perhaps one like it, in discussions on the importance of doctrine. I understand the motivation behind this phrase. It doesn't take most Christians very long to think of someone they know who, while he/she loves to know facts about God and the Bible, has no real love for God Himself. Often such people are argumentative and spiritually dry, and they end up being a detriment to evangelism. Avoiding this pitfall is a good goal indeed.

Conversely, we must ask ourselves if the catch phrase mentioned above gets us where we need to go spiritually. Is jettisoning doctrinal discussion the right approach to take? I fear there is an inherent problem in refusing to learn the doctrines that have been handed down to us. You see, our minds, like nature, abhor a vaccuum. There is a compartment for God in our minds which cannot stay empty. We cannot prevent concepts and indeed doctrines from rushing in, filling the God-comparment with ideas about God's nature, whether they be true or false. These ideas are subtle, subconscious assumptions about what God should be like. You can see it in the surrounding culture.

People in America often like to think of God as only a loving God with no reference to justice. Consequently, if a Christian makes a statement about God's justice he is met with blank stares, or worse, outright anger. "A loving God doesn't condemn people!" someone might say. It is easy to see that, Biblically speaking, their perspective is skewed.

We must recognize that doctrines have consequences, whether we self-consciously adopt them or not. When we ignore doctrine we ignore the truth that God has revealed about Himself We should not believe that our concept of God will herefore remain a vaccuum. Rather, true concepts will be replaced with concepts of our own making. In other words, we will remake God in our own image. This is a violation of the 1st and 2nd Commandments!

Going Overboard

One thing that has turned a lot of people off of doctrine in general is when we go overboard in defending it. As I mentioned above, many who enjoy doctrine have little to speak of in the way of a spiritual life. What does this 'going overboard' look like? If I refuse to associate with a fellow Christian because I am a Calvinist and he is Arminian, I am going overboard. There are doctrines over which principled, civil disagreement should reign.

How do we avoid going overboard? The first thing is to take a look at one's self and determine how much we enjoy arguing. Do you take pleasure in really nailing your opponents? Do you enjoy watching your 'combatant' squirm? Watch yourself in debate, then. Ungodliness can rear its ugly head if we are not careful to behave in a gentle, Christlike fashion. This is not to say that we should soften the truth. Rather, we should be truthful in a gentle, winsome fashion.

The second step in avoiding going overboard is to understand the relative importance of each doctrine. Some doctrines are more vital to the Christian faith than others, and should therefore be defended more vigorously. The deity of Christ, for instance, is absolutely essential to the Christian faith. If you do not believe this, you are not a Christian. This must be defended to the end, though without losing one's temper.

Third, in avoiding going overboard we must become very familiar with the doctrines we defend. The reason for this is that we often lose our tempers when all of our arguments are exhausted. Like an animal backed into a corner, when we are trapped we lash out. This is an unhelpful behavior.

Finally, we must maintain a vibrant spiritual life if we are to avoid going overboard in defending doctrines. Knowledge of God and intimacy with Him must go hand in hand. We drift off the path if we abandon either wing of our spiritual lives. So can we know God without knowing about Him? No. We will get to know something or someone (perhaps ourselves), but it will not be God.