Doctrinal statements annoy me.
In focusing on beliefs, we divide the church. We make it less accessible to outsiders. We make it look like it’s impossible to be a Christian if you don’t believe in, say, the Trinity. Or, yes, I’m willing to go as far as the Resurrection.
Beliefs don’t come first. Love does.
And it’s our own focus on what we believe, the stuff we teach, that leads to that.
I’m embedding a song by Benjamin Jameson Morey which embodies all that from the atheist side:
THIS is the reason why we must spread the word. Not because we want everyone to agree with us, not because we want to get people to say they accept those matters as true.
And while I do believe most people will agree with that, I also believe that we sometimes try to convince people more than we try to love them and share their burden.
1 Corinthians 1:25 “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
