"For every man that is true to the call of God, there are many who are true to the call of a creed or doctrinal evangelism. There are voices that are not true to the character of Jesus Christ; the inspiration of these voices is not to glorify Jesus, but to glorify something which He does. Give time to heed the call of God. The voice of God never contradicts the character of God." Oswald Chambers
The trend since the reformation has been, in all of the the churches I've attended, to align yourself with what I'll call, "Ecclesiastical Identity." When looking at the varying denominations, it bears a similar resemblance to the new gender identifications. As a christian we believe, and rightly so, that there are just two genders. We also believe in one God and one Gospel. I would honestly have to say the ecclesiastical identities appear to have the same conflicting appearance as our gender confused friends. I'm not in any way diminishing the importance of doctrine. I became obsessed with biblical knowledge at the beginning of my walk with the Lord. I later expanded my study to the early church to see how they understood the gospel as it was passed on to them by the apostles and their understudies. The first thing I encountered was the branching out of Gnostic heresies that grew on the outskirts of first generation Christian doctrine. Irenaecus, Clement, Tertullian, and Hipolytus all wrote on the heresies prevalent from the time of John. I became fascinated with how many of these permeate the doctrines of the modern church. We are not as far removed from these as we would like to believe. Truly there is nothing new under the sun.
It was time to examine not only the various doctrines of the church today, but the searching out of my own belief. This brought me to see the truths, and the responses of Jesus in a new way. Contextual scrutiny is many times diminished due to our doctrinal alignment. We see what we want to see when freedom comes by seeing where Jesus leads. Hold on to this thought while we look at Mathew 19:16-22.
16."And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing must I do, that I may have eternal life?" 17. And he said unto him, Why callest me good? there is none good but one, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18. He sayeth unto him,Which? Jesus said, thou shall do no murder, thou shall not commit adultery, Thou shall not steal, Thou shall not bear false witness, 19.Honour thy father and mother: and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 20. The young man saith unto him, All these things I have kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21. Jesus said unto him, Go sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven: and come follow me. 22. But when the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
I can't begin to tell you how many times pastors and people have put that poor fellow in hell. We're making a judgement after a short glimpse of time in this man's life. Imagine doing the same after Peters denial if that was the end of all we were told of him in scripture. This young mans doctrine was intact with God's commandments and he was faithful in his obedience to them, and yet he asks; What lack I yet. How many of us can make the same claim? Still, here is where we may begin to indulge ourselves in speculation and I must confess I've indulged myself, but it still remains speculation. Jesus states after this that "if thou wilt do that, thou will enter into life."Then in verse eighteen Jesus lists additional commandments in which the man responds he has kept these "from my youth up" and then asks "what then do I lack?" How many of us have a resume like that? What then do we lack? We know from the multitude of reminders that we're saved by grace and not by works, but evidently they, the works implying obedience, play an important role in our life. And yet, Jesus states that there is still something else; "If thou will be perfect".
I believe that is a question he asks everyone, at some point in their life, at critical junctures in their life. We all have to let something fall to the wayside that has a hold on our life. That's not much of a revelation in and of its self. It's the "and follow me" that we struggle not to choke on. We should have learned from Job that our doctrine may be trampled into dust, and our expectations turn into a ruinous mirage of confusions, but belief in the goodness of God is still and always is a reality despite our circumstances. Job's friends adhered with a vengeance to their doctrine and like many of us today, used it to denigrate and slander their brother.
"We see what we want to see, when freedom comes where Jesus is leading." I love doctrine, and it has been a life reassuring source of direction and peace in my life. I've been subjected to many corrections of my doctrinal beliefs as I've followed the Lord and will always have a concern for correct evaluations of the word. God forbid I never stray from the call of Jesus to "Come and follow me." Maybe we will see that young man in heaven. Our assumptions may end up being somewhat embarrassing and we'll be enthralled at his story of redemption.
Go to a church with eyes wide open. There's a lot of heresy out there to be aware of; but more importantly, despite the disagreements in some doctrinal beliefs; look for the people that heard the Lord's declaration to follow Him. Hard days ahead are a reality. Doctrinal expectations may crumble to the ground when we come to realize true redemption comes from faith in Jesus and doctrine was just a sign on the road to redemption. My confession is belief in a sovereign God; Father,Son and Holy Spirit. My ecclesiastical identity is "Christian."
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