WEBVTT 00:00:12.899 --> 00:00:15.300 Welcome to the June 2025 session of Teaching 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:17.420 Tuesday. Now bear with me, because I'm going 00:00:17.420 --> 00:00:19.399 to introduce tonight's topic in a slightly different 00:00:19.399 --> 00:00:22.219 manner than normal. In the 1980s, the comedian 00:00:22.219 --> 00:00:24.440 Emo Phillips told a joke that has been repeatedly 00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:26.660 voted as the best religious joke of all time. 00:00:26.820 --> 00:00:29.780 It goes like this. Once I saw this guy on a bridge 00:00:29.780 --> 00:00:32.600 about to jump. I said, don't do it. He said, 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:35.439 nobody loves me. I said, God loves you. Do you 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:38.700 believe in God? He said, yes. I said, are you 00:00:38.700 --> 00:00:41.789 a Christian or a Jew? He said, a Christian. I 00:00:41.789 --> 00:00:44.609 said, me too, Protestant or Catholic? He said, 00:00:44.649 --> 00:00:47.789 Protestant. I said, wow, me too, what franchise? 00:00:48.310 --> 00:00:51.070 He said, Baptist. I said, that's incredible, 00:00:51.429 --> 00:00:54.609 Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist? He said, 00:00:54.630 --> 00:00:58.030 Northern Baptist. I said, wow, me too, Northern 00:00:58.030 --> 00:01:00.570 Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist? 00:01:00.890 --> 00:01:03.630 He said, Northern Conservative Baptist. I said, 00:01:03.649 --> 00:01:06.290 me too, Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes 00:01:06.290 --> 00:01:08.930 region or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern 00:01:08.930 --> 00:01:11.209 region? He said, Northern Conservative Baptist 00:01:11.209 --> 00:01:15.109 Great Lakes Region. I said, geez, me too. Northern 00:01:15.109 --> 00:01:17.069 Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council 00:01:17.069 --> 00:01:20.349 of 1879 or Northern Conservative Baptist Great 00:01:20.349 --> 00:01:23.790 Lakes Region Council of 1912. He said, oh, Northern 00:01:23.790 --> 00:01:25.670 Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council 00:01:25.670 --> 00:01:29.409 of 1912. I said, die, heretic. And I pushed him 00:01:29.409 --> 00:01:31.689 over. Now that's a great joke, because it takes 00:01:31.689 --> 00:01:33.370 a kind of Christian that many of us have had 00:01:33.370 --> 00:01:35.650 the displeasure of meeting to an absurd extreme. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:39.000 You've met them before. I know I have. There 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:40.819 isn't one bit of Christian doctrine that they 00:01:40.819 --> 00:01:43.239 won't argue about. These are people who lead 00:01:43.239 --> 00:01:45.900 to denomination, church, and family splits over 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:48.540 doctrine. But the opposite extreme is just as 00:01:48.540 --> 00:01:51.099 damaging to the church in a different way. These 00:01:51.099 --> 00:01:52.700 are the Christians who refuse to fight about 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:55.260 anything, and in doing so ignore the fundamentals 00:01:55.260 --> 00:01:57.680 of the faith. When these people make it into 00:01:57.680 --> 00:01:59.799 leadership, they threaten the salvation of those 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:02.420 under their care. So if we fight about everything 00:02:02.420 --> 00:02:05.540 and divide over every minor difference, we shatter 00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:08.180 the unity of the body of Christ. But if we fight 00:02:08.180 --> 00:02:11.199 about nothing and stand for nothing, Christianity 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:14.199 becomes something else entirely. These are two 00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:17.800 terrible options. But Jesus founded one church 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:20.780 with one mission, to save souls. So we've got 00:02:20.780 --> 00:02:22.879 to find a solution somewhere in the middle. We've 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:24.900 got to figure out what's worth fighting about 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:28.259 and what we can agree to disagree about. We find 00:02:28.259 --> 00:02:30.379 the answer to that question in tonight's topic, 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:33.960 a tool called theological triage. Now, there 00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:36.360 are several books on theological triage, but 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:37.800 the one we're using tonight is called Finding 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:40.979 the Right Hills to Die On by Gavin Ortland. Dr. 00:02:41.099 --> 00:02:43.020 Ortland runs a ministry and YouTube channel called 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:45.199 Truth Unites, which is meant to create and foster 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:47.199 unity in areas which Christians have historically 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:50.099 diverged. This book condenses decades of his 00:02:50.099 --> 00:02:52.400 work into a manual. It's a short, easy read that 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:54.800 you can finish in an afternoon. But it's one 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:56.680 that's going to permanently change how you interact 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:59.500 with other Christians for the better. We'll start 00:02:59.500 --> 00:03:01.039 by answering the same question we answered about 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:03.159 apologetics. The same question you need to ask 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:05.419 anytime anyone prescribes some practice related 00:03:05.419 --> 00:03:08.300 to the Christian faith. Is it biblical? And again, 00:03:08.379 --> 00:03:10.879 the answer is yes. There is clear biblical precedent 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:13.080 that some parts of Christian doctrine are more 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:15.860 important and more urgent than others. One example 00:03:15.860 --> 00:03:18.240 comes from 1 Corinthians 1 .17, in which Paul 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:20.460 writes, For Christ didn't send me to baptize, 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:22.879 but to preach the good news. In other words, 00:03:22.900 --> 00:03:24.740 the sharing of the gospel shouldn't be hindered 00:03:24.740 --> 00:03:26.979 by debates over baptism. We'll learn more about 00:03:26.979 --> 00:03:30.169 that later. Then, in verse 15 -3, Paul writes, 00:03:30.289 --> 00:03:48.169 Now, having established that the concept of theological 00:03:48.169 --> 00:03:51.330 triage is biblical, Dr. Orlin lays out several 00:03:51.330 --> 00:03:53.530 goals and priorities that will help us understand 00:03:53.530 --> 00:03:56.199 his methods. Spiritually speaking, the church 00:03:56.199 --> 00:03:58.560 is described as the body and bride of Christ. 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:01.520 These terms are always singular, never plural, 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:04.099 and that's important. Our identity as Christians 00:04:04.099 --> 00:04:06.939 comes from Christ and the gospel, not any church 00:04:06.939 --> 00:04:10.000 -specific doctrines. Practically speaking, unity 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.060 gives us resources, manpower, reach, and makes 00:04:13.060 --> 00:04:15.379 a good impression on the world. Think of the 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:17.740 backpack giveaway we do each fall. It's a community 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:19.600 effort with about a thousand people donating 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:22.779 money and supplies, volunteering, or both. It 00:04:22.779 --> 00:04:24.860 creates an economy of scale where we can help 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:27.160 hundreds of children in the community. But imagine 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:29.399 how much less effective it would be if we were 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:31.939 to split into 10 churches of 100 people all running 00:04:31.939 --> 00:04:34.759 their own backpack giveaway. Now imagine the 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:36.939 global church pulling its resources and doing 00:04:36.939 --> 00:04:39.519 the same thing, potentially ending poverty and 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:42.480 homelessness worldwide. How powerful of a witness 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:44.560 would it be to see people from every country 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:46.860 and denomination setting aside their differences 00:04:46.860 --> 00:04:49.579 to serve the world? So our guiding principle 00:04:49.579 --> 00:04:52.839 in doing a theological triage is unity when possible, 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:56.500 peaceful coexistence when not, and conflict only 00:04:56.500 --> 00:04:59.019 when necessary. To accomplish this goal, Dr. 00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:00.879 Ortlund divides Christian beliefs and practices 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:03.319 into four categories. Unfortunately, I couldn't 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:05.420 find a graphic with only four steps on the podium, 00:05:05.579 --> 00:05:07.519 so just pretend that bird is totally blocking 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:09.800 the number five. The first category, which we'll 00:05:09.800 --> 00:05:12.420 call first rank or primary doctrines, are those 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:14.339 which are essential to the gospel and salvation. 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:16.759 These define what is and isn't Christianity. 00:05:17.339 --> 00:05:20.360 Second rank... or secondary doctrines, are essential 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:22.800 to the health and practice of church. You might 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:25.740 say they define how we do church. These are doctrines 00:05:25.740 --> 00:05:27.819 which lead to denomination and church splits. 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:31.399 Third rank, or tertiary doctrines, are important 00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:34.120 but not worthy of division. In other words, these 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:36.439 may be things of great eternal importance, but 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:38.439 they don't affect sharing the gospel or the practice 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:40.680 of church. And if you get nothing else from tonight, 00:05:40.860 --> 00:05:42.540 at least you'll get to learn a fancy new word. 00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:45.180 Apparently the ordinal name for fourth rank is 00:05:45.180 --> 00:05:47.250 quaternary. And these are doctrines that are 00:05:47.250 --> 00:05:49.189 unimportant to the gospel, salvation, ministry, 00:05:49.449 --> 00:05:52.269 and eternity. I hate to say that they're totally 00:05:52.269 --> 00:05:55.009 unimportant, but they're often denomination or 00:05:55.009 --> 00:05:57.250 church -specific doctrines that have little to 00:05:57.250 --> 00:05:59.430 no scriptural basis, and frankly, they're silly 00:05:59.430 --> 00:06:01.589 to divide over. And I'll give you a few examples 00:06:01.589 --> 00:06:05.089 of that later. So, given a particular doctrine, 00:06:05.189 --> 00:06:07.389 how do we determine its rank? Dr. Ortlund gives 00:06:07.389 --> 00:06:10.069 us four questions to ask. First is how clear 00:06:10.069 --> 00:06:12.509 the Bible is on a topic. Consider the claim of 00:06:12.509 --> 00:06:14.769 Jesus' death on the cross being the way our sins 00:06:14.769 --> 00:06:17.319 are forgiven. This is supported in dozens, if 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:19.759 not hundreds, of verses. It couldn't be any more 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:22.040 clear. On the other hand, there's a lot of debate 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:24.180 over the timing of Jesus' thousand -year reign 00:06:24.180 --> 00:06:26.879 in Revelation 20. It's not mentioned many times, 00:06:27.019 --> 00:06:28.879 and the language in Revelation is full of dramatic 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:32.579 imagery. We can't be as certain. Second is how 00:06:32.579 --> 00:06:35.139 important doctrine is to the gospel. Jesus coming 00:06:35.139 --> 00:06:37.279 back to life after three days is the event that 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:39.500 validates every one of his claims. It's a huge 00:06:39.500 --> 00:06:42.519 deal. However, your position on whether the days 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:45.759 in Genesis are literal 24 -hour periods or references 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:48.139 to extended periods of time has nothing to do 00:06:48.139 --> 00:06:50.139 with the gospel. Third is how the church historically 00:06:50.139 --> 00:06:52.879 understood a topic. History doesn't trump scripture. 00:06:53.100 --> 00:06:55.339 The Bible always has the final word. But if you 00:06:55.339 --> 00:06:56.779 want to challenge a doctrine that the church 00:06:56.779 --> 00:06:58.980 has maintained for the past 2 ,000 years, such 00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:01.019 as the biblical definition of marriage, you'd 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:03.439 better have some solid evidence. And finally, 00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:05.740 we want to ask how the doctrine affects the church 00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:08.379 today. Consider the debate over whether the gifts 00:07:08.379 --> 00:07:10.079 of the Holy Spirit stopped with the apostles 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:12.660 or continue on to today. That may not be related 00:07:12.660 --> 00:07:14.779 to the gospel, but it will impact almost every 00:07:14.779 --> 00:07:17.959 aspect of running a church. There are also some 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:19.800 questions we shouldn't ask because they're irrelevant 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:22.399 to the truth and importance of a doctrine. Are 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:24.399 advocates of a doctrine my friends or nice people? 00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:26.759 Well, Jehovah's Witnesses are almost universally 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:29.339 nice people. That doesn't make them correct or 00:07:29.339 --> 00:07:32.300 even Christian. Will we lose donation money or 00:07:32.300 --> 00:07:34.920 members? Imagine you're a pastor and you find 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:36.660 out that a large portion of your membership has 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:39.060 started visiting psychics. That's not good. The 00:07:39.060 --> 00:07:41.360 Bible warns strongly against any sort of divination, 00:07:41.540 --> 00:07:43.959 witchcraft, or sorcery. You want to get your 00:07:43.959 --> 00:07:45.600 members back on the right track, so you have 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:47.519 a sermon on the topic where you present the biblical 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:50.199 evidence and you tell them clearly to stop going 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:53.240 to psychics immediately. 10 % of the congregation 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:55.439 gets extremely offended and demands that you 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:57.899 retract the sermon or they'll leave. Even if 00:07:57.899 --> 00:08:00.500 that number was 90%, it wouldn't change the truth 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:03.120 in the Bible. Will secular academics criticize 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.459 us? The thing is, the Bible's never been wrong 00:08:05.459 --> 00:08:07.360 in any of its claims, and has defeated every 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:09.860 challenge put against it. Take the story of Noah's 00:08:09.860 --> 00:08:13.160 Ark. In addition to the rain, Genesis 7 -11 says, 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:15.399 all the underground waters erupted from the earth. 00:08:15.939 --> 00:08:18.160 Secular academics and scientists pointed to this 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:20.139 passage as an example of the Bible being wrong. 00:08:20.540 --> 00:08:22.980 After all, everyone knows there's no water under 00:08:22.980 --> 00:08:24.920 the earth, so it's time for everyone to just 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:28.220 become atheists. Well... Then we invented ground 00:08:28.220 --> 00:08:30.500 -penetrating radar and discovered massive underground 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:32.940 vaults of water that some geologists think rivals 00:08:32.940 --> 00:08:36.299 the volume of water on the surface. Finally, 00:08:36.379 --> 00:08:39.240 could someone sue us over this? A woman in England 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:41.460 was arrested and sentenced to two years of jail 00:08:41.460 --> 00:08:43.639 for praying silently in the vicinity of an abortion 00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:46.840 clinic. Fortunately, this case was overturned, 00:08:46.840 --> 00:08:49.019 but the culture is already on a course to start 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:51.899 legal warfare against churches. It's not a matter 00:08:51.899 --> 00:08:54.419 of will we be sued someday, but when we will 00:08:54.419 --> 00:08:56.570 be sued someday. for any of the various things 00:08:56.570 --> 00:08:58.529 about Christianity that the culture finds offensive. 00:08:59.049 --> 00:09:01.929 But that doesn't change how true or valid they 00:09:01.929 --> 00:09:05.350 are. Now it's time to dive into these ranks or 00:09:05.350 --> 00:09:07.210 categories of doctrines in a little more detail 00:09:07.210 --> 00:09:09.830 and look at some examples. As I mentioned, the 00:09:09.830 --> 00:09:11.750 first rank or primary doctrines are those that 00:09:11.750 --> 00:09:13.990 are essential to defining, proclaiming, or defending 00:09:13.990 --> 00:09:16.509 the gospel. These doctrines define Christianity. 00:09:16.870 --> 00:09:19.090 If a group or individual doesn't hold to them, 00:09:19.210 --> 00:09:21.350 they're not Christian no matter what they claim. 00:09:21.980 --> 00:09:24.259 In order to be as charitable as possible, Dr. 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:26.500 Orlin recommends using negative definitions of 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:28.279 key doctrines instead of positive definitions. 00:09:28.820 --> 00:09:31.500 So, instead of expecting every person of any 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:34.059 age, level of education, or spiritual maturity 00:09:34.059 --> 00:09:36.779 to have a 100 % perfect understanding of a doctrine, 00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:39.340 we don't want an active denial of the important 00:09:39.340 --> 00:09:42.179 parts of that doctrine. Consider the thief on 00:09:42.179 --> 00:09:44.679 the cross next to Jesus. He most certainly didn't 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:47.200 have the complete understanding of sin, God's 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:49.460 triune nature, or the mechanics of how Jesus' 00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:52.080 sacrifice saved people. He probably had a vague 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:54.700 understanding of Jesus as divine and that his 00:09:54.700 --> 00:09:56.559 death on the cross would save people in some 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:59.559 way, and that was sufficient. Had he rejected 00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:02.159 Jesus as only human or argued that God didn't 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:04.200 exist, it would have been a different story. 00:10:04.460 --> 00:10:06.659 In the same way, I expect the kids to have an 00:10:06.659 --> 00:10:08.240 age -appropriate understanding of the gospel, 00:10:08.379 --> 00:10:10.860 not the same understanding as one of my seminary 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:14.240 professors. When we encounter one of these doctrines, 00:10:14.340 --> 00:10:16.220 Dr. Orland recommends courage and conviction. 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:19.080 Say you hear a pastor state that Jesus is just 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:22.179 an ordinary human, not God. You go to that pastor. 00:10:22.340 --> 00:10:24.659 You go to the church board. And if it isn't immediately 00:10:24.659 --> 00:10:27.000 addressed and rectified, you find a new church. 00:10:27.399 --> 00:10:29.559 Now, if that's a denomination's official stance, 00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:32.580 you find a new denomination. Neither that church 00:10:32.580 --> 00:10:35.500 nor that denomination are legitimate Christianity 00:10:35.500 --> 00:10:37.840 anymore. An example of a first -rank doctrine 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:40.120 would be the Trinity. This is the doctrine that 00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:42.200 God has eternally existed as one being with three 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:44.620 persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:48.340 All three persons are equally omniscient, omnipotent, 00:10:48.379 --> 00:10:51.169 omnipresent, and omnibenevolent. The Trinity 00:10:51.169 --> 00:10:53.490 is a great example of why we use negative definitions, 00:10:53.710 --> 00:10:55.629 because even though the Bible is clear that God 00:10:55.629 --> 00:10:57.990 exists as a Trinity, the concept will always 00:10:57.990 --> 00:11:01.009 be mysterious to humans, who are one being with 00:11:01.009 --> 00:11:03.809 one person. The Trinity is like quantum physics. 00:11:03.990 --> 00:11:05.990 Anyone who tells you they understand either completely 00:11:05.990 --> 00:11:10.009 is either mistaken or lying. So our battle lines 00:11:10.009 --> 00:11:12.250 are drawn when someone actively rejects the Trinity. 00:11:12.549 --> 00:11:14.690 For instance, Mormons call themselves Christian, 00:11:14.830 --> 00:11:17.139 but they reject the Trinity. They believe that 00:11:17.139 --> 00:11:19.139 God the Father was a human in another universe 00:11:19.139 --> 00:11:21.740 who lived a good life and was given godhood if 00:11:21.740 --> 00:11:24.440 this universe is his reward. They believe that 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:26.679 Jesus was the Father's first creation, meaning 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:29.799 he's not eternal. They may use the same names, 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:32.440 but they don't believe in the same God. They're 00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:35.039 not Christian. Jehovah's Witnesses are another 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:37.480 example. They believe that Jesus was God's first 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:40.179 creation as well, and they created a Bible translation 00:11:40.179 --> 00:11:42.919 that intentionally adds words to the original 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:45.320 Greek to back it up. In their version of John 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:47.720 1 .1, for instance, it says that the word was 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:51.039 a god, not the word was god like the original 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:54.179 Greek plainly states. Jehovah's Witnesses are 00:11:54.179 --> 00:11:56.580 not Christian. In lieu of listing every potential 00:11:56.580 --> 00:11:58.860 first -rank doctrine, Dr. Ortlund recommends 00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:01.159 the Apostles' Creed as a sort of cheat sheet. 00:12:01.500 --> 00:12:03.700 I'll spare you reading the entire thing. It's 00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:06.120 up on the screen right now. But this is a statement 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:08.240 developed by the Apostles to capture the fundamental 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:10.820 doctrines of Christianity and has been used and 00:12:10.820 --> 00:12:13.590 affirmed by the Church since the beginning. Ideally, 00:12:13.649 --> 00:12:15.570 all Christians would fully understand and accept 00:12:15.570 --> 00:12:18.029 everything contained in the creed, but for the 00:12:18.029 --> 00:12:20.350 purposes of theological triage, we know it's 00:12:20.350 --> 00:12:22.169 time to go to battle when someone claiming to 00:12:22.169 --> 00:12:24.590 be Christian actively disagrees with any part 00:12:24.590 --> 00:12:27.289 of it. Now we come to the second rank or secondary 00:12:27.289 --> 00:12:29.470 doctrines. While not an essential part of the 00:12:29.470 --> 00:12:31.809 gospel or salvation, these beliefs create practical 00:12:31.809 --> 00:12:34.110 differences in how we do ministry. They're often 00:12:34.110 --> 00:12:36.350 matters of conscience, and being forced to act 00:12:36.350 --> 00:12:38.230 in a way that violates one's conscience can cause 00:12:38.230 --> 00:12:40.820 great spiritual and emotional distress. Some 00:12:40.820 --> 00:12:42.940 of these secondary doctrines are unclear or have 00:12:42.940 --> 00:12:44.600 been debated throughout church history without 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:47.179 reaching a consensus. For that reason, splits 00:12:47.179 --> 00:12:48.960 over these secondary doctrines into separate 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:51.399 denominations or churches while maintaining a 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:53.580 sense of grace and unity with the rest of the 00:12:53.580 --> 00:12:55.919 body of Christ may be the best choice to preserve 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:58.419 peace. Instead of the courage and conviction 00:12:58.419 --> 00:13:00.919 that Dr. Ortlund recommends for first -rank doctrines, 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:03.440 he calls for wisdom and balance when disagreements 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:06.500 over second -rank doctrines arise. There's no 00:13:06.500 --> 00:13:08.600 better example of a second -rank doctrine than 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:11.039 baptism. Everybody agrees that we're meant to 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:13.539 baptize. Everybody agrees it should be done in 00:13:13.539 --> 00:13:15.000 the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:17.159 Spirit. And that's where the agreement stops. 00:13:17.779 --> 00:13:20.100 Across the many Christian denominations, you'll 00:13:20.100 --> 00:13:22.399 see a variety of combinations of answers to these 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:25.080 three questions. First, is baptism only meant 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:27.440 for believers who can express their faith, or 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:30.100 should it include infants? Second, should baptism 00:13:30.100 --> 00:13:32.419 be done through full immersion, partial immersion, 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:35.220 dipping of the head, pouring of water, or sprinkling 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:38.240 of water? Third, is baptism simply a sign of 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.019 obedience, a necessary part of salvation, or 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:43.919 something in between? Legitimate, sincere Christians 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:45.879 come to different conclusions based on their 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:47.879 understanding of the Bible and the traditions 00:13:47.879 --> 00:13:50.259 of their churches. Forcing someone to perform 00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:52.580 baptisms in a way that violates their conscience 00:13:52.580 --> 00:13:55.659 is simply not acceptable. So a denominational 00:13:55.659 --> 00:13:57.639 or church split over the practice of baptism 00:13:57.639 --> 00:14:00.470 is a reasonable compromise as long as everyone 00:14:00.470 --> 00:14:02.389 maintains a sense of grace towards each other. 00:14:02.570 --> 00:14:04.690 Two other big examples are women's roles in ministry 00:14:04.690 --> 00:14:06.710 and whether the gifts of the Holy Spirit ended 00:14:06.710 --> 00:14:09.509 with the apostles or continue to today. Some 00:14:09.509 --> 00:14:11.350 people take Paul's stance on women not being 00:14:11.350 --> 00:14:13.850 allowed to hold authority in 1 Timothy as a universal 00:14:13.850 --> 00:14:17.049 ban on female pastors. Others take it as a localized 00:14:17.049 --> 00:14:19.210 command meant to address a problem specific to 00:14:19.210 --> 00:14:21.149 the region in which Timothy was ministering. 00:14:21.429 --> 00:14:23.190 The debate over whether the gifts of the Holy 00:14:23.190 --> 00:14:25.830 Spirit continue to today is just as heated. But 00:14:25.830 --> 00:14:27.850 you have legitimate, sincere Christians on both 00:14:27.850 --> 00:14:30.590 sides of both issues. Keep in mind that this 00:14:30.590 --> 00:14:32.450 sense of grace doesn't apply to things that are 00:14:32.450 --> 00:14:34.850 explicitly unbiblical. For instance, the command 00:14:34.850 --> 00:14:37.870 to not steal couldn't be clearer. So if the denomination 00:14:37.870 --> 00:14:40.269 of thieves formed and treated stealing as a fundamental 00:14:40.269 --> 00:14:42.470 practice of the church, we'd be right to fight 00:14:42.470 --> 00:14:44.549 over that issue, even though it's not an issue 00:14:44.549 --> 00:14:47.970 of salvation. Third rank or tertiary doctrines 00:14:47.970 --> 00:14:49.809 are those that have little or nothing to do with 00:14:49.809 --> 00:14:52.429 the gospel, salvation, or ministry. It doesn't 00:14:52.429 --> 00:14:54.409 mean that they're not important. Everything God 00:14:54.409 --> 00:14:56.730 wanted included in the Bible is important. But, 00:14:56.750 --> 00:14:58.830 to use an example I'll expand upon later, the 00:14:58.830 --> 00:15:01.350 timing of Jesus' second coming has zero effect 00:15:01.350 --> 00:15:03.370 on how you share the gospel or run a church. 00:15:03.750 --> 00:15:06.190 These topics will be important in eternity, and 00:15:06.190 --> 00:15:07.990 many of them are truly fascinating to study and 00:15:07.990 --> 00:15:10.389 discuss, but there is no good reason that people 00:15:10.389 --> 00:15:12.269 with different views can't peacefully coexist 00:15:12.269 --> 00:15:15.629 within a church or denomination. Ironically, 00:15:15.669 --> 00:15:17.690 because many of these topics are so esoteric, 00:15:17.710 --> 00:15:19.789 they lead to the fiercest debates and accusations 00:15:19.789 --> 00:15:22.519 of heresy on social media. It would take you 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:24.799 10 seconds to find a video from each position 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:27.500 on Jesus' second coming calling proponents of 00:15:27.500 --> 00:15:29.460 all other positions heretics straight on the 00:15:29.460 --> 00:15:32.039 path to hell. That's not just terrible for unity 00:15:32.039 --> 00:15:34.220 within the body of Christ, but imagine how bad 00:15:34.220 --> 00:15:37.059 that looks to non -Christians. In reality, most 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:39.539 denominations agree on 100 % of the essentials 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:42.600 and 95 % of the non -essentials, but you'd never 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:44.960 know that looking in from the outside. Since 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:46.899 I've already mentioned it twice, let's look a 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:48.919 little more at why people disagree over the timing 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:51.620 of Jesus' second coming and why this debate isn't 00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:54.379 worth dividing over. Revelation 20 mentions the 00:15:54.379 --> 00:15:57.279 1 ,000 -year -long reign of Christ. Some translations 00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:59.460 render it as the millennium, which is why the 00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:01.740 study of this period is called millennialism. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.139 As I mentioned earlier, there's not a ton of 00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:06.379 information provided, and what we do have is 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:08.600 presented in dramatic, apocalyptic language, 00:16:08.820 --> 00:16:11.120 so the timing of Christ's return is a bit ambiguous. 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:14.240 Pre -millennials believe that Jesus will come 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:16.320 back before the millennium and reign over it 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:18.820 directly. Post -millennials believe that Jesus 00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:21.100 will come back after the millennium, having ruled 00:16:21.100 --> 00:16:24.120 over the church's activity from heaven. Amillennialists 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:25.960 believe that there is no thousand -year reign. 00:16:26.580 --> 00:16:28.919 Historical millennials fall into one of those 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:30.639 three categories and believe that Revelation 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:32.600 is describing real events that will happen in 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:35.220 the future. Allegorical millennials believe that 00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:37.559 the Revelation is entirely symbolic and does 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:40.299 not describe actual events. Preterists believe 00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:42.360 that some or all of the events in Revelation 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:44.980 have already happened. Now that's about 20 different 00:16:44.980 --> 00:16:47.139 combinations, and that's not even all the possibilities. 00:16:47.379 --> 00:16:49.860 But I have to ask, what does your position on 00:16:49.860 --> 00:16:52.059 any of that have to do with sharing the gospel? 00:16:52.379 --> 00:16:54.960 Not a single thing. And the answer to that question 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:56.860 is the same for other third -rank doctrines. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:16:59.440 Whether you believe the days in Genesis are literal 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.120 24 -hour periods, undefined periods of time, 00:17:02.220 --> 00:17:04.200 or allegories not responding to actual events, 00:17:04.420 --> 00:17:07.220 the gospel story is still the same. Whatever 00:17:07.220 --> 00:17:10.279 legitimate, meaning non -heretical, such as Jehovah's 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:12.500 Witness translation, Bible translation you prefer, 00:17:12.660 --> 00:17:15.079 or your church prefers, the doctrine of salvation 00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:17.980 remains unchanged, even if it's described in 00:17:17.980 --> 00:17:20.240 slightly different words. And finally, we come 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:22.220 to our fourth rank, or quaternary doctrines. 00:17:22.299 --> 00:17:24.900 It's such a great word wasted on doctrines that 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:27.319 are frankly embarrassing to divide over. Many 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:29.119 of these are church -specific traditions that 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:31.299 don't come from the Bible. Imagine standing in 00:17:31.299 --> 00:17:33.059 front of God's throne one day, and he asks why 00:17:33.059 --> 00:17:35.140 you left a certain church. Now you've got to 00:17:35.140 --> 00:17:36.759 look God in the face and explain that it was 00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:38.819 because the pastor wore a two -piece suit instead 00:17:38.819 --> 00:17:41.000 of a three -piece suit. Or because the band used 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:42.839 electric guitars instead of acoustic guitars. 00:17:43.500 --> 00:17:45.680 Now that sounds silly, but we've had several 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:48.859 families come to HCV sent by other churches who 00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:50.519 told them that their clothes weren't nice enough 00:17:50.519 --> 00:17:52.400 to attend their church. But the people at Hub 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:55.019 City Vineyard don't care what you wear. And as 00:17:55.019 --> 00:17:56.380 long as you're covering everything a bathing 00:17:56.380 --> 00:17:58.740 suit would, we really don't. Heck, if you came 00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:00.359 here naked because you couldn't afford clothes, 00:18:00.619 --> 00:18:02.480 we'd give you some nice tie -dyes and a coffee 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:04.839 and welcome you in for the message. This isn't 00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:07.019 a country club, it's a church. Who cares what 00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:09.680 people wear? We want them in here, listening 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:11.900 to the message, building their relationship with 00:18:11.900 --> 00:18:15.259 Jesus. Okay, let's say you're on board with the 00:18:15.259 --> 00:18:17.740 concept of theological triage. We've discussed 00:18:17.740 --> 00:18:19.640 the ranks and what is and isn't worth dividing 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:22.279 over. Now, what do you do in the moment when 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:25.940 a theological disagreement occurs? First, ask 00:18:25.940 --> 00:18:28.880 questions. A lot of questions. Try to get a complete 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:30.660 understanding of the other person's perspective. 00:18:31.210 --> 00:18:32.829 because there may not actually be a disagreement, 00:18:32.990 --> 00:18:35.470 just different language. Last session, we talked 00:18:35.470 --> 00:18:37.349 about five different definitions of biblical 00:18:37.349 --> 00:18:39.930 inerrancy and five different definitions of biblical 00:18:39.930 --> 00:18:43.150 inspiration. These are referring to the Bible 00:18:43.150 --> 00:18:46.069 being true and the Bible being inspired by God. 00:18:46.730 --> 00:18:48.589 Imagine getting into an argument with someone 00:18:48.589 --> 00:18:51.029 over inerrancy, but neither of you stopped to 00:18:51.029 --> 00:18:53.549 define the word. If you had, you might have realized 00:18:53.549 --> 00:18:56.089 that what you were talking about wasn't two different 00:18:56.089 --> 00:18:58.789 things, but actually the same thing. And when 00:18:58.789 --> 00:19:01.170 it comes down to the details, you're in agreement. 00:19:01.410 --> 00:19:04.369 Whoops. Second, be honest about your position 00:19:04.369 --> 00:19:07.049 and beliefs. Accurately and completely explain 00:19:07.049 --> 00:19:09.569 it to the best of your ability. Don't say what 00:19:09.569 --> 00:19:11.349 you think the other person wants you to say. 00:19:11.589 --> 00:19:13.950 If you genuinely believe that baptism should 00:19:13.950 --> 00:19:16.410 only be done on believers, don't pretend that 00:19:16.410 --> 00:19:19.049 you're okay with infant baptism. Third, be tactful. 00:19:19.230 --> 00:19:21.430 During one of our previous Alpha sessions for 00:19:21.430 --> 00:19:23.609 new and potential Christians, one of the attendees 00:19:23.609 --> 00:19:25.630 expressed that Christianity's stance on same 00:19:25.630 --> 00:19:27.269 -sex marriage was keeping her from committing 00:19:27.269 --> 00:19:29.859 to the faith. She explained that she has many 00:19:29.859 --> 00:19:32.099 gay and lesbian friends and felt that she would 00:19:32.099 --> 00:19:33.940 be betraying them by joining a religion that 00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:36.019 hated them and wanted to deny them marriage out 00:19:36.019 --> 00:19:39.160 of hatred. So instead of getting angry, calling 00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:41.319 her an idiot, or responding with a canned one 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:43.839 -liner like she has heard many times in the past, 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:46.599 I just asked whether I could explain why the 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:49.160 church has that position. She agreed, and so 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:51.259 I pointed to Paul's statement in Ephesians 5, 00:19:51.380 --> 00:19:54.680 31 -32 that marriage is meant to illustrate Jesus' 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:57.839 relationship to the church. The man represents 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:00.000 Christ, and the woman represents the church. 00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:03.299 Whatever other reasons people get married, God's 00:20:03.299 --> 00:20:05.700 purpose for marriage is that illustration. That 00:20:05.700 --> 00:20:08.119 illustration doesn't work with two Jesuses and 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:10.359 no church, and it doesn't work with two churches 00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:13.460 and no Jesus. Now, admittedly, many Christians 00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:15.539 do a terrible job of explaining this if they 00:20:15.539 --> 00:20:17.960 even try, and they're unnecessarily cruel to 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:20.440 same -sex attracted people. But the Christian 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:22.619 position on marriage comes out of a desire to 00:20:22.619 --> 00:20:24.799 be obedient to God and respect the institution 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:27.859 he created. Nobody had ever taken the time to 00:20:27.859 --> 00:20:30.539 explain that to her before, and now she's a baptized, 00:20:30.859 --> 00:20:33.759 active member of this church. Fourth, be gracious. 00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:35.940 If you're someone who believes that women should 00:20:35.940 --> 00:20:38.339 hold the same ministry roles as men, especially 00:20:38.339 --> 00:20:40.559 if you're a woman, it's hard not to take it as 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:42.460 a personal attack when you meet someone who doesn't 00:20:42.460 --> 00:20:45.019 believe that women should be pastors. It's easy 00:20:45.019 --> 00:20:47.700 to brush the person off as a sexist or a misogynist, 00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:49.640 to assume that they hate you and are stuck in 00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:52.240 the past. Instead, try to put yourself in their 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:54.799 shoes. They sincerely believe that they are accurately 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:56.940 representing God's stance on the issue and are 00:20:56.940 --> 00:20:59.660 doing their best to follow God's command. You 00:20:59.660 --> 00:21:01.700 can try to change their mind. You can express 00:21:01.700 --> 00:21:04.119 how their position makes you feel, but don't 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:06.579 assume anyone's motives. Instead, assume that 00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:08.599 every Christian is acting in good faith and until 00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:11.359 proven otherwise. And really, the last two steps 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:14.220 come together. You trust that God is using the 00:21:14.220 --> 00:21:17.259 encounter for good and divide if and only if 00:21:17.259 --> 00:21:20.500 necessary. Maybe God directed you to this person 00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:22.769 to help correct a mistake on their part. Maybe 00:21:22.769 --> 00:21:24.410 it's a mistake on your part that he's trying 00:21:24.410 --> 00:21:26.890 to fix. Maybe he's planting a seed that won't 00:21:26.890 --> 00:21:30.069 sprout for decades. We can't know for sure, but 00:21:30.069 --> 00:21:32.869 we do know what type of God we serve. And so 00:21:32.869 --> 00:21:35.049 when all is said and done, and you've had the 00:21:35.049 --> 00:21:37.130 chance to discuss your differences and sit down 00:21:37.130 --> 00:21:40.789 and calmly analyze both positions, apply the 00:21:40.789 --> 00:21:43.589 principles of theological triage and decide whether 00:21:43.589 --> 00:21:47.329 this is a fight worth having. If it is, figure 00:21:47.329 --> 00:21:50.289 out where this doctrine ranks and whether it's 00:21:50.289 --> 00:21:52.299 worth dividing over. And then we'll wrap things 00:21:52.299 --> 00:21:55.140 up tonight. I've got the resource back up on 00:21:55.140 --> 00:21:56.759 the screen. I've got my contact information, 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.119 links to view the slides. And of course, you 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:01.759 can see this and all of our other sessions on 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:04.440 our YouTube. Thank you all very much for listening. 00:22:04.579 --> 00:22:06.440 I'm very grateful for your continued support. 00:22:06.859 --> 00:22:09.200 If you have topics you'd like me to cover, if 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:11.299 you have questions you'd like me to answer, if 00:22:11.299 --> 00:22:13.140 you've got feedback on how I can make this more 00:22:13.140 --> 00:22:15.119 interesting or more useful, or if you ever catch 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:18.220 me making a mistake, please email me anytime. 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:20.940 I would love to hear from you. Have a great night 00:22:20.940 --> 00:22:21.640 and God bless you.