Modern Idols in the Church | Our Doctrine

As we continue with modern idols in the church, we need to remember our definition of what worship is. It is not simply singing songs. It is not the 30-minute time of music during church service. Our worship is what we give our life to. Worshiping God is deeper than music. 

In the same way, worshiping idols is not bowing down to a statue. So as we continue in this series of posts, just to repeat, we are not necessarily talking about idols that we worship by bowing down to or praying to them. Idols are things we place above God. They’re things we are pursuing, putting priority over, or claiming are most important, while the things that truly matter to God seem to not matter to us. We worship them with how we act and what we say. 

Idolizing Doctrine

Doctrine can help us know exactly what we believe. Some examples for Christians would be the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of salvation through faith alone, or the doctrine of predestination vs. freewill. Some of these would be considered more important than others depending on who you talk to, which is precisely what I will be getting into here. 

Throughout the history of the church, as it became more of an organization rather than just an organism of people, the need arose for beliefs to be more established by the church. This was to avoid anyone coming in and claiming something contrary and persuading Christians to believe something wrongly. I know there is way more historical information that I didn’t cover in that short explanation, but it’s good enough for our purposes. Anyway, this is where we get doctrine. 

It has its purpose. But where have we gone wrong with it? At its best, it should be a guiding light for new Christians to better understand the new perspective of a Christ-follower, and at its worst, it’s a wall we hide behind while we point at the world claiming that they’re wicked for not believing in our beliefs. 

I do believe there are wicked people and righteous ones out there, but I am not called to separate and decide who goes in which category. Jesus will do this, in the end. 

Sheep and Goats 

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’

Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’

And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’

Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’

And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:31-46, BSB).

I don’t see much doctrine in this parable. What I do see are the greatest commandments. Jesus will say, “Inherit my kingdom, for you loved me,” and we’ll ask, “When did we love you?” and he will say, “Whenever you loved the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you loved me.” 

Pardon the conjecture, but I think the paraphrase fits, and again, matches up with what Jesus claims are the greatest commandments: love God, love others. Our worship to God is our whole being, laid out for His will. And our love toward God is actually embedded in our love of those who need it in this world. This is why there are two greatest commandments: because they’re connected. If we were only to love God, we’d become doctrinated, pharisaical sky gazers. And if we were only to love people, we wouldn’t. 

Doctrine’s Place 

Doctrine should be explored, conversed over, and loved by Christians together. It can give a new believer a clearer understanding of some beautiful truths that exist. But dear Christian, you were meant to be a light, seen by the world. Jesus transforms us so that we can transform others. A set of beliefs is not the thing that separates us from the world; it’s the driving force that makes us engage the world like Jesus did. 

We can’t build our church buildings, place our doctrines at the front gate, and then claim that we want others to come to Jesus. Is that really our approach? Though I do believe we should be going to others rather than expecting them to come to us, if they do try to come to us, how will they get through the front door if we’re known more for our set of beliefs, rather than how we love others? You don’t have to throw your beliefs out the window. But your beliefs are not a list of credentials that make you a Christian. Rather, they should be the driving force that makes you love and engage those who need the love of Jesus. Doctrine can’t be the thing that holds others back from us—otherwise it has become the thing we value the most, the thing we worship more than God.

—Luke Soliwoda