I'm thinking today of the book of Hebrews in chapter 6.
In the first couple of verses of chapter 6, the author of the book of Hebrews is talking
about the things that the author is going to kind of assume or leave behind or take
as basic fundamental things that all Christians have observed and understood and applied.
Included in there is washing for factisms, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the
dead, eternal judgment, and more.
These seem like not very basic or simplistic things.
In fact, there are things that one Christian factor or another might argue over.
There might even be disagreements.
And there really shouldn't be.
The word is pretty clear about these things.
But when you take on laying on hands, for example, well, laying on hands happens in
a church environment.
Baptism is a church environment.
And so people don't want to be involved in church sometimes.
They don't want to be with a local church for whatever reason.
It's because they don't want their sin to be noticed or because they have psychological
or physical barriers that make it hard for them to be involved in a local body, whatever
it is.
The bottom line is the writer of Hebrews is saying these things are a sin.
They are fundamental to the faith.
And when the writer moves on to the things that are less basic, which the writer will
do in the upcoming chapters, by no means does the writer say that we should leave these
things out.
But we have to accept that certain fundamental teachings of Christianity hold true.
Whatever you decide about what you consider to be higher level doctrines, whatever questions
you may come up with, you cannot deny that Jesus Christ authored the church, gave the
church the keys to the kingdom, and said to the church, go ye therefore.
And so we are to be the church doing the things that the church is to be doing and recognizing.