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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
If a person believes that he/she must be right about all essential points of doctrine in order to go to heaven, the most malignant and destructive form of self deception has gone to seed in that person's heart. Yet, this was the religious climate in which I grew up and in which I labored as an adult minister for many years. Please note that I placed the phrase essential points of doctrine in italics; the reason for this will become clear as today's message unfolds and as others follow along this same line.
It is not wrong to want to be right! But, it is wrong to think that one can be right on all matters religious and that our salvation depends upon such doctrinal precision. I will illustrate what I mean and expand as time allows today and in future installments. Question: Does God authorize the Christian to bear arms under the flag of his country? In other words, could I as a believer serve without reservation in the armed forces of the United States of America? This question has arisen in every generation that has had to face warfare. First, the purpose of this article and this series is NOT to determine what the Bible teaches about the illustrations I use. So, the point of today's message is not to argue one way or the other about the right of a Christian to bear arms. The point of today's message is to show that there are some extremely important doctrinal matters that will never be settled this side of eternity.
My own opinion is and has been that it is acceptable for a believer to bear arms in the name of his country. In support of that position I would defer to a classic work by Foy E. Wallace, Jr. entitled The Sermon on the Mount and the Civil State. However, I have read equally compelling books by brethren who came to the opposite conclusion of Wallace. One would not have to go back very far in the history of the churches of Christ to find brethren who worked side by side, but who held opposite views on this issue. I would simply observe that it cannot be true that, in the Bible, God: 1) Approves of Christians going to war, and 2) Disapproves of Christians going to war. If He legislated the matter, He did not contradict Himself and legislate both ways!
So, regarding those who demand doctrinal precision and purity as a condition of salvation, how do they deal with such a matter. It is actually quite ingenious; they simply place this doctrine in the category of things in which it is okay to hold personal opinions. From a practical standpoint, this simply means that one person can see it one way, a second person can see it another way, and they both can go on being Christians in fellowship with God and in fellowship with one another. Now going back to the opening paragraph of today's message and the phrase essential points of doctrine. With the wave of a magic wand, the two opposing sides of the warfare question simply decide that this is NOT an essential doctrine. With tongue in cheek, I say that this is terribly convenient! But, I question the authority behind their decision to place this matter in the category of unessential doctrines. However, as long as you will allow me to define what is an essential doctrine and what is not, I can be right about all essential doctrines. Oh, and by the way, if you succeed in showing me that I am wrong about an essential doctrine, I will continue to believe the way I do but place it over in the category of unessential doctrines and I am still right in all essential doctrines!
The point just here is this: No man on the face of this earth has a sufficient grasp of the scriptures to precisely and accurately articulate God's position on each and every moral and religious question that we face as human beings! If there be such a man, let him step up and prove such to be the case. As for me, I beg for mercy and see myself, even after doing all that I know to do, as an unprofitable servant!
Questions:
1. Who has the right to determine essential and unessential doctrines? From whence came that authority?
2. Can it be both right and wrong for a Christian to bear arms according to the Bible? Why or why not?
3. Is the idea that one can have an all inclusive, correct, and precise view of biblical doctrines self deception, or is it actually possible?
4. Who said that we are unprofitable servants even after we have done all (hint: see Luke 17.10)?
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