Downplaying Doctrine MacArthur bemoans that evangelicals are downplaying doctrine to attract crowds: “Many evangelicals (once known for a very prudent and biblical approach to doctrine) are fast becoming as doctrinally clueless as the unchurched people they are so keen to please. At least three decades of deliberately downplaying doctrine and discernment in order to attract the unchurched has filled many once-sound churches with people who utterly lack any ability to differentiate the very worst false doctrines from truth. I constantly encounter evangelical church members who are at a loss to answer the most profound errors they hear from cultists, unorthodox media preachers, or other sources of false doctrine.” We have seen a similar turn among brethren who admit they are going in a “new direction.” Being tired of preaching they perceive to be “dry” and “boring” (that which identifies error, rebukes sin with the word of God and calls sinners to repentance), they clamor for something more pleasing to their ears (2 Tim. 4:3-4; 1 Cor. 2:1). Sermons on how to establish and apply Bible authority are becoming rarer in some churches of Christ these days (Col. 3:17). Bible preaching is being replaced with seminars, workshops and the latest “how to” book – as if the word of God is out of date and incapable of addressing present-day concerns. Lessons that uphold “sound doctrine” by exposing denominational error as well as error in churches of Christ are fewer and farther between these days. Yet, inspired Scripture continues to be profitable for doctrine (2 Tim. 3:16). We must not downplay the apostles’ doctrine. Hold it up for all to see, believe and obey (Phil. 2:16).
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 09:43:45 +0000