Help! My Church Has Gone Postmodern
Here's a 10 minute audio clip from STR's radio show, in which a caller expresses his concern about his church's doctrinal statement which says: "Acceptance or rejection of any doctrine should be strictly up to the individual. Since genuine and ultimate conviction of bible truths is the work of the Holy Spirit, no individual should be criticized or looked upon with suspicion because he does not see some doctrine or prophecy as others do. Oneness in Christ should be the aim of all". Could it be that this self-refuting belief statement is a train wreck waiting to happen? Listen-in and find out.
Think about that belief statement for a minute. This church is essentially saying: "We have no creeds that are obligatory, we are not holding anyone to any doctrinal standard". The premium for them seems to be on the aim of a supposed "oneness in Christ", at any cost.
Now suppose a Jehovah's Witness comes along and agrees with their belief statement (there's nothing in it that any would disagree with); can he join this church? Or how about another cult. Consider this very "Christ centered" statement by the Mormon church, and you'll quickly see that they'd agree with the above doctrinal statement as well: "There are many who say that the Latter-day Saints believe in a 'different Jesus' than do other Christians and that we are therefore not 'Christian'. We believe in the Jesus of the New Testament, and we believe what the New Testament teaches about Him. We do believe things about Jesus that other Christians do not believe, but that is because we know, through revelation, things about Jesus that others do not know. What we want most of all is for Christian and non-Christian alike to understand that we love the Lord Jesus Christ. We revere His name. We count it a great honor and privilege to take upon ourselves the name of Christ as Christians and as member of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". (source: mormon.org) But the cults do have "another Jesus", and yet the postmodern church in question has adopted a short and meaningless belief statement that is useless in protecting their flock against serious errors.
We see it so often today; churches that express sentiments like "We don't have creeds in our church, our only creed is love". And so there is no doctrinal right or wrong, there is only differences of opinion, and there certainly is no way to practice biblical church discipline under those conditions. What churches really need today is more doctrinal precision and detail, and not less. Have a listen to Greg Koukl from Stand To Reason as he answers this very important radio call-in question.
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