Form and Definition: Necessities of the Christian Faith

Vital to the life of the Christian is the need to know, understand and articulate the truths they believe. In this Postmodern age in which we live, the growing lawlessness of society has infiltrated the Church, either through Antinomianism or Heterodoxy, seemingly clothed in the garbs of Orthodoxy.

Of a truth, not all that is written in the Bible is doctrine; but in the same fashion, not all that is outside of the Bible is a danger to faith. It is important that modern day believers think critically about their faith and the underlying foundations upon which it is built. The Digital Age in which we live has become one of the darkest hours in Church History (and by extension the World History) with more biblical illiteracy and (resurrected) false doctrine than ever before.

Commonly overlooked is the fact that our worship is a reflection of our beliefs. If we listen to religious music with doctrinally shallow or unbiblical lyrics, it reflects our shallow or unbiblical understanding of God (and reinforces it). One cannot worship what one does not know and one’s worship is only limited by the knowledge of the object of one’s worship. Not just for ourselves - but for the generation ahead of us, Scripture calls us to mature in faith and grow in grace. We can learn such from the memorable rebuke given by the author of the book of Hebrews to his dispirited audience:

“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil”. – Hebrews 5:11-14

There is no way to escape the fact that Christianity has always had a distinguishable and consistent form and definition. The Church is called the Pillar and Buttress of truth (1 Timothy 3:15) and whenever professing Christians take lightly or disregard the form and definition of the historic Christian, faith they are casting aside their birthright as being the salt and light of the earth as well. It is imperative that we do not move the ancient landmarks set by our forefathers (Proverbs 22:28), but that we look back at them so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past and continue to avoid the pitfalls that they eluded by God’s grace.

Tradition, Liturgy and Religion have been words frowned upon by many modern Protestants, however Tradition, Liturgy and Religion have all been clearly defined words used by the saints that have gone before us. The Bible does not condemn all forms of tradition; however our traditions should not overthrow the authority of Scripture but should be firmly rooted in what the Bible clearly teaches and point us back to Scripture. Innovation and spontaneity are not biblical yardsticks for godliness or evidences of true spirituality. Furthermore it is beneficial for us to examine how past tradition has benefited the saints that have gone before us and why we should or should not abandon it.

In the attempt to seem separate from the varying belief systems in the world, many professing Christians have claimed that Christianity is not a religion, however by proper definition it is.; however if religion can be defined as a strong belief in a deity and a defined institution in which one expresses devotion to that deity, then Christianity can be accurately defined as a religion. Biblical Christianity operates by a system, a divine order by which its inherent nature consists. Oh how sad it is when a church operates on a theologically shallow statements of faith! They leave the door wide open for all kinds of imaginable errors!

Some argue that Christianity is about relationship, one with the triune God of the Scriptures. However, any relationship that is vertical in nature, with special reference to a deity makes it more than just a relationship. In attempts to escape the banner of “religion” or “tradition” often times people make traditions of their untraditional approaches to spirituality and religions of their non-religious activities.

Without such order, Christianity would have no form or definition. Regardless of the popular opinion that “God moves in spite of” – we cannot elude the fact that God has a distinguishable personality, particular preferences and clear means by which he operates. It is naive for us to think that God is only concerned about the transmission of His message and not the people who proclaim or hear the message. We cannot use God’s sovereignty and providence to allow us to be lax or negligent in our approach to matters of faith. It has been said:

“The type of religion which rejoices in the pious sound of traditional phrases, regardless of their meanings, or shrinks from “controversial” matters, will never stand amid the shocks of life. In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight”. - (J. Gresham Machen, Christianity & Liberalism, 1923)

Christians of today must be mindful not to misrepresent Christianity as a subjective, self-serving, existential journey into epistemological oblivion. There is order, structure and from to the tenets of the Christian faith. Attitudes that cast shadows of doubt upon or made light of the objective tenets of the Christian faith were rejected by the saints of the past; observe the following quote from the 6th article of the second section (of Negative Theses) on Free Will in the Epitome of the Formula of Concord:

"Also, we reject and condemn the error of the Enthusiasts, who imagine that God without means, without the hearing of God's Word, also without the use of the holy Sacraments, draws men to Himself, and enlightens, justifies, and saves them. (Enthusiasts we call those who expect the heavenly illumination of the Spirit [celestial revelations] without the preaching of God's Word.)”

Even today, there are many who go to Church, concerts or special conventions and expect a “move of God” without sound biblical preaching or teaching. In fact, a “move of God” in many churches today is defined by a seemingly hyper-spiritual, emotional ordeal with high-energy music, in which they expect to see people to be rolling on the floor, shivering, talking in “tongues”, engaged in holy laughter, ecstatic dance, spontaneous prophecy and all the other unbiblical phenomena associated with the Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement. The Church should not practice or preach things that are not biblically defined, anti-intellectual and detract from the sober-mindedness believers must possess to operate in a godly fashion.

We must use Christian doctrine in accordance with the purpose in which it was created – to be adhered to, for our edification and benefit; to reprove us and instruct us in the ways of righteousness; to tell us more about the creator of the universe is. As the scripture tells us in Psalm 11:3 “…if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” - truly indeed what can we do if we do away with the foundations of our faith and the history in which it is so deeply intertwined?

When a glass is broken, it no longer holds the volume of liquid it was intended to and it becomes a danger due to its change in form. It would be careless to put oneself at the risk of physical harm by drinking from a severely broken glass. Even if the glass has been cracked, it would only be matter of time before it eventually falls apart. In the same fashion, deconstructing, arbitrarily fragmenting and breaking the unity of the precious doctrines of the Christian faith is also a grave danger to those to take away and add to the holy faith once delivered unto the saints for all time. Just as a glass is delicate and defined, so we must handle eternal truths with great care.

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. – Proverbs 30:5-6