A resting place between dogma and relative truth (III) No package deal theology

It   grieves me to see over and over Christians going to University and then rapidly loosing their faith.   It's not the only problem, but   by and large we have not taught our people to think. Part of this, is the strong pressure (certainly not just in the church) to conform to the dominant mindset of our group or denomination.   In our anxiety to teach truth, we put out unconscious rules that disallow disagreement or questions, and our theology sets like cement.     And then   at University   when “our neighbour comes along and examines us,”     showing us our error (Proverbs 18:17),   the baby is thrown out with the bathwater.   Actually some of our theology is quite sophisticated, with every doctrine connected to another.   And the problem then, is that if you   demolish one precept, the whole thing comes down like a pack of cards. I call such theologies “package deal theologies.” And too often you are expected to accept the whole thing without question.   It’s not realistic!

I am told there are over forty thousand registered, Christian denominations most saying “We have the truth,   and everyone else is wrong!”   And when asked   “Which truth,” forty thousand of us answer   “mine!” We need to see this though the unbeliever's eyes and repent!   I previously mentioned the furnace of dialogue, the difficulty   of speaking the truth in love.   One place where this has been worked through is in para - church ministries,   which   minister across denominational lines.   Since perhaps the most asked question (by Christians) of such ministries is “What do you believe” their statements of faith have likely been refined over and over in the fire   of inter-denominational dialogue. I was asked once to give nine talks on the International Fellowship of Evangelical students statement of faith.   I came away     with a deep appreciation of the balance of what is put forth there as the set of   non-negotiable essentials.   Their statement on Scripture for example,   is   “The divine inspiration and entire trustworthiness of Holy Scripture,   and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.”

But if the Bible can be trusted in this way,   how is it we get so many different theologies all claiming to be Biblically based?   Well there  are parts that are  difficult  to understand (2 Peter 3:16),  to which we give simplistic explanations,  and  in so doing fail  to love the Lord with all our mind.   We tend to classify all truth as non-negotiable essentials,  often  majoring on  minors.   We can emphasize just one  side of truths that need to be held in tension, and dismiss the other side.   We go to Scripture looking for support for already established positions, rather than seeking to know what it says.  We isolate from those with whom we disagree  disallowing our neighbour to examining  us.   Finally when we see  error,  we  then go overboard making an equal and opposite error  or   focus  entirely  on our correction of  the error. We even name our denominations after our corrections! There is a desperate need to establish   a set of non-negotiable essentials that encapsulate what really is essential and what's not.   We still have our denominational distinctives, but just not use them as a reason to separate!

Father if Your church is to be the witness to the World  that  Biblical truth,   and Biblical morality are firm places on which to stand,   then we need to work through these issues, and we desperately need Your help to do this, so I am asking for it this morning Lord  in Jesus Name Amen