NOTE: This article originally appeared here on the Reformation 21 blog.
Several years ago, I noticed a pattern in my life.
First, I’d read or hear about a sketchy theological trend. Maybe it would be a certain high-profile preacher, a new book that’s out or a movement that seems to be threatening to creep into Christian thinking. Whenever this happened, I would think, “No need to worry. I don’t need to waste my time thinking about this, it doesn’t affect me.” I figured it would be easily identified by ordinary, mainstream Christians, and we could all move on with our lives.
And then it would inevitably happen.
That same book that I recognized as suspicious is recommended to me by a friend, or a family member even. That pastor that I thought was clearly handling Scripture wrong is being quoted by a mom at the baseball field. Every. Time.
Do you think it is important to learn about the latest theological trends?
What do they have to do with you?
Should your pastor bother to know about the current evangelical climate?
Let’s start with that last question. I think that one is an easy “yes.”
It’s pastoral. Part of shepherding is spotting the threats to the flock. We see all of the apostles constantly warning the congregations and other pastors about false teaching. They even used names. We should also be able to trust that our pastors are faithfully working to preserve the truth of God’s Word and the purity of the church.
But what about the regular lay person? There’s only so much time in the day, and, frankly, I’d like to invest my reading time in good stuff: God’s Word and helpful teaching in God’s Word. And whatever time I give to entertainment, I want that to be spent on writing and media that I like. I’m sure my pastor does too. But I have an obligation as a fellow believer as well.
First of all, it’s good for me to open my eyes and see what I’m up against.
I may think that it would be nice to pretend like none of these dangerous ideas and doctrines will affect my house or my church, but that would be horribly naïve. It really doesn’t take long at all to infect, even my PCA denomination that has a government set in place to protect the church against false teaching and ungodly behavior. I discover some of the very issues I thought no one would follow finding their way into General Assembly. And it’s heated.
Shouldn’t I do some investigating of my own to see what all the fuss is about?
But it isn’t good enough to only care about myself or my family, my church or even my denomination. The question is, do we love our neighbor?
