Brief Observations | Hosea 4:6

 

Discerning truth from error is a fundamental skill that Christians must seek to grow in over time. Much like the Bereans, who examined the Scriptures daily to see if Paul's teachings were true. (Acts 17:11)

Consider the analogy of a jeweler: how does he discern a true diamond from a fraud or an imitation? The jeweler could learn everything he could about every false diamond, but the more effective method would be to master his knowledge of a true diamond, making anything that deviates from the true specifications easy to point out.

The same goes for Christians: the more we know about what's true, the easier it will be to spot what's false. Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.", which implies that we know what those commandments are. Seek to grow in your knowledge of God and his word, and you will be able to love him more fully and protect against error.

Obeying God When It's Costly

We live in troubling times. 

Ok, sure, that's both cliché and a bit ominous. But consider this: we live, for the first time since the days of Constantine, in a Western culture that is actively pushing against you if you hold to a Christian worldview. 

Gone are the centuries of Western culture where Christianity was what nations went to war to defend. And gone are the days in America where it was socially advantageous to claim Christian faith. 

In one way, this is good as it purifies Christ's body and weeds out false converts. But it also presents unique challenges: how do we spread the good news of the gospel in the face of growing opposition? How do we fulfill the Great Commission when the teachings of scripture are viewed as hate speech? How do we as Christians live for Christ when it could cost us our job, our reputation, and our relationships? 

The Two Wills of God 

We hear it all the time: 

"I'm doing God's will"

"Make sure you know God's will for your life!"

"I think it's God's will for us to be together" 

And the list goes on.

When we say or hear things like this, what we need to do is get specific. Which will of God are we talking about? Perhaps you hadn't even considered that "God's will" can refer to two different things: either God's moral will or God's sovereign will. 

God's moral will 

Very simply, God's moral will is defined as what God commands us to do. We are all responsible for obeying God's moral commands as expressed in the Ten Commandments. For example, we obey God's moral will if we tell the truth, which is obedience to the 9th commandment: "You shall not bear false witness". 

God's sovereign will 

On the other hand, God's sovereign will is defined as what God ordains to occur according to his sovereign purposes. For example, God sovereignly ordained the family you were born into, the college you ended up attending, and what you ate for breakfast this morning. (It's accurate to say that God is both ordaining all things and that we also make free choices, but that's a topic for another time) 

Why It Matters 

Now that we’ve drawn the distinction between these two wills of God, we must zero in on this crucial truth: that God has revealed one of these wills to us, and has concealed the other. More specifically, God has revealed to us his moral will, as expressed in the Ten Commandments and the applications of those ten throughout scripture. 

But he has not revealed his sovereign will to us. We don’t know the future. This is why the sovereign will of God is also known as his secret will. 

So the question then is: how do we live our lives in light of this truth? When faced with difficult situations in a rapidly transforming culture, how do we do God's will? 

In a phrase, the answer is to simply control the controllables.

What do I mean by this? It means that we are simply called to obey God’s moral will, and to trust God when it comes to his sovereign will. Just as the name suggests, God is sovereign over his sovereign will; it is immutable. As his creatures, we are unable to alter it, and neither is any other creature.

We tend to have disdain for this, at least implicitly--we would rather control our own destiny. But this is actually a liberating plan from God! This means that we are incapable of thwarting God’s sovereign purposes. His sovereign will is not dependent on our knowledge or charisma. He will accomplish that which he desires. Consequently, no one else can thwart God's sovereign plans either. God's promise to work all things for good for his people will not be thrown off course by the schemes of the devil or his followers. 

Obedience Despite the Cost 

This concept will prove to be crucial as persecution comes to those who are in Christ, and it is promised to come (2 Tim. 3:12). Some have unfortunately held to the belief that we need to maintain a reasonability with the world, the assumption being that we need this for the world to listen to us when we share the gospel. But God doesn’t call us to maintain a certain amount of “cultural capital” in order to reach the lost, he calls us to obey. God will figure out how to use our obedience to accomplish his sovereign will. To quote Pastor Jared Sparks, we should not “sacrifice obedience on the altar of public witness”.

While we should aim to “live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:18), God never calls us to achieve this peace at the expense of obedience to his law. Note that Jesus tells us in Mark 12 that all of God’s law can be summed up in the commands to “love God”, and “love your neighbor”. But Jesus places these commands in their proper order: loving God is the greatest commandment, and loving neighbor is the second greatest. 

Consider these two truths that were posed recently by Stuart DiNenno:

1) The culture is extremely perverse, wicked, and blasphemous.

2) The churches are at peace and persecution is almost non-existent.

How are both of these true at the same time if the church is being obedient to God? Is the reason for this, perhaps, that many in the church have placed the second greatest commandment above the greatest? That many today love their neighbor more than they love God? Do we love the praise of our neighbors more than the praise of God? Or do we let our assumptions regarding God's sovereign will dictate how closely we obey his moral will? These are challenging questions that each Christian ought to reflect on.

Barring a great move of the Holy Spirit, the days ahead will likely see a growing chasm between what God loves and what our neighbors love, as society continues in its rebellion against Jesus Christ. What will matter as this happens is which is your greater love: God or neighbor? Will you seek to obey God's moral will, or seek to follow what you assume is God's sovereign will? If you are anchored to your neighbor as your highest love, you will slowly drift further from God as your neighbor does the same. If you are anchored to God, your neighbor will begin to see you as more and more outside the mainstream culture, and it may cost you greatly.

We are called as Christians to love God, and that means obeying his commandments. Loving God will lead to true love of neighbor. If we flip the priority of these two greatest commandments, we will inevitably "love our neighbor" in a manner that's defined by the world rather than by God's Word. Likewise, obedience that wavers based on our presumptions regarding God's sovereign will is also faulty. If we are obeying God’s moral law, we can rest in his sovereignty, knowing that regardless of what comes are way, whether easy or hard, he has promised to work it all for good.

The 5 C's of Rooted Faith

 

We increasingly live in a society without anchors. Just think about it: how much of what you do is rooted in tradition or history? How many things do you own that have been passed down to you, compared to how much we throw in the trash as soon as it breaks? How often do you find yourself pursuing the next big opportunity, or new adventure?

Our culture values progress, and that is a good thing, but what if we’ve progressed without maintaining solid roots? Can we be sure that our growth is solid and sound?

We see this phenomenon extend into Christian circles as well. Many want to be a part of some innovative faith movement, rather than attaching themselves to the church in history. The problem is, many of these perceived innovations are just new aberrations of old trends that have come and gone. 

It's been more than 500 years since the Protestant Reformation, an event that brought the church back to the truth of Scripture. Since that time, there have been countless "mini-Reformations" that have claimed to be progressing Christianity closer to the truth, but often end up progressing themselves right out of Christian orthodoxy. Early 20th century theological liberalism, the emergent church movement, and the seeker sensitive movement all followed this path of temporary popularity and eventual apostasy. 

Every generation has its own “spirit of the age”; ideas and worldviews that steer people away from the truth of God’s Word. In the 21st century, we see postmodernism, Marxism, mysticism, social justice, and intersectionality as some of the primary falsehoods being championed in our time. Rooting our faith in sound, historical theology will equip us to discern these deceptions from the truth.

This article is not intended to expound at length on all of these aspects of rooted faith, but simply to get you acquainted with these areas of study, understand their value, and introduce questions that can lead you to further study.

1) Confessionalism

Creeds, confessions, and catechisms are defined as accurate interpretations of Scripture that have been developed by Christians in history. Some of these documents were written to address specific doctrinal controversies. Others were intended to be comprehensive explanations of beliefs with biblical support texts. They combine to provide us with rock solid, historically based Christian doctrine. Rather than the current generation try to rediscover all of the truths of Scripture, we can utilize these documents to compare our theology with what Christians have believed for centuries.

Here are some of the most well known creeds, confessions, and catechisms:

• Creeds: Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, Chalcedonian Creed, Athanasian Creed

• Confessions: Belgic Confession, Westminster Confession of Faith, 1689 London Baptist Confession

• Catechisms: Heidelberg Catechism, Westminster Larger Catechism, Westminster Shorter Catechism

Confessionalism anchors us in church history, guarding us against the “spirit of the age”. The men who developed these documents dedicated their lives to the study of the Scripture, and the acceptance of them by the church over time strengthens their reliability.

2) Classical Theism

Have you ever wondered how God can execute both love and judgment? Does His love cease while He’s judging sin? Classical Theism helps us to answer this, and other crucial questions about God and His divine attributes. Classical Theism tends to be a bit abstract, so don’t be alarmed if you find it difficult to wrap your mind around. Indeed, it is difficult for the finite human to comprehend the infinite God. The primary subtopics of Classical Theism are divine aseity, divine simplicity, and divine impassibility. These are derived from the statement in the Westminster Confession, which states that God is “without body, parts, or passions.”

Here are some of the questions that are answered using Classical Theism:

• Is God dependent on anything or anyone? (Divine Aseity)

• Is God the sum of his attributes? (Divine Simplicity)

• Can God become more glorious, more loving, or more gracious? (Divine Simplicity)

• Do God’s emotions change? (Divine Impassibility)

• Does God change his mind? (Divine Immutability)

Classical Theism anchors us by providing a better understanding of who God is on a fundamental level. Learning these concepts helps us avoid errors in how we conceive of God. For example, many people claim that the God of the Old Testament is different than God in the New Testament, or that God changed over the course of time. In modern times, this is often used to justify affirming homosexuality, drawing a distinction between the prohibitions in the law of Moses and the love of Jesus expressed in the Gospels. The doctrines of divine simplicity and impassibility help us prove that this claim is untrue.

3) Christology

This, as the name suggests, answers questions regarding Jesus Christ, his nature, and his work both here on earth and in heaven.

Some important things to consider in relation to Christ:

• Did Jesus exist eternally?

• Is Jesus subordinate to God the Father?

• What does it mean for Jesus to be fully God and fully man? (Hypostatic Union)

• Did Jesus possess all of his divine attributes while on earth?

• Does Jesus have a different will than the Father?

• Is Jesus still fully human?

• What is Jesus doing right now in heaven?

Christology anchors us in a similar way to classical theism: by giving us a fundamental understanding of the second person of the Godhead; the Son. Most of the historical controversy over the particulars of the nature of Jesus center over 1) His relation to God the Father, and 2) the relationship between His divine and human natures. The Nicene and Chalcedonian creeds provide us with the biblical answers to these questions.

4) Covenant Theology

If the Bible were a house, think of Covenant Theology as the frame of that house. Covenant Theology can be summed up as the answer to this fundamental question: “How does the creator God relate to his creation?” Very simply, he relates to his creation in the form of covenants.

Here are some more specific questions that Covenant Theology addresses:

• Does God have any obligation to his creatures?

• Do God’s creatures have any obligation to him?

• What are the components of a covenant?

• How do the Old Testament and New Testament relate to one another?

• How does the Church relate to national Israel?

• What is the Covenant of Redemption?

• What is the Covenant of Works?

• What is the Covenant of Grace?

• What is the federal head of a covenant?

• What are the differences between Presbyterian and Baptist covenant theology?

Covenant theology can help us answer both objections to our faith and our own questions about our faith. You may hear the common charge that Christians no longer abide by the Old Testament prohibitions against eating shellfish, yet they carry on Old Testament prohibitions on homosexuality. Understanding the covenants and who they apply to can help us defend these charges.

Additionally, you may initially find it unfair that the doctrine of original sin states that all people are guilty by virtue of being born. Covenant theology shows us how this truth is actually tremendous good news in light of the gospel and work of Christ.

5) Calvinist Soteriology

Soteriology is the study of salvation, and the details regarding how God saves a people for himself. The famed “five points” of Calvinism are described in the Canons of Dort, a theological response to the Remonstrants, a group that challenged the reformed doctrines of salvation.

Within those five points, we see these questions answered:

• What is the nature of man?

• Does man have free will? Is that will entirely free or is it limited by his nature?

• What is the nature of the atonement?

• To what extent is God sovereign?

Calvinism anchors us by providing additional insight on God and His sovereignty, man and his fallen state, and how the chasm between God and man is crossed through Christ’s atonement. Calvinism is often criticized as “cosmic child abuse”, but an understanding of the aforementioned classical theism, Christology, and covenant theology can refute this charge.

As stated before, this is a very broad overview of these critical concepts. Is there a question listed above that you would like to see expounded upon? Let me know in the comments!

Theology for Your 40-Hour Work Week

It's Monday morning.

You're flying down the passing lane because you hit the snooze button waaay too many times, and now you're running late for work. You didn't even have time to stop for your pumpkin spice latte.

The work day isn't much better. Your boss piles on the workload. Your coworkers just won't stop talking about all of their weekend drama. And it's only Monday.

Sound familiar?

Work can be a grind, and it can often feel mundane or insignificant. However, our theology of God and who He is can illuminate a new perspective on our work and the purpose of it. In fact, we image the very creative nature of the Almighty God each and every time we punch that time clock.

God Before the Beginning

As you may be aware, the book of Genesis starts out by telling the story of creation. “In the beginning…” is a familiar phrase to many. But what was going on before “the beginning”? If God is eternal, then he was there before he created the universe and everything in it. We don’t really have any explicit explanations in the Bible, but we can infer some important details from looking at the entirety of Scripture.

One of the most important inferences we must conclude is that God was perfect, satisfied, and delighted even before he created everything. In eternity past, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit shared perfect love and fellowship amongst one another.

This idea is known as the aseity of God: that God is not dependent on His creation for anything. We see this is Scripture in Exodus, when God reveals His name to Moses as "I Am Who I Am". Here, God is indicating that He isn't defined or dependent on anything outside of Himself.

God was not lonely; He wasn’t in need of us to give Him company. God wasn’t bored and needed something to do. And God doesn’t need our love and adoration. He is perfectly complete within Himself.

Therefore, we can conclude that God created the universe in a completely free fashion, with no obligation on his part to do so.

The Creativity of God

Scripture provides a full picture of what it looks like for God to be creative, and to create. There are at least four aspects to the creativity of God: Imagination, Organization, Sustentation, and Redemption.

Imagination
Imagination is what we think of when we hear the word “creative”--an artist with a unique style, or someone who does things in an unorthodox fashion.

We see this type of creativity with God in the natural world around us. God has blanketed some planets in red dust and others with massive amounts of ice; some with elaborate ring systems and some that rain diamonds. Mountains capped with snow year-round and deserts that seldom taste the rain.

Some people have dimples, and others can cross their eyes. Some can perform complex mathematical calculations in their head and others can write music that brings people to tears. Just look up some of the wild and crazy creatures around the world that God has made, like the Saiga Antelope or the Markhor Goat. There is no doubt that God has an imaginative mind!

Organization
This may be my favorite aspect of God’s creativity, as I love to organize things (albeit not always successful in that pursuit). We see God organizing way back in Genesis 1. In verse two of this opening chapter of the Bible, it says that “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.” This is a picture of a chaotic situation, there is no rhyme or reason to the universe at this point. The remainder of the chapter describes God organizing creation--beginning with separation (light from darkness, water from land, etc) and then filling creation (birds in the sky, fish in the oceans, etc). God takes chaos, and organizes it into something orderly and purposeful.

Sustentation
Not only does God create things initially, He also sustains them. Both Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1 speak of how Jesus “upholds the universe by the word of His power” and that “...in Him all things hold together”. It is Christ that ultimately keeps the planets in their proper orbit, spins the earth to turn day into night, and causes every synapse in your brain to fire correctly as you read this sentence.


Redemption
Whenever I eat french fries, I like to save the best for last. And so I’m going to do that here as well by saving the best aspect of God’s creation for last: redemption.

I’m referring specifically to God’s work in redeeming a people for Himself, through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Ephesians 2 speaks of the redeemed as “God’s workmanship”. We get a real sense that this is God’s finest work of creation.

It is often rightly pointed out how amazing it is that in Genesis, God creates ex nihilo--out of nothing. But an even greater feat is God’s redeeming work--He takes something that is spiritually dead and hostile towards Him and turns it into something that is beautiful and desires to serve and love Him.

The redeemed people of God is truly His finest work, His masterpiece.

Imaging God in Our Work

Let’s take all of this theology and turn it into something practical, specifically how all of this relates to our jobs.

As humans, we all bear the image of God. Whether we serve God or hate Him, we have this “divine imprint” on our being. This means that we possess many characteristics that are a resemblance to God’s characteristics--and one of these traits is that we, like God, are creative.

Now many of us are not creative in the traditional sense of the word--my own drawings would easily be mistaken for those of a 1st-grader--but when we look at these four aspects of God’s creativity, we should begin to see how our jobs mimic this creativity of God.

Imagination
There are some obvious professions and hobbies that fit into this category. Painters, musicians, and novelists all excel in the art of imagination. But there are many other areas where imagination comes into play. Let’s say you are in a sales position, you may have to be very creative in how you pitch your product or service to a potential client. Or even in computer science: not only do you need to have logical code when creating an application, you need to be imaginative in knowing how to make that application fun and enjoyable for your user.

Organization
Many jobs involve some sort of organizing, and in so doing image the creativity of God. Think that your data entry position is dull and meaningless? You are taking information that is chaotic, and organizing it so that it makes sense and has a purpose. In doing this you are imitating God’s organization of creation in Genesis! Carpentry, masonry, and sewing are just a few more examples of organizing raw materials into something with purpose and meaning.

Sustentation
Upholding and sustaining our business takes up a huge chunk of our week most of the time. Maintenance workers who service machines to keep them working, retail employees who manage inventory and keep shelves full, and accountants who track revenue and expenses are all examples of this. I would estimate that sustentation is about 90% of what I do in a given week at my job. It can seem quite monotonous given how much of our time is spent on just “keeping things running”, but these tasks are essential and find ultimate meaning in Christ. Are you thinking about how your everyday tasks are an image of how Jesus sustains each of us every single day?

Redemption
If we are employed in full-time ministry, or even just involved in our local church, we participate directly in God’s work of redemption. What a privilege that God invites and even commands us to be a part of His finest work!

Even beyond this direct redemptive work, there are other ways that our 9-to-5 work displays redemption. For instance, have you ever encountered a customer who is hostile to your company, and have worked hard to win that customer over, to the point that they are now a fan of your organization? If so, you have “redeemed” that customer, you have turned them from an enemy into a friend. This is a shadow of the ultimate redemptive work that Christ has accomplished.

"I Was Born To Do This"

You’ve certainly heard this phrase before--”I was born to do this”-- in reference to someone and their career. Maybe this is something that resonates with you and your job. But maybe it isn’t. I know that for me personally, I’ve never found a career field where this phrase applies. Or maybe you feel that you were born to pursue a certain career, but the right opportunity just hasn’t come along in that field.

Whatever situation you find yourself in, working to image the creativity of God is a sure-fire way to find joy and satisfaction in your work.

I’ll use an example from my own job: my current position involves managing a delivery route; not exactly the line of work that you grow up dreaming about. But I find satisfaction in this work when my route is organized and running smoothly, and when I can be imaginative in creating situations that please both my customers and my employer.

Maybe you find yourself stuck in a job that doesn’t feel fulfilling or meaningful. My encouragement is this: you can glorify God in whatever job you’re currently in by imaging God’s creative attributes as you go about your daily responsibilities. This is where we can find true joy and satisfaction in our work.

Can you see the ways in which your current position reflects these attributes of God's creativity? You'll likely discover that your work possesses several or all of these four aspects of creativity. I pray that seeing this will enhance your time on the clock, and give it a new sense of meaning and importance.

What to Look for in a Church

Let’s be honest: finding a church can feel a lot like dating: there are many criteria to be met, a lot of awkward encounters, and some heartbreak along the way. Is there any way to make it easier?

I can’t promise you that a church search will ever be easy, but it’s helpful to go into it at least knowing what you’re looking for. I pray that some of the following will put you on the right track and give you confidence in knowing when you’ve found a church where you can grow in your Christian faith.

What Exactly is Church?

Most of us have been to church at least a few times. Whether you attend weekly or you’re a CEO (Christmas & Easter Only), we’re generally aware of what goes on during a church service. But what precisely is occurring as we sing songs, listen to God’s Word preached, and participate in the Lord’s Supper? Is there a deeper significance to these things?

When it comes down to it, all of what occurs during a Sunday morning service is worship. Not just the singing, all of it is worship. Those who profess Christ as Lord and Savior are coming together as the body of Christ to worship Him and remember what He has done for us.

Why do we do this? Because we’re forgetful. This doesn’t mean that the truths of the gospel have completely left our memory, but that they will get buried beneath the cares of this world if we don’t constantly bring them to the forefront of our minds. If you ever read the Old Testament, it is basically a repetitive story of Israel forgetting about God, falling into calamity, remembering God, and then falling back into that same cycle again. The same can happen to us today if we’re not constantly reminding ourselves of the truth of the gospel.

Can’t I just do all this on my own, without going to church?

No.

That’s a bit terse, but it’s true. Hebrews explicitly commands Christians to meet together: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Why is this? Why can’t we just “go it alone”?

One of the primary reasons for this, which is also discussed in Hebrews, is that we have a distorted view of ourselves and our actions. Modern psychology calls this the Fundamental Attribution Error: we tend to judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior.

What does this mean? It means that we may not recognize bad behavior in ourselves because we see the intention of our action rather than the action itself. We may neglect to spend time with family and see it as ok because “I’m spending that time working to provide for my family”. Or we may develop a pattern of harshness towards others, and justify it by claiming that “we’re just being honest”. We need the outside perspective of others to notice this type of drifting and lovingly call us to repentance.

We’re also called to attend church because human beings are designed by God to need each other. In the early chapters of Genesis, God says that “it is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). There is wonderful community and fellowship within the members of the Trinity, and as bearers of God’s image we are likewise made for community.

You can't be sufficiently edified through your television or computer. Sermon videos and podcasts can only do so much. It requires the presence of other Spirit-filled Christians that God will graciously use in your life to make you more like himself.

Now that we’ve established what church is and why it’s necessary and good, we can examine what things should be considered when looking for a church.

Is the Church Healthy?

While there is no perfect church, there are churches which are healthy and those which are not.

And just like determining the health of a person, we need to identify the correct “measuring sticks” that help us to discern whether a church is a healthy one. Oftentimes, people will judge a church’s health by its growth in attendance or by the level of emotion felt on a Sunday morning, but these measures can be misleading.

I don’t feel the need to reinvent the wheel in this area, as we have a wonderful resource in the form of Mark Dever’s “9 Marks of a Healthy Church” - both a book and website. This organization has developed nine areas that help determine how healthy a church is:

1. Expositional Preaching
2. Biblical Theology
3. The Gospel
4. Conversion
5. Evangelism
6. Membership
7. Discipline
8. Discipleship
9. Leadership

I strongly encourage you to learn more about all these church health factors over at www.9marks.org.

Is the Church a Fit Doctrinally?

Just like we shouldn’t be looking for the “perfect church”, we also shouldn’t expect to find a church that is doctrinally perfect or homogeneous. That being said, we should expect a true church to teach the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, and should hopefully agree on most of the secondary doctrines of our faith.

In general, there are three tiers of doctrine: primary, secondary, and tertiary.

Not Compromising on Primary Issues

Primary doctrines are things that divide Christian from non-Christian. Therefore, every Christian church should be espousing primary doctrines.

These include historically accepted doctrines such as the Trinity, the deity of Christ, original sin, and the bodily resurrection of Christ, among other things. If you find yourself attending a church that is questionable on issues such as these, or outright rejects them, I would suggest that you find another church quickly or at least confront the church leadership if you’re unclear on their official stance.

Understanding Secondary Issues

Secondary church doctrines are where the majority of your decision-making will be made. These are issues where true professing believers in Christ differ, and your stance on them can dictate what church or denomination you end up attending.

The famous two issues in this realm are the oft-debated issue of baptism, and the debate over spiritual gifts.

In terms of baptism, many true Christians believe that infants should be baptized (paedobaptism), while other Christians hold that only adults professing faith in Christ should be baptized (credobaptism). Your stance on this issue has a large impact on where you attend church. Imagine you are a paedobaptist: you would feel compelled to baptize your child, but if you attend a credobaptist church, that would not be permitted as it is not held as a valid baptism. This would affect the type of church that you attend.

Or on the issue of spiritual gifts: many believers hold to cessationism, the belief that the higher gifts such as tongues and prophecy ceased after the apostles, while other Christians believe that they continue in the modern-day church (continuationism). A continuationist would have a difficult time attending somewhere that doesn’t believe in these higher gifts, especially if that person believes that they have been gifted with one of these gifts. Therefore it is generally wise to attend a church that lines up with your beliefs on secondary issues such as these.

Other secondary doctrines include the role of women in church leadership, the role of human free will in salvation, and beliefs on the specifics of the Lord's Supper.

These doctrines are very important, but they aren't ultimate. Therefore, Christians who differ on secondary issues can and should come together on doctrines where there is agreement. One recent example of this is the increasing unity between Baptists and Presbyterians - two groups that differ on the secondary issue of baptism but find common ground on Christianity's core beliefs and some secondary issues such as salvation.

Not Overemphasizing Tertiary Issues

Tertiary doctrines are the lowest level of importance, and while still important, are often the issues that cause unnecessary division within the church. These are doctrines that members of the same church can disagree on, yet still continue to worship and serve together in their congregation effectively.

Some of these issues that are common today include differences on the geological age of the earth, beliefs regarding the end times (eschatology), and stances on how church government should be structured.

In the spirit of promoting peace and unity within the Church, we must put these doctrines in their proper significance, not disregarding them completely, but also not overemphasizing them to the point of causing discord within the body of Christ.

Some Quick Points on Polity

Now I know I just said that the structure of church government is a tertiary issue, which is true. But it is helpful to understand how your church is structured and how it affects your call to biblically submit to the authority that God has graciously placed in your life.

Without going into detail, there are generally three forms of church polity: episcopal, presbyterian, and congregational. These three differ on how the hierarchy of church leadership looks, but all of them have variants of the roles of elders and deacons - the two church leadership positions described in Scripture.

Elders

Elders are the “shepherds”, or spiritual leaders of their congregation. They have the responsibility to lead their flock closer to Christ and to defend it from false teachers. Qualifications for this office are found in 1 Timothy 3, and include such characteristics as being hospitable, gentle, and able to teach.

Therefore, elders take the primary role in teaching the Scriptures and discipling members of the congregation. Depending on the type of church government, the pastor of a church is typically considered the “teaching elder”, meaning that he has the same level of authority as the other elders but is tasked with the preaching of the Word during corporate worship.

Elders also handle church membership and church discipline. Becoming a church member means submitting yourself to the authority of these elders. Therefore, ignoring the instructions of your elders and refusing to repent can lead to church discipline, such as being refused the Lord’s Supper or even removal from church membership.

Elders are a tremendous blessing to a church - they lovingly lead the people of their congregation to maturity in their faith.

Deacons

While elders handle the spiritual matters of the church, deacons handle the physical issues that arise. This office was instituted in Acts 6, where we see seven men chosen to attend to the physical needs of the church so that the elders can focus on the preaching of God’s Word.

The existence of this office indicates that our physical selves matter. It is easy to slip into thinking that only spiritual things are important, but God cares about our entire being. Physical matters such as poverty, sickness, and loneliness greatly affect our relationship with the Lord, so deacons aim to mitigate these circumstances and foster a better situation where people can continue to grow in their faith.

Why I Love My Church

I’m personally a member of Kutztown Bible Fellowship Church, which doctrinally fits into the Reformed Baptist camp. During my 4+ years attending here is when I’ve really come to love and appreciate the institution of the church.

Growing up in the church in the 90s and early 2000s, I was somewhat influenced by the “seeker sensitive” movement in the church. This movement sought to modernize much of what the church was all about in an effort to attract people who had become disillusioned with Christianity. So we started seeing pastors in Hawaiian shirts, contemporary worship bands, and just a generally laid back atmosphere when it came to church.

So when I began to attend my current church, it was a bit of an adjustment. The worship was simple: just a piano and a mixture of hymns and some modern songs. The service and sermon were longer than I was used to, which as someone with a short attention span, took time to get used to.

Regardless, I continued to attend, and haven’t left. I got used to the service length and came to love the lyrical richness and singability of the music. I loved the sense in which it is relaxed: it’s in no way a performance or a show. I used to get annoyed in churches when something got messed up, worrying about how it would be perceived by visitors. Now mistakes are reminders that we’re average people who are worshipping God and occasionally screw up, and that’s normal and ok.

I like that my church is small. Growing up, my desire was the complete opposite. I wanted my church to be the biggest and best, the envy of all the other local churches. And it’s good to want a lot of people to be attending your church. But having a small church allows more people to serve, and enables deeper relationships with more people.

I appreciate the genuine fellowship that we experience at KBFC. I’ve heard many visitors note how upon the conclusion of the service, people just don’t get up and leave, but stay and talk with each other for quite a while. It is one thing to be fellow church members, but another thing entirely to be able to call them your closest friends.

I also love the godly leadership that we have. When you realize the significance of elders in your life, you’ll appreciate it when they truly care about leading the church in a biblical direction. Submitting to their leadership is quite easy because I know that they have the best of intentions for me and the rest of the congregation.

Let’s face it -- church isn’t easy. It’s a collection of very different people coming together under the banner of Christ. But the importance of church and church attendance can’t be understated.

If you’re checking out a church, don’t base your impression of it on just one Sunday service. Commit to attending for at least three months to get a real picture of the health of that particular congregation. Active involvement in a local church is a gift that God has given us to not only grow in our personal devotion to Him, but also to be able to reach into the lives of those around us and impact their lives for eternity.