A Significant Problem with Detailed Statements of Faith

Faith is important. Apart from faith in Jesus Christ, no one can be saved.

In the life of the early church the confession of faith was, "Jesus is Lord!" However, as the years progressed statements of faith became increasingly detailed. After the Protestant Reformation, group after group wrote its own distinctive confession. One primary example of this is the Westminster Confession of Faith (among many, many others).

As I look around the Christian landscape, I see a significant problem with these lengthy statements of faith. The problem is that they leave no room for a person to change his mind on an issue. Let's say a Christian says that he agrees with a certain statement of faith. Later, upon a further study of scripture he changes his mind on that issue. Uh-oh. What is he to do? This would be no big deal; however, many local churches require their new members to agree with their specific statement of faith. If this Christian no longer agrees with that confession, does he then have to withdraw his membership?

This, of course, brings up the problem of "membership" in a local body of believers. That's for another day.

To sum up: lengthy statements of faith allow no room for believers to change their minds on an issue. In this way, they actually discourage bible study and the asking of hard questions. The body of Christ would be much better off by simply sticking with "Jesus is Lord!" as our confession. Christ is all we need, and that statement is all we need.

House Church - Challenges (Part 1)

Thus far in this extended series on house church life I've focused primarily on positive aspects. The reality, however, is that house churches have challenges as well. The main reason for this is that, like all churches, house fellowships are composed of people. Since we all still struggle with sin, we will inevitably face challenges.

As I've thought through various challenges, I managed to boil it down to ten.  I'll address five in this post and five more in the next.  Some of these challenges are things that I've experienced while others I've simply read about.

1. Pride. I believe this is the greatest danger to any church including house churches. When we act prideful, we are basically saying that we know best, we act best, and we are best. Yikes.

This can be a particular challenge within the house church as it relates to how the church should function. First, we can become prideful in our attitudes toward those in institutional/traditional churches. Since most within the house church have made a decision to leave institutional churches for biblical reasons, it is dangerously easy to slide into the sin of thinking we are somehow better. Second, even within the house church itself we can get prideful in how we think things "should be." This may be how we think the gathering should go, when we should get together, what leadership should look like, etc., etc., etc.

We must always be on the lookout for pride in our lives. We are no better than anyone else. We must remember this.

My New Confession of Faith

Beliefs are important. Almost all of us within the Christian community agree with this.

It is good to know what we believe. This obviously applies to the gospel, but also to secondary (but important) issues such as baptism, the Lord's Supper, treatment of the poor and needy, worship, outreach, sanctification, the end times, all aspects of church life, etc.

Beliefs are frequently written down in the form of confessions. Protestant groups have had many different confessions over the last 500 years. These include the Westminster Confession of Faith, the 1689 2nd London Baptist Confession, the 39 Articles of the Church of England, the Augsburg (Lutheran) Confession, etc.

Confessions can be helpful because they act as concise statements of what an individual or group believes. They are almost always the result of a great deal of study and hard work. I know of no respected confession that was put together quickly and/or haphazardly.

Over the last several years my favorite confession has been the 2nd London Baptist Confession. I still like it a great deal. However, my confession of faith has changed. I'll get to that in a minute.

First, let me state my primary problem with confessions such as those mentioned above. The problem is what they are now used for. Denominations and local churches use confessions not simply to state what they believe. They also use them to determine who can be in their local church and who cannot. Confessions are now employed as dividing lines.

I'm tired of division among followers of Jesus Christ. All followers of Christ have the same Father God, and are therefore a family of spiritual brothers and sisters. Families should be united. It is Christ who unites us as opposed to beliefs over secondary doctrines.

If confessions of faith are roadblocks to unity within the church of Jesus Christ, then we need to think a great deal about whether or not we want to use them at all.

In light of all this, my new confession is simply this: Jesus is Lord.

I am united with anyone who confesses Christ as Lord and Savior. We are part of the same family. He is my brother and she is my sister. I want no more dividing lines.

Let's know what we believe. However, let us not allow confessions to separate us from other followers of Christ. We will be together for eternity. Why should we be divided now?

Let us be gracefully bold about the gospel. Let us be humble about secondary issues.

My Christian brothers and sisters, let's be united in Christ and our held confession that He alone is Lord.

My 5 Favorite Non-Inspired Christian Documents

The bible must be our supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice. No questions asked.

That said, I have found it helpful to look through different Christian documents (creeds, confessions, statements of faith, etc.) in order to help me clarify what I believe and why.

Based on their content and/or their historical significance, the following are my 5 favorite non-inspired Christian documents:

The Nicene Creed (A.D. 325)

The 95 Theses (1517)

The Canons of the Synod of Dort (1618-1619)

The 2nd London Baptist Confession (1689)

The Abstract of Principles (1858)

What are your favorite Christian documents? Why?

What is Your Confession of Faith?

What is your confession of faith? I'm not asking you to defend it or even tell why you hold to it. I'm simply curious.

Yes, I know that the bible takes supreme position in matters of faith and practice. I'm not arguing that. I simply want to know what your confession is. If you don't have one, then just say that.

In case anyone is wondering, my preferred confession of faith is the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689.