On Monday Anna sent me a copy of an article. My initial reaction was anger—not at Anna, of course, but at the content of the article. The article reported the findings of a biennial survey by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research. The survey focused on evangelical Christians, and the findings were disturbing. For several iterations of the survey, more than half the participants have agreed with the statement, “The Holy Spirit is a force, but is not a personal being”, while at the same time 97% affirm “There is one true God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit”.
The article expressed surprise at another statement a vast majority affirmed: “God loves all people in the same way”, a statement 94% of participants agreed with. In the words of the prophet Malachi, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (Malachi 1:3). This straightforward declaration of God puts the lie to the very assertion affirmed by 94% of the survey participants. Further, Paul instructs husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the church. If “God loves all people in the same way” am I to love my wife the same way I love every other woman? No, of course not!
God loves the world. He loves those he created in his image. And God loves his people with a covenantal love. He is committed to his people in a more profound way. He loves them differently than he loves those who are not his. Without this understanding the Bible’s story makes little sense. Why Noah? Why Abraham? Why Israel? Why the church? While it is true God is not a respecter of persons, it’s also true that God loves his people with a special, covenantal love that is quite different from his general love for his creation. His special covenantal love is rooted in God himself and does not suggest his people are favored for their ethnicity or status or potential or anything of the sort. They are God’s people because of God, not because of who they are.
When we encounter a survey that reveals a tremendous lack of understanding on such basic issues—including a proper understanding of the Trinity!—it’s easy to dunk on the people in the pew. It’s easy to cast aspersions for those who have not taken the time to understand the very basics of Christianity. While God will, indeed, hold each person accountable, the crux of the blame lays at the feet of a local church’s council of elders.
When we examine the qualifications for the office, it is apparent they focus primarily on character. Elders must be above reproach. They must be honorable men who are self-controlled and faithful and not belligerent with their words. The one singular job qualification for the office of elder is a man must be able to teach. This does not require the gift of teaching, for if it did, many churches would struggle to find elders altogether. Rather than the gift of teaching, “able to teach” means a man must recognize true doctrine and must be able to spot error. In his letter to Titus Paul expounds on this teaching role of an overseer:
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Titus 1:9 ESV
The one “job” qualification for this office in the church is the solution to the problems revealed by this survey! James warns that not many should seek to be teachers for a very simple reason: “for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). Rather than blame those who participated in the survey solely for their own ignorance, we must recognize the profound failure of their churches.
Last Sunday I mentioned the “discipleship” books I was given when I was a new follower of Jesus. They were books teaching basic doctrines. While there was a section on the Trinity, the Holy Spirit was largely overlooked. No wonder so many believe in one God who eternally exists in three Persons, yet generally believe the Holy Spirit is a mere force rather than a Person, the very Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
What this survey reveals is less a failure of those in the pew and much more a failure of the shepherds of the church refusing to protect the sheep from error. Many local churches tend to emphasize entertainment over worship. They would not make this claim, of course. When the worship service is filled with elements designed to appeal to people the inevitable outcome is a worship service that is about me, first and foremost. It is about my experience, where I get recharged for the coming week, where my preferences are deemed most important.
The authors of the report diagnose and then offer a sound solution to the problem revealed in the survey.
Evangelical churches that do not prioritize sound doctrine and biblically qualified leaders who can accurately teach the Word will inevitably stray from the faith delivered once for all to the saints. In doing so, they exchange truth for trends and substance for a superficial Christianity that bears little resemblance to what the Scriptures teach.
“The State of Theology 2025”, Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research
Additionally, survey results among evangelicals remind us of the enduring value and practical helpfulness of the sound doctrine contained in the historic confessions and catechisms of the church. In a day when biblical literacy is in decline and serious discipleship is neglected, may the evangelical church increasingly recognize creeds, confessions, and catechisms as profoundly helpful tools for summarizing and teaching God’s truth to His people and discipling them in His ways.
In recent years there has been a renewed emphasis on church history. There has been a growing desire to be rooted in the ancient doctrines of the church. The ancient doctrines should not be “new”. The problem is many have drifted from their ancient roots and have forgotten them. Many have forgotten the emphases of the ancient church, but there is a renewed interest in this. This is seen in more and more churches returning to the Creeds as part of their worship. Rather than reciting mere intellectual assent with a statement of belief, the Creeds root our thinking in God as he has revealed himself: one God in three Persons. We worship the Father. We worship the Son. We worship the Holy Spirit. While each remains distinct from the others, each Person is God in essence, fully divine and worthy of worship. This is why both the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed are Trinitarian in structure: we believe in one God, the Father, the almighty; we believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.
The opposite problem remains a danger. While many today do not recognize and understand basic doctrines of the Christian faith, there are those who so emphasize doctrinal precision that they miss the point entirely! Dotting theological Is and crossing theological Ts becomes a new law one must adhere to fully and completely. Rather than keep a list of rules, one must keep a list of propositional truths written with ever more precision. This is simply the pendulum going too far. We end up with so-called TheoBros, whether online or in actual churches.
Right theology must result in right orthopraxy or it isn’t right theology! Orthopraxy is simply “right
behavior”. This does not mean one evaluates theology based on the character and behavior of the one espousing a theological viewpoint. Instead, it means that if one’s worship of God is not evident in how he or she lives, then it doesn’t matter how precisely that person’s doctrine is stated, for that person doesn’t really believe it!
Right theology leads to right orthopraxy. Right orthopraxy leads to doxology, which is worship. This is why Paul gets to Romans 12, after eleven chapters expounding the beauty of the gospel of Jesus, and begins with the word, “Therefore”. Therefore, because the gospel of Jesus is really that true and that beautiful and that worth pursuing, what? Therefore, what? If you really and truly believe the truth of who God is and what he has done, then “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship”.
Right doctrine must result in right behavior, and right behavior is the worship of God in Trinity as those who have been transformed by him through the gospel of Jesus. It is much easier to verbally assent to a confession of faith than it is to live according to that confession of faith! For example, it’s much easier to say Jesus rose from the dead than it is to live accordingly. If he really and truly conquered death, then why would anyone hold back anything in this life from him? If God should send you into danger for the sake of the gospel, why should there be any fear? The worst this world can do you to is kill you; the world killed Jesus, too! How did that turn out?
If we believe the Holy Spirit is the Lord, the giver of life, then we will trust him with our lives—both our physical well-being and our spiritual well-being, for he is the giver of both. Rather than wear ourselves out trying to defeat sin in our lives, we will trust him with that victory, believing he is, in fact, in us and working to transform us. The very one who began the work in us, we’re told, will be faithful to bring it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ!
If we really believe God is sovereign, then when life does not go the way we planned, even if that means great suffering, then we will trust him in the midst of whatever hardship comes our way, knowing the promise in Romans 8: he causes all things to work together for good. This doctrine of God’s sovereignty ought to affect how we live our lives!
This is why right doctrine isn’t merely a goal for the Christian life. It is necessary for the Christian life, for our faith rests entirely in God himself. Even this statement requires a basic understanding of Christian doctrine, for when we say our faith rests in God himself, what do we mean? We mean that sovereign Creator who has revealed himself as existing as one God in three distinct Persons, yet remains one God, not three. Because this is true, we worship him and only him, for only he is worthy of worship. Why should we bow down before an idol or carved image? Why should we set our hearts and affections on things that cannot ultimately give us what they promise? Only God—the one God in three Persons—can do what he says he will do, and he promises salvation to all who trust him.
This is why what we believe matters, for what we believe brings about a response and if what we believe is not true, then our response will not be. We worship God as he has revealed himself. This is the life God calls each one of us to embrace, empowered by his Spirit, purchased by the Son, and called by the Father. Doctrine matters, y’all.