Article
How The Culture of Your Church Makes or Breaks the Doctrine
Doctrine alone is not unlike faith without works: dead. The culture in a church can deny the teaching of the church.
If I asked you what the most defining, crucial aspect of your church is, what would you say? I’m guessing it would be “doctrine.” Doctrine is the most important thing about your church—at least that’s what most of us implicitly believe. What the church believes, teaches, and defends is its primary defining characteristic. “Doctrine first,” we cry!
Yes, but not doctrine only.
More than Doctrine
Doctrine alone is not unlike faith without works: dead. (Even the demons believe and shudder, after all.) We all know of churches that preach and defend right doctrines but have cultures that are prideful, belligerent, or cold. We know of churches that espouse magnificent, classic doctrines but even go so far as to excuse or cover up heinous sins. When this happens, it doesn’t make the doctrine untrue, but it does make it seem untrustworthy. The culture in a church can deny the teaching of the church.
There is an old adage that says “right thinking leads to right action.” In the church we might say “right theology leads to right action” or “good preaching leads to good living.” And when we view this from one perspective, it seems to stack up well because most good actions stem from right thinking. However, when we examine this adage from the other end we begin to see the flaws in the argument. Lots of right thinking doesn’t amount to any action, and some of it devolves into sinful action. I know ice cream is bad for me. That’s right thinking. I keep my freezer stocked with ice cream. While not sinful, that is not a good action. And we are the same in the church. While we can quibble about whether any thinking that doesn’t generate action is truly “right,” I think we can agree that many people—even church leaders—who espouse good theology can (and haved) live in willful sin. We all have the capacity to acknowledge truth in our minds and mouths and ignore it in our lives.
Very simply, thinking is easier than doing. Arriving at a true conclusion about God is easier than obeying God. Proclaiming lovely things about Jesus is easier than reflecting those lovely things in our lives. Talking about grace and forgiveness is easier than being gracious or bearing the cost of forgiving. In short, good doctrine is easier than good, Jesus-reflecting culture.
Belief with Teeth
We need to reclaim belief. In many churches and in many of our lives there is a disconnect between what we claim to believe—that is, what we assent to—and what we actually believe. When the writers of the New Testament use the word “believe” they aren’t merely talking about intellectual agreement or acknowledgement (or, if they are, they make a point of it as in the case of the “believing” demons). They are talking about whole-life belief where the truth invades our lives and shapes us. There is no disconnect between mind and life for them–just whole-hearted submission to the reality of God as explained in true doctrine.
When we believe this way—whole-hearted submission to God’s truth and reality—doctrine doesn’t live in isolation but dictates and shapes and informs our lives and our church culture. So yes, doctrine first, so long as we give our hearts to its truth fully! For example:
- Believing in justification by faith alone is no longer a mere explanation of how one gets saved (as if that could be “mere”); we now see it as a whole reality of grace and welcome and love and assurance.
- Believing that God is love isn’t merely a pleasant sermon point or stenciled on the wall of a classroom; it is a paradigm forming, reality shaping truth that everything God does is out of love. It reframes how we read the entire Bible, how we cling to God in the hardest times, and how we love others.
- And when we believe these doctrines in this new, whole way, the doctrine of God’s sovereignty is not contained to systematic theologians and the arena of philosophical arguments. Instead, we see it for what it is—an understanding that all reality is held in the hands of and governed by a perfectly loving, saving God, whether or not we can wrap our minds around all he is doing.
These are just a few examples of how moving from shallow, ascent-based belief to deep, whole-hearted belief re-orients reality. And when reality is reoriented, we live differently, and the culture in our churches changes. What do I mean by culture?
What is Culture?
Church culture is more than corporate practice or patterns of behavior, though not less. Culture is the collective embodiment of reality with God as expressed in our doctrine. So, if there isn’t deep reality with God there will inevitably be unhealthy culture. But if there is rich, deep, whole-life belief in true gospel doctrine then there will be rich, deep, whole life culture that reflects the heart of God.
Your church culture can’t preach or teach your doctrine; only words can do that. But your culture is still loud. It is still a witness to the truths in doctrine.
- Culture can invite people to the truth of the gospel, or it can reject the heart of the gospel.
- Culture can beautify the truth of the gospel, or it can taint the gospel with ugliness.
- Culture can compel people to the truth of the gospel, or it can repel them away from Jesus.
Your church’s culture starts with you, church planter. It starts with your deep, whole-hearted belief. So, here’s the good news: if you want the culture of your church to reflect the beautiful goodness of the gospel it doesn’t take a massive strategic shift. It takes deep belief in the beautiful goodness of the gospel by you, first internalized, then lived, then preached.
