A notion that I have learned from my youth is “Doing depends on Doctrine.” This is something that will never easily leave me. It has been a pillar in my mind as to why one should focus on the minute details of theology. What we believe does work itself out through our actions. Doctrine is the thing that drives us. In reality, this is not a strict cause/effect. One can have the right doctrine and it does not necessarily lead to the right actions. This could be as simple as a Romans 7:18-20 problem of not doing the good that you know to do, but as a culture, I do see this trend as something more. This is a problem for the American church. There is plenty of “doctrine,” even if wrong in my opinion, and little “doing.” The roots are deeper here.
Doctrine is something that can be flashy. As a person who likes to study, I know that it can look good to know the right answers. To spend the hours in the chair, to dig through the pages, hash through the conversations and discussions in order to come through the other side victorious in speech or more learned in defeat. There is something to be said for this. Yet it’s not the point.
The point is doing. Several years ago, I was having a conversation with Dave Light, an elder in our church, about people and ministry and he made a throwaway comment that deeply impacted me.
In referencing another man in our church, he said, “That man is the wisest man in our church.”
Now, I have known this other man for a long time. I thought of him as a good man. He worked hard, loved his family, and ministered to those around him. I had never thought of him as particularly wise though. I’ve had conversations with him, and he always has the right reactions to things, but at times had difficulty articulating the “why” behind his reactions. Since this comment from Dave, I have spent more time thinking about this man and what set him apart from all the others in our church. What made him particularly wise? After a few years, I think I finally have an answer to my questions: he actually does the things that he says and the things that he believes. That is a good working definition of wisdom after all: applied knowledge. This man exudes this quality. He does not always have all the right reasons behind his answers, but his actions lead him through the door of wisdom.
This is something that the churches of America are missing: men who say the right things and then do them. Doctrine should be something that drives one to action. Recently, I was talking to my Uncle Don about how there is no potentiality in God, there is only action. This is a very medieval thought that still holds true but must be understood from a medieval perspective. There are trails of heresy that spout from this doctrine, so I say it with a warning. The fact that God can be understood to be only action, the thoughts that He thinks become reality, should influence how we think about our doctrine. If we are Christians, a people that God saved through the death of His Son, the Son whose His birth we are celebrating this season, if we are claiming to be “little Christs,” then we should act like it. What do you know about the person of God? What do you know about His character? What do you know about how He tells each of us to act? Do those things.
The more I learn about theology, the more I am convinced that Christianity is not difficult to understand. It is just difficult to do. Spend some time learning doctrine, but that doctrine must influence how you act. Strive to have no potentiality within you. This means you must purify your thoughts and have those thoughts propel your actions. It is a simple as loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then doing whatever you want after that. Christianity is easy. It just takes everything you have. With these thoughts, have a merry Christmas.
Good word bro!