===========================================
Introduction
===========================================
Tolerance is on the rise in our society. Everything is relative. There is no absolute morality. People can decide to do both what feels right and what feels wrong. "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). One of the arguments that secular society makes against Christians is that they are judgmental or intolerant. Judgement happens when Christians make a response against a behavior or a lifestyle that God hates and sees as sin (Proverbs 6:16-19; Romans 1:18-32). And ironically, those who judge Christians are already considered "judgmental". And ironically, those who put Christians on the pedestal of intolerance make themselves out to be intolerant.
Do Christians have the right to judge? On what basis? Judging seems to be a taboo word in our society. What gives people the right to judge? We talked about appropriate judgement and inappropriate judgement, and we talked about church discipline, judgement on those inside the church. In this last part, I want to specifically talk about judgement over secondary issues or opinions (for example, those that do not add to doctrinal statements, or statements of faith that protestant or evangelical denominations differ on, etc., meaning "grey areas").
===========================================
What The Bible Says
===========================================
Romans 14:1-12
Finally, this passage is rarely discussed in the church. I won't be doing an exposition of this passage, but verse 1 is something that I want to highlight. When speaking about appropriate judgement and inappropriate judgement, this passage is specifically speaking about inappropriate judgement. Christians are not to quarrel or pass judgement on one another over opinions OR secondary issues. In this context, Christians quarrel over whether specific foods should or should not be eaten, and which day they should worship the LORD on. Paul deals with this issue in the passage.
Contextually speaking, I see Christians judging other Christians in churches and dividing the church over secondary issues. I believe this behavior is sinful. Each person has their own opinions on every issue. We have to be careful about judging others in the GREY area where Christians have various interpretations on passages that are not very explicit or 100% clear or hard to understand (2 Peter 3:15-16) - sometimes the Bible is not completely clear on certain subjects. We also have to be careful about judging another person's conscience of certain things that may be sensitive to them (1 Cor 8; Romans 14:13-23).
Examples of secondary issues or opinions:
Examples of secondary issues or opinions:
- Young Earth vs. Old Earth
- Expository Preaching vs. Topical Preaching
- Contemporary Worship Music vs. Traditional Hymn
- Drums in church vs. no drums in church
- Spiritual Gifts: Cessationist vs. Continuationist
- Eschatology: a lot of interpretations
- Pacifist vs. Just War Theory
It's never wrong to have healthy discussions about these matters and perhaps sort them out in a loving way. I also don't think it's wrong to lovingly disagree with each other's opinions; so long as we do it in a humble manner. To this end, we should all the more be discerning and be mindful not to pass judgement on another Christian, and try not to divide over secondary issues or opinions.
===========================================
Primary Issues
===========================================
Primary Issues
===========================================
Primary issues are usually important doctrines that believers will die for and that the church history - protestants or reformers - recognized to be the essential teachings in the Bible. These creeds at the bottom helped establish boundary or a set of believes to safeguard against false teachings. Confessions go more into detail on the doctrines. You can read the creeds or confessions that summarize the primary issues:
- Apostles Creed
- Nicene Creed
- Chalcedon Creed
- (Reformed Confession) Westminister Confession
Westminister Confession 13:2 would go against the argument that we do not have a sinful nature or flesh, which the response that I made a couple of posts ago was about. Someone who says that we have no sin right now is definitely spiritually blind, deceived, and does not know the truth (1 John 1:8; 10). This person denies the Doctrine of Sanctification, and altogether denies an important aspect of the gospel and denies the sayings of Jesus Christ and denies the reason why Jesus Christ came (John 17:17-19).
===========================================
Conclusion
===========================================
Writing this entry has been a tricky business. I might have touched on sensitive issues that I have not made an attempt to answer. For example, why do we have different denominations? Why do secondary issues divide denominations? Is there a solution to this problem? Unfortunately, I'm not an expert on Ecclesiology.
I'll briefly offer my stance on this. We are called to Unity in the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:1-6). Denominations may differ on secondary issues, but let's not hate each other and lose our focus on the primary issue. This is "easier said than done". Again, I'm not very knowledgeable in this area, but I do believe that there is someone out there who has gone into extensive research on this subject.
My main point is that judging other people's opinions is an example of judgement that is deemed inappropriate by the teaching of the Scriptures. Arguments over secondary issues happen in the Church. Like all people, Christians can become prideful when trying to get their points across and trying to win an argument. Healthy discussion is not a bad thing, but if secondary issues begin to cause conflicts within the Church, then it is a good idea to re-examine our values. Christians need to be careful and discerning in this area during discussion.
Practically and personally, I stand on Reformed Theology. I come from a Baptist church. Some people from my church might hold to Reformed Theology, some might hold to 50% of Reformed Theology, some might be Arminians, and some people might be on the fence, but we still love each other. We still hold to unity on the primary issues. We still serve others in the church. Together, we still proclaim the message of the Gospel.
Conclusion
===========================================
Writing this entry has been a tricky business. I might have touched on sensitive issues that I have not made an attempt to answer. For example, why do we have different denominations? Why do secondary issues divide denominations? Is there a solution to this problem? Unfortunately, I'm not an expert on Ecclesiology.
I'll briefly offer my stance on this. We are called to Unity in the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:1-6). Denominations may differ on secondary issues, but let's not hate each other and lose our focus on the primary issue. This is "easier said than done". Again, I'm not very knowledgeable in this area, but I do believe that there is someone out there who has gone into extensive research on this subject.
My main point is that judging other people's opinions is an example of judgement that is deemed inappropriate by the teaching of the Scriptures. Arguments over secondary issues happen in the Church. Like all people, Christians can become prideful when trying to get their points across and trying to win an argument. Healthy discussion is not a bad thing, but if secondary issues begin to cause conflicts within the Church, then it is a good idea to re-examine our values. Christians need to be careful and discerning in this area during discussion.
Practically and personally, I stand on Reformed Theology. I come from a Baptist church. Some people from my church might hold to Reformed Theology, some might hold to 50% of Reformed Theology, some might be Arminians, and some people might be on the fence, but we still love each other. We still hold to unity on the primary issues. We still serve others in the church. Together, we still proclaim the message of the Gospel.
No comments:
Post a Comment