Have we made or been guilty of making right doctrine our idol? Not only right doctrine, but the bible itself? Has the bible itself, become a law book weighing us down, instead of Good news and a story of redemption? One might not blatantly say that right doctrine is more important that Jesus Christ dying for our sins, but many act as if this holds true. If we find our identity in the fact that church of christ doctrine is most right, we have made it our idol. Imagine your faith as a brick wall (Thanks to Rob Bell for the illustration). Each part of what you believe is a brick. What if, one of those bricks were taken out? What if one of those bricks were proved to be untrue? Your entire wall would crumble. Instead, our faith should look much more like a trampoline; stretching, bending, changing, expanding, and contracting. When we make our denominational beliefs ultimate, they become an idol just as disgusting as if it were a physical god that we bow down to. The only thing that should be ultimate in our lives, and the only thing we should find our identity in, is the fact that Jesus Christ died and saved us, so that we wouldn't have to try and save ourselves (Because God knew we couldn't. He tried that with Israel and it didn't work). So the next time you feel a judgmental spirit creeping up inside of you towards another denomination or set of beliefs, ask yourself, "Has being right become my idol?".
I'd argue that one of the biggest turnoffs to outsiders is our "arrogance" when it comes to doctrine. Good post sir. Very important to think about this stuff.
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