There are a great many churches in America today, along with many organizations that call themselves churches. If a Christian is not discerning, it is easy to become involved in a church where the people may be kind and caring, yet the doctrine being taught is seriously deficient.
Does that really matter?
Yes. Doctrine matters because doctrine is teaching. What a church teaches will influence what its people believe about God, His Word, salvation, Christian living, and virtually every other area of the Christian life.
Good doctrine directs us toward God because it teaches us who God is according to His own revelation. It helps us understand His Word, know His will, and develop a proper relationship with Him. Sound doctrine nourishes the Christian spiritually.
Bad doctrine produces the opposite effect.
Some churches pride themselves on supposedly having “no doctrine.” That claim is impossible. Every church teaches something. The real question is whether what it teaches comes from the Word of God.
Other churches contain some sound doctrine, yet weaken it through compromise. The truth may still be present, but it is diluted by other influences.
Spiritual Corn Dogs
Consider the difference between a nutritious meal and something eaten because it is quick and convenient.
One of my favorite meals is steak and eggs. It provides substantial nourishment and leaves me satisfied. There are also days when time is short and something quick gets thrown into the microwave. For me, that has sometimes meant corn dogs.
A corn dog contains some meat. There is some nutritional value in it. Yet I would not want to live on corn dogs every day. A diet consisting entirely of sugary foods would be worse.
There is a spiritual equivalent.
Churches built around empty, emotional, feel-good teaching are offering the spiritual equivalent of sweets. Churches that retain portions of biblical doctrine while repeatedly watering them down through compromise are offering spiritual corn dogs.
There may be something worthwhile present. There may be enough truth to convince someone that he is being spiritually fed. Over time, however, inadequate spiritual nourishment has consequences.
Many professing believers recognize the problem with churches that offer little more than emotionalism and motivational messages. Yet some of those same Christians are unwilling to undertake the work involved in learning sound doctrine.
Sometimes intellectualism gets in the way. Sometimes emotionalism does. Family relationships, friendships, traditions, personal preferences, and numerous other influences can lead Christians to settle for something between obvious error and strong biblical teaching.
That middle ground still has consequences.
Do not live on spiritual corn dogs.
If you are searching for a sound church, you need to know what to look for.
The Word of God Must Reign Supreme
The first characteristic I would look for is a church where the Word of God reigns supreme.
A sound church should believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture and should preach and teach the Word of God as the final authority for faith and practice.
Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:18–21:
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”
God has ordained preaching as a means through which people hear His truth. The issue, however, is not merely whether a man stands behind a pulpit and speaks. The question is what he preaches.
Scripture answers that question directly.
II Timothy 3:16–17 declares:
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
Paul then continues into chapter 4:
“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
—II Timothy 4:1–4
The command is clear: “Preach the word.”
Opinions and Experiences Must Remain Subordinate to Scripture
II Timothy is a pastoral epistle and contains specific instruction concerning pastoral ministry. A preacher may have opinions. He may have personal experiences worth discussing. Neither his opinions nor his experiences carry divine authority.
They are useful only insofar as they remain subordinate to Scripture.
The Bible must be the standard against which every doctrinal claim is measured. Doctrine must arise from the Word of God rather than being imposed upon it from some other source.
The same principle applies to those sitting in the pew.
Christians should subject their personal opinions, experiences, traditions, and assumptions to the authority of Scripture. If we cannot support a belief from the Bible, we should seriously examine whether that belief deserves to be promoted as Christian truth.
When searching for a church, therefore, I want a pastor who believes that the Bible is the Word of God, that God inspired His Word, and that He preserved it for His people.
That conviction affects how a pastor approaches the Bible.
A man who believes he possesses God’s Word can stand behind the pulpit and preach it with authority. He does not need to treat Scripture as a document whose authority depends upon his own judgment.
Inspiration and Preservation
This is where the issue becomes more specific.
Some pastors will readily say that they believe the Bible is the Word of God. At the same time, they may teach that the biblical text became corrupted through human transmission and that scholars and textual critics must determine which portions of our Bible represent the authentic Word of God.
They may affirm that the original documents of Scripture were inspired by God while denying that God perfectly preserved His Word through history.
I believe both inspiration and preservation matter.
I believe God inspired the Scriptures when He gave them through the men whom He chose to write them. I also believe God preserved His Word through its use among His people and local churches.
This should not be confused with the doctrine sometimes called “double inspiration.”
I do not believe the translators of the King James Bible received a second act of divine inspiration equivalent to that received by the biblical authors. Inspiration occurred when God originally gave His Word. Preservation concerns God’s protection of that Word through history.
Those are different doctrines.
My position is that the Word of God was inspired in its original giving and has been preserved for us. I believe English-speaking Christians possess that preserved Word in the King James Bible.
The complete discussion concerning the King James Bible, modern versions, manuscripts, and textual criticism requires separate treatment. For the purpose of choosing a church, however, the underlying issue matters greatly: Does the pastor believe that we possess the authoritative Word of God today?
Verbal Plenary Inspiration
The phrase verbal plenary inspiration can sound technical, but the concept is straightforward.
Verbal concerns the words themselves.
Paul told Timothy:
“And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
—II Timothy 3:15
The Greek word translated scriptures in this verse is grammata, referring to writings or letters. Biblical inspiration does not concern vague religious concepts that human writers later expressed according to their own fallible understanding. God gave His Word through the words of Scripture.
When I speak of verbal inspiration, I mean that the words of Scripture were inspired by God.
Plenary means full, complete, or entire.
Plenary inspiration therefore concerns all of Scripture. We are not free to select certain portions as authoritative while treating other portions as unreliable.
II Timothy 3:16 does not say that some Scripture is given by inspiration of God.
It says:
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
I believe God has given us everything He intends us to possess as His written revelation. We do not need additional religious traditions to complete the Bible. We do not need a pope to supply additional revelation. We do not need the Book of Mormon. We do not need fortune tellers, mystics, private revelations, or supposed hidden knowledge to tell us what God neglected to reveal.
What God intends us to know concerning Himself is revealed in His Word.
Can We Believe the Bible We Hold?
This question has considerable practical significance.
When I open my Bible, I do not believe I need to approach it wondering which words belong, which passages were improperly included, or which portions may have been mistranslated beyond reliability.
I can believe the Bible.
I have tested it repeatedly and found it faithful. I have never found that Scripture needed to be corrected by me. I have frequently found that I needed to be corrected by Scripture.
That is exactly the relationship a Christian should have with the Word of God.
The Bible is not placed beneath us so that we may sit in judgment upon it. We are placed beneath its authority so that it may judge our beliefs, conduct, motives, and doctrine.
That principle should also govern the church we attend.
What Should You Look for in a Church?
If you are searching for a church, determine what that church actually believes about Scripture.
Do not stop with a general statement claiming that the church “believes the Bible.” Find out what those words mean.
Does the church believe in the verbal inspiration of Scripture?
Does it believe in plenary inspiration?
Does it believe God has preserved His Word?
Does the pastor preach the Bible as the final authority for faith and practice?
Does he approach Scripture as something he is obligated to believe and proclaim, or does he regularly place himself in the position of deciding which portions should be accepted?
Listen carefully to the preaching. Examine the church’s doctrinal statement or constitution. Pay attention to the pastor’s treatment of difficult passages. Determine whether Scripture actually governs the ministry.
Then apply the same examination to yourself.
It does little good to demand that a pastor submit himself to biblical authority if we refuse to do the same thing personally.
Sound doctrine begins with a willingness to believe what God has said.
There are many other matters that should be examined before joining a church. Ecclesiology, salvation, separation, holiness, worship, church government, pastoral qualifications, and numerous other doctrines deserve careful consideration.
The foundation, however, must be established first.
Before asking what a church teaches about everything else, determine what that church believes about the Book from which its doctrine is supposed to come.
Look for a church where the Word of God reigns supreme, where sound doctrine is taken seriously, and where the pastor can stand before the congregation and obey the simple command of Scripture:
“Preach the word.”
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