Doctrine I

Having been raised in the American Restoration movement and firmly entrenched in the importance of, truth of, and power of scripture this may seem like a weird question but here goes. How important is doctrine?

If Jesus is the center point, foundation, the beginning and end of our faith, how important is the other stuff? Is what I believe outside of Jesus really important and if so just how important is it? Is it worth dividing a church over? Is it worth leaving a church over? Is it worth fighting about?

In my preaching career I’ve received more complaint and argument over two statements I’ve made then every thing else put together. The first is, Jesus is God. I won’t take the time to lay out my understanding of the text here but this is what I believe. The second is that humans are broken and without hope. We are not almost good enough and God makes up the difference. Drowning in sin we are hopelessly lost and have nothing to offer God in return for his Grace.

Both of these are doctrinal positions. The first one I will not budge on. The second one I’m willing not only to talk, but to let you see it differently if you choose. Are either of these doctrinal positions worth fighting about and if so why? The first position in my opinion is because it has to do with how we understand who Jesus is. The second isn’t because it doesn’t affect our understanding of Jesus.

Whatever the case we are going to have to decide what hills were going to die on. I just hope there are fewer hills in the future then there have been in the past.