I have been pondering about "doctrinal statements" lately. I have been around the loop a few times with various doctrinal issues, and where in my early days as a Christian I used to have around 28 things I would have listed in my "doctrinal statement" as certainties - but through time, studying the history of theology and how various doctrines were actually birthed out of cultural situations - I have become more of a Nicene Creed doctrinal statement believer. I know that the Nicene Creed was shaped by cultural debates and theological issues they were facing at the time, but I think it still does address some beautiful things about the Christian faith. So in terms of doctrines or beliefs to hold to - I believe in the truths of the Nicene Creed.
I am also not afraid or embarrassed to say I do hold to some "foundational" or "fundamental" beliefs. However, both those words are loaded with all types of things, but in the elementary usage of the words, I hold to some core/foundational/fundamental doctrines. I have joked recently and wrote about in a forthcoming book Zondervan is releasing I think this Fall called "Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches" . That book has several different people including Mark Driscoll, myself, Doug Pagitt each writing out what we believe theologically in our churches. In that book, i jokingly wrote that I am a "fundamentalist" in the original sense of the word. It was originally used around 1910 to describe a response to what was seen as liberalism at that time, so they laid out a few "fundamentals" - the virgin birth, the inspiration of Scripture, the deity of Jesus, the atonement, the return of Jesus. I can say I believe those original fundamentals, so in that way I am a "fundamentalist" but not a cultural "Fundamentalist" as we think of the term as an adjective today.
I am writing this as I am preparing for a message I am giving at our church this Sunday on the importance of "doctrine" out of 1 Timothy 4:16. So I have doctrine on my mind.
However, as I am thinking about doctrine, what I have found so sad is the way we fight about doctrine sometimes. I understand from the very passage I am studying that we should watch our doctrine very closely. I fully believe this. But it is funny as most people assume they have all the correct "doctrine" to guard. I am not talking about what is written in the Nicene Creed or the five fundamentals - as those are doctrines I personally hold to and would "guard" as I imagine most evangelical Christians do hold. In my mind they are the "majors" as the corny cliche goes, we can focus on the "majors" and minor on the "minors".
But when you move beyond the inspiration of Scripture, the diety of Christ etc., Christians then get in bitter fights quite often about other doctrines. We fight and guard doctrine from all different perspectives.We drift into fighting about "minors" and not just "majors". But then the problem is that the "majors" for certain groups become all the "minors" too, rather than the core things of the Nicene Creed and Five Fundamentals. When I speak at conferences (that are non-denominational) I quite often ask "who here believes women should be pastors and elders?" and about half raise their hands - then ask the same question reversed and the other half raise their hands. I then say "one of you is wrong" but we each love Jesus and is this an issue we should be fighting about or looking one one or the other as a "liberal" or a "Conservative"? Even those catagories almost seem meaningless anymore.
But, I go on certain web sites and blogs when "doctrine" is discussed (which it should be) and there are such mean, mean Christians who seem so bitter and angry and slam other Christians about issues and some doctrines that we just don't know for sure about. We can say we think we know for sure, but we just don't. As I said, I believe there are certainties to me, such as the five original fundamentals from 1910, the Nicene Creed etc. - but as we move beyond those things, I think we need to approach doctrine a little more humbly than some do. I think there needs to be grace and love with other followers of Jesus who may not hold to our view of the 5 Points of Calvinism, or whether the earth was created in 6 days or 6 million years etc.
Back to my original thinking, I would defend the Nicene Creed and the original five fundamentals and that is something I would "guard" to use the biblical word - but it makes me sad seeing Christian leaders and people in churches beating each other up so often about other things beyond that with doctrines and doctrinal statements. Could it be that some people are insecure, so they need to secure all their beliefs so tightly and defend everything that does rest as uncertain? Does knowing doctrine make us more like Jesus and loving? It should make us more loving - but judging by the words and attitudes of many Christians on blogs and web sites it seems it seems to makes many angry and meaner.
I do not want to paint a stereotype, as I know this is not the norm for everyone - but it seems there is a pattern to the ones who most hold to tightly detailed and long doctrinal statements with no room for mystery on the "minors". Again, I am not speaking about the Nicene Creed of five fundamentals (those are "majors" to me) - it's when you don't agree with being a five point Calvinist, or when the rapture will occur, or whether women should be pastors or not or some issues that are just not black and whitely laid out in the BIble. The Southern Baptists obvioulsy didn't think everything was balck and white, as they changed views when they used to have women pastors and then made a switch to not having them as pastors and elders. Some things are not super clear, and it leaves room for a variety of intepretations.
But there are some people, if you don't agree with their interpretation on the more minor issues, then they will beat you up as their doctrinal statement is better, bigger and badder than yours and you better watch out. I wonder if temperaments have to do with what theologies people gravitate to, more than the theology itself?
I am rambling as usual. Better get back to the sermon preparation. Even though i believe in doctrines and hold and guard doctrine, I hope I never become a mean Christian.
