For several years I had the privilege of being part of a local church’s pastoral team. One of my responsibilities was to follow-up with our guests. In many cases I was the first contact guests heard from after their initial visit. During a five-year span that I kept track, there were over 3000 first-time guests who came through our doors. Needless to say, I fielded a lot of questions regarding our local church.

The One Question Never Asked

During this time period no one ever asked me my position or the church’s position on the Gospel. You can read my last article, The #1 Priority for Any Local Church, to gain a fuller understanding of why this is the most important question a person could ask regarding a local church.

The Second Question Rarely Asked

I can literally count on one hand how many of our guests, who were “checking us out,” asked about our theology. Though it could boggle the mind regarding the rarity of these two questions, it is not really a surprise when you consider the overwhelming number of problems God’s children are struggling with. There is a direct, real, and practical correlation between what we believe (theology) and how we behave (practice).

The three most popular questions asked were:

• What do you provide as far as children’s ministry?
• What style of music do you have?
• What other ministries do you have?

Theology Matters

The church has been swimming through the deep waters of theology for more than 2000 years. Millions of people have died because of their theology. Every pastor has multiple systematic and other theology books lining his shelves. Theology matters.

The very word theology implies that it matters: Theos Logos. Theology means the word concerning God or the study of God. In addition to the absolute necessity of getting the Gospel right, what more important question could a person ask of a local church than its belief about God!

Preferences Kinda Matter

I have preferences about a local church’s music and children’s ministry, because I care. And I know you care too. But in one sense, it does not amount to a “hill of beans” what kind of music a church plays or the comprehensiveness of its children’s ministry, particularly if a church’s theology is skewed.

I have listened to some Roman Catholic music that is hands down better than the music of some Baptist churches I have attended, but I’m not going to join a Roman Catholic church because its theology is wrong. The Mormon church has a well-documented high view of the family, as its video resources impressively present, but its theology is abysmal.

What do you believe about God? Tell me your theology? Everybody has a theology: a view, an understanding and a practice of God in their lives. Satan has a theology. Both an Atheist and a Mormon have a theology. Protestants, Catholics, and Muslims have a theology. It is an important question to ask.

In Search of Sound Theology

Two years ago we began a journey looking for a local church that suited our family. One of the first things I did upon visiting our current local church was download and listen to its series on Galatians. There were approximately 35 full-length messages in that series. I listened to everyone of them.

Though I had a keen interest in its music and its children’s ministry, the two most important issues for me were its views of the Gospel and its theology. If first things are not first, then secondary and tertiary things do not matter. I can tolerate music that is not to my liking and I can overlook inefficiencies in children’s ministries, but if the local church does not understand the Gospel, as outlined in the previous post and if its theology is off the skids, then I cannot plant my family in that local church.

Articles in This Series

1. How to Find a Local Church, 1.0
2. The #1 Priority for Any Local Church, 2.0
3. The Second Question to Ask a Local Church, 3.0
4. You Better Believe Worship Matters, 4.0
5. Ministries, Programs & Amenities of Religion - 5.0
6. Fellowship! What is Missing in Most Local Churches – 6.0
7. Thoughts on Pursuing Others Relationally – 6.1

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One of the most common patterns found in people struggling in practical living is the misunderstanding and/or misapplication of the doctrines of justification and sanctification. Every counselor must…

1. Understand the difference between these two doctrines
2. Assume their counselees are confused with regard to some aspect of these doctrines, particularly as it applies to practical living
3. Seek to find out where the confusion is
4. Practically explain and walk them through their confusion

I’ve given you a table below, that was given to me many years ago by one of my profs. (I do not remember who gave me this or I would credit them.)

Justification ALWAYS precedes sanctification and is distinct from sanctification. The biblical category for the person who confuses these two doctrines, either by placing sanctification before justification or by believing justification is linked to sanctification is Legalism.

One of the more succinct, easy to read and practical books on this subject is C. J. Mahaney’s The Cross-Centered Life.

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Recently I enjoyed the privilege of reading the book The Gospel Primer, by Milton Vincent. I’ve excerpted some enriching and inspiring quotes for you here. I trust it will inspire you as well as help you to savor the Christ. Jerry Bridges popularized the quote “you  must preach the Gospel to yourself everyday”. I think this small but powerful book will assist us in giving the gospel its rightful and central place in our minds.

Here is a very satisfying quote from Vincent:

God did not give us His gospel just so we could embrace it and be converted. Actually, He offers it to us every day as a gift that keeps on giving to us everything we need for life and godliness. The wise believer learns this truth early and becomes proficient in extracting available benefits from the Gospel each day. We extract these benefits by being absorbed in the Gospel, speaking it to ourselves when necessary, and by daring to reckon it true in all we do.

At my conversion I got the Gospel, I understood the Gospel and I applied the Gospel to my wicked soul. However, since that time I have tended to forget the Gospel in my day-to-day affairs. It is almost as though I believe that the Gospel saves, but post-conversion it is more about being obedient through my practices. (A temptation toward legalism.) The bible would contradict my poor theological understanding of sanctification. The Gospel does indeed save. And the Gospel does indeed have application in my daily affairs, post-conversion. The Gospel is power for salvation AND power for sanctification.

Here’s another quote from another book that gets at this same thought:

The gospel isn’t one class among many that you’ll attend during your life as a Christian – the gospel is the whole building that all the classes take place in! Rightly approached, all the topics you’ll study and focus on as a believer will be offered to you “within the walls” of the glorious gospel. –Mahaney, p. 75-76 of The Cross Centered Life

And one last thought from Vincent regarding how the Gospel should take up the most central place in our daily thought. He is reflecting on Romans 1:16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Here is the quote:

Indeed God’s power is seen in erupting volcanoes, in the unimaginably hot boil of our massive sun, and in the lightning speed of a recently discovered star seen streaking through the heavens at 1.5 million miles per hour. Yet in Scripture such wonders are never labeled “the power of God.” How powerful, then, must the gospel be that it would merit such a title! And how great is the salvation it could accomplish in my life, if I would only embrace it by faith and give it a central place in my thoughts each day!

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The Cross also exposes me before the eyes of other people, informing them of the depth of my depravity. If I wanted others to think highly of me, I would conceal the fact that a shameful slaughter of the perfect son of God was required that I might be saved.

But when I stand at the foot of the Cross and am seen by others under the light of that Cross, I am left uncomfortably exposed before their eyes. Indeed, the most humiliating gossip that could ever be whispered about me is blared from Golgotha’s hill; and my self-righteous reputation is left in ruins in the wake of its revelations.

With the worst facts about me thus exposed to the view of others, I find myself feeling that I truly have nothing left to hide.

Thankfully, the more exposed I see that I am by the Cross, the more I find myself opening up to others about ongoing issues of sin in my life. (Why would anyone be shocked to hear of my struggles with past and present sin when the Cross already told them I am a desperately sinful person?)

And the more open I am in confessing my sins to fellow-Christians, the more I enjoy the healing of the Lord in response to their grace-filled counsel and prayer. Experiencing richer levels of Christ’s love in companionship with such saints, I give thanks for the gospel’s role in forcing my hand toward self-disclosure and the freedom that follows.

Excerpted from page 34 of The Gospel Primer

Other Articles in This Series

• If I Told You I Didn’t Sin, How Would You Feel
• The Blessing of Being the Biggest Sinner In The Room
• Future Sin
• Three Truths for Temptation

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