Does good doctrine excuse goofing off?
That Sunday morning, old Davie really got into the worship service, raising his hands and trying to sing as loud as the worship team. To be exact his singing sounded more like braying, and he was slightly off key. But hey, ‘make a joyful noise’ and all that.
He is “amens !”rattled, the rafters.
After the service, though, when he and his wife were on the way to the restaurant, his smiles gave way to a critical appraisal of the morning’s service: pastor’s message was too long, a bit off theologically, and not relevant to what they needed. He needed to be livelier, etc.
At the restaurant he was curt with the waitress because she was a bit slow, and didn’t smile enough. He made sure his comment about the poor service to his wife was loud enough so the poor lady could hear it.
(He didn’t know that she was about as discouraged as she had ever been. Her husband had abandoned her, and she couldn’t pay the rent that month. How in the world was she going to buy her growing kids clothes for the new school year. And the kids had been super unruly since their father took off.)
Old Davy didn’t know that though. He just knew he was hungry and she wasn’t on the ball.
Now, if you had given Davy a doctrine test, he would have scored the highest in the church. He knew his Bible. Well, he knew what it said. He wasn’t nearly as good in doing what it said.
His doctrine didn’t make him sweeter, just smarter. And what good is knowing when it’s not put into practice? When God’s truth encounters an obedient heart, it shouts God’s glory. Unpracticed doctrine, which only knows how to criticize and look down on others, is pitiful.
Poor Doctrine, Bad Follow Through
That truth hit me hard when I was thinking about one of the most famous stories in the Bible—the Good Samaritan.
You know how it goes. A man is robbed, beaten up, and half dead, lying on the side of the road. A priest comes along, sees him, and passes by on the other side. A Levite, another spiritual leader, tiptoes past also.
Then one of those despised Samaritans happens by, sees him, bandages his wounds and makes sure he’s cared for. It cost him good money and time. This was probably a businessman and money is time you know.
What gave me a gut punch is when I realized that among the three who saw the half-dead traveler, the Samaritan had the funkiest doctrine. Now, these folks believed in our God, Israel’s God, but they also had some questionable ideas.
Their theologians hated the Jews and the Jews hated them. Yet, they weren’t that far away from each other’s beliefs.
I would have loved to see the priest or the Levite respond to the hurting fellow, because they definitely won the doctrinal contest. Even Jesus said so. He told the Samaritan woman at the well, “You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:22-24, NLT)
Yet, the little that the Samaritan businessman knew helped the wounded man more than the dead doctrine of the other two. I don’t say this to justify poor doctrine but to challenge each of us to examine our lives to see if we’re living out what we believe.
“Lord, please make my doctrine inspire a difference in the way I live my life. Help me to glorify You by living out what I believe.”
