It can be safely said that, since the birth of the church on Pentecost, for every opinion expressed there have been divisions in the body of Christ. Professing followers of Jesus always have and always will struggle with temptation and sin until the day we are glorified in Heaven with the Savior. Prior to being redeemed, sin permeated every last aspect of our nature. We were enslaved to it, there was nothing we did or thought that was without its foul taint. Yet, in Christ, we have been set free, no longer slaves to the passions that drove us. From that day until we are called home, we go through the process of sanctification. We are changed day by day, being purged and purified. God brings our sins to the surface so that we might repent and be changed. This takes a lifetime, and it is hardly an easy journey.
With that said, we must understand that divisions in the church come as a result of sinful pride. Were we already perfected in our flesh, we would all rightly understand the Word of God and we never would be in disagreement. However, given our lack of perfect comprehension, we must understand that as we grow in knowledge, so we can also grow in our pride. We are prone to lifting ourselves and our accomplishments up high. So, when we begin to grasp the greater and deeper truths of scripture, there is a great temptation to act as though this knowledge was gained of our own accord. And as doctrine becomes more open to us, we begin to have disdain for the shallowness of understanding in which we once walked.
If you have ever engaged in doctrinal discussions, especially on the internet, you know just how easy a rigorous debate can transform into a vile argument with character assassinations and name calling in abundance. Sadly, much of the public face of Christianity today, especially in the arena of social media, has reflected this. I am not referring to the debates between liberal or false theology and sound doctrine. Those debates will clearly be contentious as though who seek to downplay biblical truth will almost always engage in emotional rhetoric in order to claim victory. Rather, what I am referring to are the heated arguments between Christians who fall within diverse, but orthodox, doctrinal views. Such debates can be necessary to help us grow and understand the nature of God and the Christian faith. However, pride in our doctrinal stances can often result in a lack of grace being shown to our brethren. It doesn’t take long for us to move from debate, to argument, to anathematization of one another when pride gets in the way.
Recently, I took a leave of absence from all internet related ministry. It started with turning off all the blogs and podcasts I had been consuming. There were so many voices ringing in my ears, I was having a terrible time concentrating on what God’s Word actually said. Many of the contributors to these resources were quite solid and agreed on much. But competing views in various matters were threatening to overwhelm my own ability to think. Shortly thereafter, I had to step away from participating in putting out my own material as I had become dismayed by those I had sought to edify. I began to observe more and more of my own brethren, people I respect even to this day, engage in some of the most vile and hostile arguments over issues of doctrine. Matters of soteriology, eschatology, ecclesiology and more became battle grounds. They were “hills to die on,” because “there are no unimportant doctrines.” The very people I had hoped to edify through the Scriptures were using the Scriptures to call down virtual hellfire on each other.
Watching the carnage unfold caused me to begin to question everything I was doing. How could I possibly engage in any kind of online ministry if the result was Christians tearing each other apart? If I was calling Christians to stand on the Bible, to be strengthened in sound doctrine, was I not equipping the very battles I saw unfolding? Was I partly to blame for the uncharitable and unloving behavior of my own brethren? So I dropped out. I stepped away from it all. I even came very close to closing down every last social media source I had. It hurt that much, the pain was that intolerable to me. I started down a path of depression because I believed that I was part of a machine that churned out theologically driven internet warriors who care more for their pet doctrines, their own ministry kingdoms, than they did about loving those who were part of God’s family.
When I announced my departure, I did not know how long I would be gone, or if I would even come back. All I knew is that I had to get away from the chaos and get back to the Word of God. The answers were not on the internet, they were not in blogs or podcasts, and they were not in social media debates. They were in the pages of the inspired, revealed word of God in the Scriptures. I decided there and then that, however long it took me, I was going to examine what I was doing, and determine if there was a biblical reason to return to it. I praise God for His provision during this time, because I did find answers, and I pray what I learned is a blessing to the readers.
There is a point to studying scripture, to learning theology and doctrine. The point of studying is not solely to become smarter and more intelligent about the Bible. It is not solely to become better versed so that we might be able to refute false doctrine. It is not so that we might establish doctrinally sound ministries that provide better training to interested Christians. The point of studying theology is that we might know God! That is the entire purpose in studying God’s revealed Word. He has presented Himself to us in the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments that we might have the means to intimately know Him who saved us for His glory. In the studying of the scriptures, as we grow to know our Lord more, the above listed reasons will be a byproduct of knowing Him. We will grow wiser, we will be better versed, and we will be able to edify our brethren. But these are the result of studying, not the reason for it.
Author and professor, J.I Packer, wrote in his book, Knowing God, “…yet interest in theology, and knowledge about God, and the capacity to think clearly and talk well on Christian themes, is not at all the same thing as knowing Him. We may know as much about God as Calvin knew – indeed if we study his works diligently, sooner or later we shall – and yet all the time (unlike Calvin, may I say) we hardly know God at all.” The learned theologian makes a clear point that there is a differentiation in knowing a great deal about God and personally knowing God. If we do not know the actual Person that is our Lord, then our study of Him is purely academic. Thus, our study of theology should not merely be a fact finding mission. It should be to come to know God more fully because we love Him and want to be with Him.
If we were to think of it in this fashion, it may help. Imagine studying all about the person that is your spouse. You have seen the birth records, and studied the accounts from family members about his childhood. You read the book reports she wrote in school, you study the artwork he did in college. You look at his pictures as he grew up, read the letters she wrote to family and friends. You spend your life studying all about this person and believe you really understand the mind he or she has. Now imagine all that study was of a person you never actually met. Certainly, you could say that you know all about him, but you don’t know him! A connection is not made when we study about someone we simply do not know. But now come but to reality. You know your spouse intimately. You love her with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Imagine what that study would do for your relationship. You heart and mind would drink up all that you could because all that information paints an even more beautiful picture of the person you love. You will love him even more than before because you now know things you had never seen. That is what the study of theology should be!
Knowing this, when we read Paul writing to the Ephesians that he prays, “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him,” (Eph. 1: 17 ESV) we see that it is Paul’s desire for his readers to come to a full knowledge of God. Paul desires this because he wants the Ephesians to “know what is the hope to which he has called you,” (v. 18). The purpose in having wisdom and revelation is so that they know hope, the hope of salvation and eternal life, hope in the promises of Christ. It is that hope that gives us joy when facing adversity and trials. It gives us strength and power to obey the commands of God in both the good times and the bad.
Paul would later write in chapter 3 that he desired the Ephesians be strengthened by the Holy Spirit “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (vv. 17-19). Paul did not want the Ephesians to have mere head knowledge; he wanted them to be filled beyond all understanding with the “fullness of God.” As they grew in their understanding, their faith would be strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit and their love for God would magnify.
It is with this in mind that Paul then writes in chapter 4, “I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (vv. 1-3). It is with a faith that is strengthened by the knowledge of God that Paul calls the Ephesians live in a manner that honors and glorifies God. Because of their faith in Christ, they can live with each other in peace and unity, loving each other as Christ loves them. Their knowledge of mind strengthens the faith in their hearts and leads to living in obedience to the commands of God. Therefore, knowing God more intimately, knowing His doctrines, leads us to changed lives where His love is evidenced in how we live. In other words, as we study theology, we fulfill the first great commandment to love our Lord with all our heart, mind soul and strength. This results in us being able to obey the second great commandment, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
In coming to see over and over throughout the New Testament, Paul’s desire for the churches to know God more, we can see where we as doctrinally sound Christians can and do err in our studies. Paul’s call to be filled with knowledge is not so that we might simply be more informed about God. It is so that we will be transformed by Him. If we pursue merely academic knowledge, we might sound brilliant when we speak, but there is no spiritual power behind it. As such, we can begin to become prideful and haughty. We can speak to others with an expectation that our learned revelations about God should be received without question. We begin to seek, not the building up and unity of our brethren, rather the immediate submission to what we know to be true and correct doctrine. We start aligning ourselves with only those with whom we theologically agree. We follow certain “leaders” who speak exactly what we want them to teach us. And we begin to war with one and other, demanding immediate doctrinal surrender.
I believe it is this mindset that Paul is addressing in to the Corinthian church when he writes, “For it has been reported to me…that there is quarreling among you, my brothers…each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Appollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1: 11-13 ESV). The Corinthian believers were lining up under specific teachers. While the motives for such alliances would be speculative, we do now that they were arguing with each other based upon the lines they had created. Each group felt their particular leader represented something about the Christian faith the others did not. Consequently, they began arguing that those they followed were better than the others. Some even used Christ Himself as a line of division, as if to say, “we don’t care what the apostles teach, we follow Christ!” Thus, even the first century church fought over who was teaching what and that others were foolish for not following as they did.
Paul rebuked the Corinthian believers for such behavior, writing, “For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, “I follow Apollos,’ are you not merely being human?” (1 Cor. 3: 3, 4 ESV). The Corinthians alignment under preferred teachers revealed a pridefulness that came of their belief that one leader or another had everything right. They trusted in their own understanding, believing themselves to be the final arbiters of truth. In that misplaced trust, they believed the knowledge they held, and that which was being taught to them by those they followed, was superior to everyone else’s. We must note that the arguments were not between known false teachers and true believers. Rather, these were followers of godly, orthodox men, who taught differently in some form or fashion. Paul’s rebuke, therefore, was against the sinful divisions being caused amongst brethren who should have been in unity despite their differences.
When Christians begin to learn the scriptures, to become knowledgeable in doctrine, there can be a great temptation to be prideful about what we know. This can happen because, as we see our progression in learning, we can judge ourselves as far more intelligent that we once were. If we determine to gauge our Christian walk by what we know, as if our faith can be graded like a school exam, we begin to look back at our former state as being somehow less Christian. If we are far more superior a Christian today because of what we have learned, then those who are not at the same level as we are then the lesser Christians. We see it as our duty to raise them up to our level, or, failing that, expose them for being undiscerning and possibly not even saved.
It doesn’t start that way. We genuinely desire to know more. Being filled with the Spirit means we are desire to grow in our knowledge of God. Each of us who are in Christ are certainly on the same path, but each walking at a different pace. It is much like going to the gym. Some people are there for the first time and have difficulty just walking for extended periods of time, others are fitness experts for whom most exercises are easy and they must work harder to achieve their goals. Each has the same end goal in mind, but their individual abilities determine how far they are to becoming physically fit. In the same way, individual Christians will find themselves on different points along the same path. Some will be theologians of the highest order, while yet others are barely feeding on the pure milk of the word.
If we want to help a friend in achieving his fitness goals, we will come along side him at the gym and show him the exercises that help him accomplish that. We will spur him on, challenging him not to give up. In the Christian faith, those of us who are further along in the study of the Word should be coming along and building up our brethren out of a genuine love and a desire for them to know God more intimately. We will teach and challenge them, hold them accountable to the Word in their walk, and rebuke them lovingly when needed. We will point out the pitfalls and dangers of false teaching, and will guide our brethren into deeper studies of truth. I believe many of us start along with just that in mind. We actually want to help our brethren to learn and know more. We want to be guides on the path of truth, steering people away from the false.
Where we as Christian err is when we fail to have patience for those who have not progressed as we have expected them to. We fail to remember that we are all in this sinful flesh that rebels against the truth, desiring only to be fed by the cares of the world. So our brethren fight and kick, holding onto half truths and false ideas. They are not always quick to embrace biblical truth. So we become impatient, and even bitter against their resistance. Sadly, we immediately forget that we too have been at that place, or that even now we may be disobedient in another area. We see that where we are now is biblically correct and reject all notions that we need to be corrected. In that moment, the fights and wars begin.
When we begin to pridefully line up along doctrinal lines, when we begin to espouse our favorite teachers as far superior to others, we begin to act “only in a human way.” This is when doctrine and theology become weapons to be used against our brethren rather than as a means to build each other up. Paul wrote that “…’knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1 ESV). While the specific context is the issue of meat being sacrificed to idols, the principle is the same. Mature believers ought to lovingly build up immature brethren. However, when we lord our greater understanding over our brethren with no concern for how it may cause them to trip and stumble, we are puffed up. Paul made it clear he would do whatever was necessary not to be the causative agent for an immature brother to sin. In his love for them, he would teach and grow them, building them up in maturity. Yet, when we jump online to prove our doctrinal superiority, there is little evidence we are seeking to build up our brethren in maturity. We are puffed up and we are flexing our theological muscles. This ought not to be.
The relatively recent invention of social media and instant communication has done little to help the Christian in this area of temptation. Where we once were isolated from the rest of the world, working solely with in our own communities, today we are interacting with the entire world with the touch of an app. Doctrinal disputes often took a great deal of time to settle, allowing for extensive and thoughtful responses. Today, if we cannot prove our point in 140 characters in less than 60 seconds, we are deemed to be failures. Pride in our own knowledge is much easier when you don’t have to take time to think about your answers. Additionally, the highly public nature of social media means that literally anyone can join the fight. All out virtual brawls can occur between professing brethren because people can join a discussion uninvited. What might have been a private dispute between two brothers can literally become a viral grudge match between dozens of people. Imagine a heated argument between you and your spouse suddenly being the spark for a neighborhood block war and you’ll picture what social media disputes can become.
Thanks to the internet, we can now network with thousands of like minded brethren. We can read, listen to, watch and even create resources that hundreds of people will see daily. Blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, public groups and forums are gathering places for Christians to learn and grow in the Word. The internet has become a vast and wonderful resource than can be an edifying force for our Christian walk. But, thanks to the sense of instant gratification that the World Wide Web provides, we have lost any sense of patience. We can quickly identify those with whom we agree and cast aside those with whom we have even the slightest disparity. Rather than seeking to be brethren who sharpen their iron against one and other, we can easily to succumb to the temptation to dull our edges by simply parroting the groups we like. Thus, the tool that could be to our greatest advantage in growing in our knowledge can become the means by which we return to acting carnally.
The only means by which we can overcome this temptation is to return to the reason why we study theology to begin with, to know God. Theology is the study of God. We must desire to know Him and know Him intimately. When we open our Bibles and our study tools, it’s not so that we will become better theologians. It is so that we might understand the very words our Lord has spoken to us. When we approach the study of the Scriptures in this manner, we avoid any temptation to become prideful. True doctrine is that which elevates God and lowers us. When we see who we are before God, that we are wretches deserving of His wrath, yet in His gracious love we were redeemed, we cannot help but glory in Him alone. With the joy that comes from understanding the promises of God, we desire nothing more than to share His mercy with others. And when we run into disputes regarding doctrine, we remember that none of us has been granted full knowledge. We are all on the same path at different points, and the more mature Christians are to build up the less mature. We are to do so through patient and loving teaching. We seek to preach, teach, edify, reprove and rebuke with one singular goal in mind, to bring all of us into the unity that is found in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To do anything else is sin.
So, what does this look like in our social media, instant access, immediate gratification driven age? I believe it means that a great many of us need to stop what we have been doing and take serious thought about it all. We need to examine what we are doing, why we are doing it, and ask if we are truly being biblical, if we are really honoring God. We have taken to the airwaves, so to speak, to be voices clambering to be heard. A great many of us want to be teachers, to be listened to and followed. But do we really know what that means? Have we examined our hearts and our lives to determine if our desire really matches up with God’s call? Certainly, all of us have the duty to spread the gospel far and wide. We can use many and diverse means to do so, provided what we say is biblical and God honoring. We are also called to use our gifts to edify the body of Christ. Once again, I say we should use whatever means to do so if we are in alignment with the will of God.
What I am asking the reader to do is reevaluate your heart before God. Are you studying and sharing doctrine out of a genuine desire to know your Savior? If you started that way, are you still doing so? Have you faltered, are you breeding contention and animosity toward your brethren over disagreement? Are you building up in love? Or are you tearing down others so that you may further your own kingdom? These are serious questions. They are questions I have had to ask myself over the last two months repeatedly. They are questions I pray I never stop asking. It is my heartfelt prayer that this article has challenged you. That it has stopped to make you think about what and why you are doing what you do. We have two great commandments, to love God and love others. While love often means bringing correction to others, it also means standing resolutely with our brethren as we help them grow in maturity. If we do not love them enough to do so, it may reveal we have failed to love God, for He has called us to be in unity, not in animosity. While Christianity will not rise or fall on how I respond to a Twitter post, for even the gates of Hell will not prevail against it, certainly my testimony to the world will speak volumes about what I believe. I pray that the current climate of hostility in the church will start changing today. And I pray that this humble posting may be a step in that direction.
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