AN EVIL PHILOSOPHY THAT HAS ENTERED THE CHURCH!

An alarming trend that I see in the church today is the tendency to discount doctrine as secondary to "relationship", even the relationship we have with Christ. This attitude began to be developed back in the late 70's and early 80's through the "Jesus is Lord" emphasis that we saw across evangelicalism. Even the North American Christian Convention had as one of its themes "Jesus Is Lord". This movement across evangelicalism at large evolved into a general statement of faith that said, "Doctrine is secondary to the ideal 'Jesus is Lord'". As a result, many individuals today believe that to have a relationship with Jesus Christ has nothing to do with doctrinal beliefs or teaching. Caught in the realm of ambiguity, all doctrinal teaching thus becomes relegated to secondary consideration and unimportance. This dicotomy between doctrine and relationship is drawn quite sharply by many. This is made evident when individuals passionately rebuke orthodox teaching and teachers as "judgmental" and "narrow". Dr. Jack Cottrell, professor with Cincinnati Christian Seminary, has labeled this whole ideology as the Christological Fallacy, the belief that you can separate Christian Doctrine from a Christ relationship and belief. Some call for unity today on this basis. They say, "let's just be unified on what we DO have in common", usually boiling it down to "the Lordship of Christ", and yet, I find it quite hypocritical! If Jesus is Lord, then why is doctrine not on par with any teaching that reflects discipleship?! Those who passionately espouse "Jesus Is Lord" teaching as a way to unity (without the unchanging Truth as the centerpiece for unity) should be the FIRST to stand up for doctrine as compulsory, if, Jesus is truly the Lord! Did not Jesus ask, "Why do you call me Lord and do not DO THE THINGS THAT I SAY?" Doing the things that Jesus says, is in essence 'doctrine', or, teaching about Jesus, including His very Words! I recently heard someone say that their goal in teaching youth was to teach them to have a relationship with Christ. Sounds good, except, this statement could be construed to mean that there is a separation between a relationship with Christ and teachings about Him. In actuality, there is NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST AND 'DOING WHAT HE SAYS'. None! The awful truth we try to hide is the fact that, for the most part, this attitude of "Jesus is Lord" apart from Scripture allows many to create a postmodern view that places doctrinal issues into the realm of relativism. I again believe that this is the old deception of the Devil himself! "Has God really said?" was the question asked of Eve which led to hers and Adam's downfall in the Garden of Eden! Satan knows that if he can get mankind away from an objective source for belief and into the realm of the subjective (Jesus is Lord mentality apart from objective Truth), then he can have a heyday with leading us to create God in OUR image and after our LIKENESS instead of the other way around! This is exactly what this philosophy is leading to in our society. It is the essence of postmodernism, the core of relativism, and the basis for rebellion to any form of objective teaching. Truth is still truth even if I do or don't believe it! It is not dependent upon my feelings or even my willingness to espouse it as authoritative! It stands alone as truth and truthful! Jesus Christ is Lord! Yes, He is! But, He is Lord because I have decided to follow, with reverence, HIS WORD (doctrine)! You see, it's not either/or.....it's BOTH!