So You Think Your Doctrine Is Sound?

What does that even mean?

We in the churches of Christ have long placed a heavy emphasis on the concept of sound doctrine.

“We preach sound doctrine.”

“Is that a sound congregation?”

“You can trust that preacher, he’s pretty sound.”

Even if you’re unfamiliar with this kind of talk, you can discern from context that it has something to do with Biblical consistency. Of course, Biblical consistency should be a prerequisite for every church and every Christian, so this is all well and good.

But what does it take to be considered sound?

Typically this terminology refers to correctness of doctrine. What does doctrine mean, then? It’s often shorthand for teachings and regulations regarding church practice. The plan of salvation, worship style, and leadership roles are regular features. Divorce and remarriage, eschatology, and a few other more specific debates are also often included.

In short, it’s generally reserved to the specific teachings that separate us from other groups. The ability to articulate why we stand where we do Biblically and argue against competing stances is generally the measuring stick for whether one has “sound doctrine.” And don’t get me wrong, that’s important.

There are two reasons this measuring stick comes up a foot or two short of a yard, though.

First, this results in an over-emphasis on our distinguishing doctrines and an under-emphasis on the rest of the Bible.

Every Sunday thousands of baptized Christians sit in rooms without an instrument to be found to hear sermons on the importance of baptism or why we worship with a capella singing. Sure, those things are important, and the occasional refresher is needed, but it’s time to move on to meat. “Playing the hits” ≠ the totality of “sound doctrine.”

Second, we forgot to ask the Bible how it would define “sound doctrine.”

We might be surprised when we see the Spirit used the term differently than we do. Paul uses the word didaskalia (typically translated “doctrine” or “teaching”) 15 times in the 13 combined chapters of 1&2 Timothy and Titus alone. Didasko and parangello, two verbs translated “instruct,” “prescribe,” or “teach,” occur a combined 10 times.

Written to two evangelists who were tasked with teaching the “house law of God” (1 Timothy 1:4, 3:15) to the church in Ephesus and Crete, respectively, these letters tell us exactly what the Bible considers sound doctrine.

Paul certainly included the kinds of teachings we label as doctrine. Throughout the three books he discusses true and false teachings on elders and male leadership, salvation, the Law, and the like.

But he also took it much, much further than just matters of the church. To him doctrine was a general term for the teaching of the church, which is to govern every part of Christian life.

We’re given instructions on various sins (1 Timothy 1:9-10, 2 Timothy 3:1-9), how women are to act submissively, abstain from gossip and intemperance, and work as keepers in the home (1 Timothy 2:8-15, 3:11, 5:14-15, Titus 2:3-5), how the church is to support widows (1 Timothy 5:3-16), how masters and slaves were to act (1 Timothy 6:1-2, Titus 2:9-10), finances and what to say to those who are rich (1 Timothy 6:17-19) and those who aren’t but want to be (1 Timothy 6:6-10), specific teachings for older men, older women, younger men, and younger women (1 Timothy 5:1-2, Titus 2:1-8), politics (1 Timothy 2:1-4, Titus 3:1-2), and the call to do good deeds (Titus 3).

These are the real-world, everyday kinds of things people were dealing with in Ephesus and Crete. When they came together to hear doctrinal teaching, they left knowing how to better follow Christ Monday-Saturday.

It’s not hard to believe that if written to the church in Kansas City or Tampa today there would be significant overlap, though perhaps the sections for slaves and masters might be dropped and topics like using social media and voting might be added.

Think about it for a second:

if somebody got up and preached on the sin of being lovers of self or about a man’s God-given mandate to provide for his own, would anybody call it doctrinal preaching? Probably not. But we should probably start.

By limiting our scope of “sound doctrine” largely to matters of the church, we’ve taught Christians that Christ’s rule is primarily concerned with what happens inside the four walls of the church building.

Our people might not know how to lead as a husband, submit as a wife, apply their faith to current issues, or help their teen out of a porn addiction, but boy howdy they’re sure going to know 15 ways to argue against "mechanical instruments of worship."

As a result, we’ve come to a time in which only 6% of self-identifying Christians actually have a Christian worldview, according to researcher George Barna. The church is in decline both in number and in cultural presence. We’re patting ourselves on the back for our rightness right into oblivion.

Why has it come to this? Why do we spend so much time on doctrines we already know and accept, and so little on the nitty gritty, practical details that affect our everyday lives?

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Notes

• As always, if you enjoy the articles, please feel free to pass them on to a friend. And, consider becoming a supporting subscriber and get 4 eBooks included!

• Looking for a good book on church leadership? Pick up a copy of my republication of J.W. McGarvey’s A Treatise on the Eldership

• This week’s Think Deeper Podcast is a logical fallacy primer to help you guard against false teaching. Check it out on YouTube or your podcast app! (Apple, Spotify, YouTube)