Caution: Sound Doctrine Divides

"Doctrine divides but love unites."

This is the mantra of some within the broader American church. It's complicated root system ensnares many well-meaning Christians who have seen the words of Scripture used as a spiritual bludgeon against those who battled against enslavement to sin or who perhaps weren't walking in lock-step with church leadership.

Hence, the response: Doctrine appears to be dividing us, therefore, what we need is more love.

On the other hand, there are those whose lips play host to these words with less than sincere motivations of the heart. They are wolves in sheep's clothing. Their intent is to lead others astray by convincing them, among other things, that to be "under grace" is to possess a license to indulge the flesh, whether outwardly or inwardly. 

And possession of this license guarantees "freedom from the law" of God which therefore (practically) nullifies the authority of church leadership in any one church members life. Their's is a call to licentious living, or what theologians call antinomianism (lit: against God's law).

The truth is, there are few who explicitly proclaim this so-called freedom from God's moral mandates in the Christian life. Even antinomians think it wrong to have their wallets stolen! 

Yet the problem we're grappling with in this post is real and its effects in the church today, supported by gross biblical illiteracy, are devastating to discipleship and biblical counseling (see important articles on this from Ligonier Ministries and Dr. Al Mohler).

At bottom, we might say that many in the American church are now "punch-drunk" on an unbiblical understanding of God's moral law and its relation to the grace by which they are saved (Eph. 2:8-9).

Obedience from the Heart

One of the many unique qualities of biblical counseling is its embrace of God's word as the sufficient source and guide for the life to which God has called every believer (Heb. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:16). And this call is buttressed by the good news that, unlike government, God never issues an unfunded mandate. As Peter tells us, we've been granted "all things that pertain to life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3).

In other words, the biblical call to know, understand, and observe sound doctrine and teaching is preceded by the giving of the spiritual ability to do so at conversion. This is good news!

Critics of biblical counseling have thus charged the movement with encouraging legalism on account of the counselor's willingness to be direct with those who are clearly living in opposition to God's word. Here, we often see (or taste) the leaven that infects the modern church which declares that "doctrine divides."

With the understanding that the human element, and therefore the possibility of human error, cannot be removed from any counseling scenario, it must be clearly stated that loving (Eph. 5:14), biblical confrontation is not merely descriptive in Christian discipleship, but is in fact prescriptive, that is, mandated. 

This is precisely what Paul was referring to when he instructed the Thessalonians to "admonish the idle" (1 Thess. 5:14), or those who are neglecting God's word to their own peril (and often times the peril of their own families and the entire church).

In a great twist of irony, when the shepherds of God's church willfully refuse to engage the wayward, they are themselves running afoul of God's gracious command which was in fact given for our sanctification (Rom. 6:19).

Within the pages of Scripture we find a clear and unambiguous call to holy or righteous living according not to our own imagined standards but according to "sound doctrine" (Titus 2:1). 

In his letter to the Romans, Paul himself commends his audience for their obedience, and gives thanks to God that where they were once "slaves of sin," they have become "obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which [they] were committed" (Rom. 6:17; 2 Tim. 1:13).

Notice two key phrases in the verse: 1) from the heart, and 2) the standard of teaching. Paul lifts up not a mere legalistic form of obedience to God but one that is motivated by love for Him according to what they have been taught concerning the Gospel. Orthodoxy (right knowing) tends toward Orthopraxy (right living).

"We will not believe more than we know, and we will not live higher than our beliefs." Dr. Al Mohler

Any honest reading of the New Testament would reveal that Paul himself would repudiate the maligning of sound doctrine and the pursuit of loving obedience in humble submission to it. 

If "doctrine divides" in the way some have suggested, then the words of Psalm 119:105, that God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, cannot in any meaningful way be true.

Connecting the Dots

This post has focused heavily on God's law, moral standards, and obedience to biblical doctrine. For some, it will be an uncomfortable discussion because it feels counter to the message of "grace" as they've come to understand it. Unfortunately, they may hear a message that is measurably different than what's actually been communicated.

Still, the application of sound, biblical doctrine in any pastoral or biblical counseling scenario is critical to discipling those who have fallen away and who are now experiencing the natural results of sin and the loving discipline of God. Either of these may produce experiences with worry, fear, depression, anxiety, relational brokenness, and the like.

While those who counsel biblically must always be on the lookout for signs of an underlying organic issue in a counselee and be ready to refer the person to a medical doctor for examination, it will not infrequently be the case that the trouble a person is experiencing in their life can be linked to some ongoing sin issue (i.e. adultery, pornography, addiction, anger, criminal activity, etc.).

Consequently, the most unloving thing any concerned biblical shepherd can do is to avoid the loving confrontation at the point of departure from God's word in favor of some physical remedy to what is a spiritual matter of the heart.

Indeed, while some choose to report that "doctrine divides and love unites," what we know to be true is that sound doctrine divides not the church, but the righteous from the unrighteous. And the resulting unity it produces for those who are trained by it is securely in Christ and with one another (Heb. 12:11).

In this, sound doctrine, we encounter the love of God whose perfect love casts out all fear (1 Jn. 4:18).

For a related discussion, check out the latest podcast from ACBC on overcoming sin.

Bad Doctrine Corrupts Good Morals

You've heard it said: Don't drink. Don't smoke. Don't chew. And, don't go with girls that do. But, I say to you, disconnected from the person of Jesus Christ, good morals are ultimately a pitiful source of pride and false hope in the trials of life.

Several months ago, LifeWay Research and Ligonier Ministries released a report concerning the pervasiveness of biblical illiteracy in the American church. The report speaks for itself. We're in a time of deep theological anemia, the effects of which are severe to the spiritual heartbeat of our culture. At this time, it's difficult to know if the church in America will recover within our lifetime. We can only hope.

We Must Pray for the Next Great Awakening 

Our biblical illiteracy, itself a product of unbelief and the outright rejection of a Christian worldview, is indeed foundational to the social anarchy of our time. But, what's happening outside of the church is not so much my concern in this post. Instead, I'm terribly concerned, as a biblical counselor, about what's happening inside the church.

What the world calls "mental health," where not connected to a true organic disease of the brain, is directly connected to our walk with Jesus Christ. If you reject this assertion, consider that as prima facia evidence for the thesis of this post.

Our walk with Him will not rise higher than our familiarity with God's written word. Out of this fertile ground springs what we believe to be true about God and ourselves. We call this doctrine, a word lifted up by Scripture, but maligned in culture and even within some circles of the visible church (Titus 2:1). What a person knows, or thinks they know about our triune God will either be rooted in the Scriptures, or the imagination. We should be concerned about this because imaginary gods cannot save (Psalm 115:4-8).

In my estimation, generally speaking, we have become a people who are unable to think Christianly. True Christian ethics have been exchanged for a utilitarian, the-ends-justify-the-means manner of living. We no longer have an appetite for what the Bible actually says, we're unfamiliar with sound hermeneutics, and have no concern for authorial intent, but are satisfied with answers to life's most pressing dilemmas that are rooted in human wisdom, so long as they're adorned with a proof-text or two.

We Are a Distracted People

This hasn't always been the case. There was a time in which the people who named the name of Christ in America assumed a biblical worldview, and embraced the teaching of sound doctrine. In those days, men like George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards would proclaim the Gospel and preach the word exhaustively for hours on Sunday morning, only to have the people return that evening for more. In those days, the preacher would preach multiple times a week, and the people who called themselves Christians would not forsake the gathering of themselves together.

Today, our bookstores are stocked with velvety works that tickle the ears of readers, serving up to them not the feast of Scripture's meaty protein, but the processed cheese-food that retailers call "Christian Living." We have exchanged the pursuit of Christ by knifing our way through biblical doctrine one painstaking bite at a time for the ease of theological Hot Pockets. 

If you don't believe me, I'd invite you to call your local Christian bookstore, and ask them for a sales comparison of Donald Miller's "Blue Like Jazz," versus Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology." You might even search your own bookshelf in a moment of honest introspection. Did you find your copy of John Owen's "The Mortification of Sin"? Statistically, you've never heard of it, but you probably have a dusty copy of "Wild at Heart," by John Eldredge. 

(Hint: Everyone should be reading the Bible chunks at a time along with dead theologians from generations past, especially if their names sound like Owen, Bunyan, Luther, Spurgeon, Calvin, Whitfield, et al.)

Why Sound Doctrine Matters to Christian Counseling

By now, you're wondering why I'm laboring over this issue. Shouldn't I be writing something like a five-point checklist for defeating depression, or an encouraging word for those battling anxiety? 

Let me explain my concern further by way of a real-life, but modified case study.

Not long ago, a man in counseling suggested to me that the Bible is a good book of good ideas, but that it does not authoritatively speak to our modern lives. The man was more interested in philosophizing his way through our discussion, than theologizing and comparing his life to Scripture. 

Whenever I would attempt to turn to the Bible, he would grow visibly uncomfortable, and attempt to wrestle control away from me. Although he called himself a Christian, he did not hold Scripture as  inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient for the problems that brought him to counseling. As a result, he had no desire and no stomach for counsel rooted in God's word.

The truth is that he'd likely never heard these terms preached at any length. He more likely had never considered their relevance to the Christian life. Instead, he was sailing the oceans of life and navigating his way through its storms without the steering rudder of biblical doctrine. The result was that he was tossed to and fro by his own fanciful beliefs and whatever else he picked up from the media (Ephesians 4:14). In his own mind, the biblical narrative was good for inspiration, but not much else. 

What he needed, in his thought, were the real solutions offered by mainstream psychology. In his estimation, the Bible would be sufficient to ensure that his name would one day be called "up yonder," but human wisdom held the keys to the problems of today. He didn't want the counsel and compassion of Christ. Instead, he wanted the fantasies of Freud.

As a biblical counselor, this broke my heart. I'd hoped that our time together might be like a gentle stroll through some rolling hills. Instead, it was like a hike up Mount Everest in the middle of a storm. Metaphorically, the man had the equipment he needed for the journey, but he never learned how to use it. What's worse, some of the life-saving equipment he possessed, he deemed to be expendable.

From a counseling perspective, he had good morals. He understood right from wrong. He knew what he ought and ought not to do in his daily experience of living. But, his good morals were not rooted in a love for the person of Jesus Christ, a desire to not grieve the Holy Spirit, or the glory of God. He only wanted to make sound, ethical choices so that his life would go well and be free of difficulty.

Among other things, the man had no theology of suffering. He was unaware that Jesus explicitly taught that His followers would encounter trouble in this life, therefore, any thought of what it would mean to complete the sufferings of Christ was replaced with a theology of mere avoidance (John 16:33; Colossians 1:24). Instead of pursuing God in his trial, he simply wanted comfort and his "best life now." He, like the rich young ruler, walked away "grieving" (Mark 10:22).

Bad Doctrine Corrupts Good Morals

According to Dr. Garrett Higbee, Executive Director of Biblical Soul Care at Harvest Bible Chapel, writing in the book "Scripture and Counseling," "...the Bible lays out a model of care that is superior to anything the world has to offer." Higbee isn't just a pastor who happens to think the Bible is important. He writes as a man who once practiced as a licensed psychologist. There are many men and women who hold similar experiences.

The issue is not that they or any other properly trained biblical counselor denies the reality of organic disease, or even the probability that secular science and research can be helpful in the quest to provide informed, compassionate care for those who struggle with life-dominating conditions. 

The issue is simply that at the end of the day, the great majority of problems that lead people to seek counseling are driven not by pathological disease of the brain, but by matters of the heart that are powerfully and thoroughly addressed in God's word.

Diagnosing the Problem

Unfortunately, we as a people have drifted away from pouring over the Scriptures in search of truth. We have become increasingly enamored with natural explanations for super-natural problems. We have listened to men who tell us that exegetical preaching of God's word is "boring," and "cheating," in favor of cleverly designed, entertaining speeches and pontifications that have only the appearance of piety.

From a counseling perspective, the trouble with all of this is that when the trials of life come (and come they will), good morals that are disconnected from the foundational, indicative truths of Scripture promote a type of Christianity that is like a house built on sand. It collapses in the storm. Conversely, good morals that are anchored deep into the bedrock of Scripture and biblical doctrine will withstand the crashing waves (Matthew 7:24-27). 

History, and even our own contemporary narrative bear witness to these truths, I believe.

Do You Want to Get Well?

In John 5:6, Jesus comes upon a man who had been physically sick for thirty-eight years. He asks the man one of those simple, yet profound questions that only Jesus could ask: Do you want to get well? I believe the church must hear and read the question today as if Jesus is speaking directly to her, corporately and individually. We must confess that we have too often been unsatisfied with "thus sayeth the Lord," and have desired in our hearts something that sounds more like, "Today, on Dr. Phil."

The troubles of this life are many and diverse. I do believe that our modern society, with its technological advances, has managed to spin a web of debauchery that in some sense may be more complicated than any other in human history. Still, the Scripture is clear: there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The Gospel, unlike any other resource known to man, is the power of God unto salvation for all those who believe (Romans 1:16). 

Hence, my plea as a biblical counselor for the church to distance itself both from "moralistic therapeutic deism," and from those manners of preaching that have the insufficient goal of "a better America" in view, and to re-engage a biblical, Christ-centered worldview and approach to the Scriptures.

The effects of this upon mental health and counseling would be immeasurable.

Keep It Going

1. How do you see the teaching of sound doctrine in the church as a relevant issue for counseling?

2. How has sound doctrine, or the lack thereof, helped or hurt you in counseling?

What Are You Reading?

Theological anemia, and off-the-chart rates of biblical illiteracy in the American church have created a situation in which the common Christian lacks the needed discernment with which to evaluate what they read. The result is that they're left exposed to material that, at best, is lacking in its discipleship quality, and at worst, is flatly heretical, and therefore dangerous to their growth in Christ-likeness. 

Examples of this include the popularity and influence of works that have so-called "Christian" themes, yet are works of complete and utter fiction. It's a matter of spiritual depression when a Christian's understanding of the Holy Spirit is informed by a book written about a shed in someone's backyard. Or, when their understanding of the Christian life is based upon reveling in the creation, rather than the Creator.

Why is this issue significant to counseling, and what can we do about it?

What we read matters because all books convey a particular worldview, especially those that are promoted as being "Christian." And counseling, especially biblical counseling, seeks to bring shape and clarity to how we understand ourselves, the circumstances we face, and how we ought to respond. Too often, the books we find on the best-seller list at the bookstore are in direct conflict with sound biblical instruction, and are written by authors who, quite frankly, are espousing "good ideas," as opposed to "sound doctrine" (Romans 16:17; 1 Timothy 6:3-4; Titus 2:1).

When considering your next book purchase, think about the following issues, and consider it a privilege for the author to speak into your sanctification. Set the standard high, and do not assume that a book is valuable just because everyone else is reading it. Remember, even Christian publishers have a bottom line, and that bottom line is: will it sell?

Here's how I evaluate a book prior to reading:

1. Who's the author, and what are their qualifications for writing on their given topic?
2. Where did the author go to school? Christian authors have often attended bible college or seminary. Their education will likely influence their writing, and not all schools are cut from the same mold. For example, the graduate of a liberal seminary may not affirm the inerrancy of Scripture. This would be a significant red flag for me.
3. Who is the books publisher, and what kind of books are they known for publishing? Does the book I'm considering fit their publishing history?
4. As I'm reading the book, does the essence of the book point to what I do, or what Christ has done?
5. Does the essence of the book's focus seem creation or Christ centered?
6. Has the author cherry-picked a verse or word from Scripture, and unnecessarily or unwisely crafted an entire theology? The way an author uses a particular passage may sound logical, but does it square with the whole of Scripture?

All of this may seem cumbersome, when all we want is a good read. But unfortunately, we live in an era that requires theological fastidiousness. 

Those are some of my concerns when book buying.

What are some of yours?

Some Debates Are Worthy of Repentance

Note to self: If your biblical wisdom and precision in the arts of hermeneutics and exegesis don’t end in praise to God and a passion to see the lost man know Christ as Lord and Savior, then your theological endeavors are faulty and quite possibly worthy of repentance.

This is one thought I routinely have as I take in online theological debates, and as such dialogue relates to mission.

The Apostle Paul instructs us to examine ourselves to see if we’re continuing in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). Knowing the attitudes and positions of our hearts in relation to the pursuit of theological precision and how that relates to our missional engagement is probably a good exercise.

As a seminary student, I have to remind myself of this on a near daily basis, because if I don’t, my propensity is to get sucked into the endless and often fruitless debates concerning the number of angels that might dance on the head of a pin.

These debates have their place and purpose. There is no doubt that we live in a theologically illiterate culture, and so we must fight for doctrinal accuracy. Unfortunately, I find that the tones that frequently get struck do not necessarily lead to love for God and love for others. Instead, the arguments are too often ends in themselves.

The prize of winning a theological argument isn’t the honor of being right, though. It’s the privilege of knowing God and being known by Him that ought to be the goal of our theological discussion.

Without these things, our theology, if we can call it that under those lesser circumstances, may be nothing more than a letter of condemnation. Knowledge apart from faith cannot save, and theology that doesn’t provoke doxology is simply an exercise in academia.

I can say these things with conviction because the Scriptures warn of the danger of knowing things about God, without actually knowing Him. Jesus hammered the Pharisees and religious leaders for their hardness of heart in spite of their wealth of knowledge (Matt. 23:27).

Are some of us armchair theologians and hack bloggers at risk of becoming Functional Pharisees? 

Within the framework of online theological debate, I seldom hear the participants say, “The position I’m arguing for has led me to worship God in the following ways…” Or, “The position I’m arguing for has filled me with a desire to live a sent life because…”

I think we need a little of that.

Now, it might be that we’re just not saying what we’re thinking, but for the sake of guarding our hearts from the dangerous pursuit of mere knowledge, we might do well to sift all of our theological pursuits through these types of filters.

Anti-intellectualism isn’t the answer to cold Christianity. Our God is an intelligent God, and He created us to be intelligent, resourceful creatures that discover and grow in part through the careful study of His word. There is a right way, and a wrong way to read and interpret God’s word. 

Those ways are differentiated by the application of established, interpretive principles that help us rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). I need to say, for the record, that it’s quite all right and even healthy to debate the dichotomous versus trichotomous nature of man, for example.

But, the question is, how does such a debate increase your love for God and neighbor?

If you have no meaningful answer to this question, then the argument you’re making might just be one worthy of repentance.

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (1 Cor. 8:1).