This is not a hate post. This is an exhortation to all my Christian brothers and sisters. Recently I have been studying Dispensationalism. I study it because I need to know what it is. I study it because I believe its methodology to be right. There are 4 key tenets to Dispensationalism. They are as follows:
1. A literal, historical, grammatical hermeneutic.
2. Discontinuity - the church is not the continuance of Old Testament Israel.
3. God is not done with Israel. They are still His chosen nation. This would include a Premillennial position as well as both are driven by #1.
4. An Old Testament to New Testament interpretive grid. Meaning, we(Dispensationalists) interpret the Bible as it was revealed, from OT to NT. Therefore we interpret the NT thru the lenses of the OT not vis-a-versa.
I will take questions on this in the comments if necessary. I simply wanted to get my presupposition out there in the open.
I have noticed lately that many people have either shed labels, or are shedding labels in their doctrinal alignment in search of "greener pastures." Granted, sometimes it's for very valid reasons. Sometimes it is necessary. Sometimes people restudy Scripture and find something that they had never seen before to actually be truth when compared with the rest of the Bible. This is good!
Here is the downside though. More often than not, it is reactionary. Almost every person I've ever talked to that has changed their stance on most doctrinal issues is because of such a trivial thing....people.
It almost never fails. I ask what changed someone, and it always goes back to "some dude at 'X' church said this," or "my old friend 'Y' failed in this area." How easy is it to write people off when they make one mistake?! By that logic the apostle Peter himself would be anathema. What are we commanded to do? Run from trouble? Run from arguments? or Fight?! Are to we pull up stakes at the first sign of inconsistency and head for something new, or be the accountable church goers we are supposed to be? People have forgotten how to exhort and reprimand for holiness! People will willingly sit idly by as "Z" elder or "P" pastor drives their church into spiritual shipwreck and then simply gripe behind closed doors to their friends and neighbors. Be unpopular! Step up and say what needs to be said! Take someone to task for once!
Tell me what's more wrong? False teaching, or the coward who sits idly by and says nothing to rescue his wayward comrade?
I was talking with my good friend Jacob last night. I expressed my concern on this very issue which prompted this blog post.
There is never going to be a side that gets everything right. There never will be. And there will always be people we don't like or agree with at church. But the thing is, we still have to put up with them. This isn't facebook. You can't just close a chat window, or "go-offline" when people start to annoy you. The body is supposed to be able to heal itself right? From the inside, right? Why not the body of Christ? I don't have time to sit and argue with people on which denomination is full of more hypocrisy.
I spend a lot of time defining what my doctrinal stance is. I will proclaim it here. I am a Fundamentalist holding to Dispensationalism and an Amyraldian.
Fundamentalists in recent years have come under horrible attack(granted, sometimes warranted). Just because there is inconsistency, doesn't mean I will abandon what I believe, when executed properly, to be truth. When something you love is dying, you don't just abandon it. You seek to give it life! You want it to live! As John Piper once said, "You're talking to dead people. They need to live! Speak the words that cause them to live!"
As I said, this is not an angry post. This is an exhortation.
Sometimes, we need to pull out our spiritual dictionaries and redefine what once used to be honorable labels. I challenge you my friends, not to abandon. Redefine, and don't let what you love and hold dear die.
Fiat justitia et pereat mundus,
Ross
