Over the last few posts, we’ve looked at the idea of theological triage – keeping each doctrine in its right place. We started with first tier – those essential to the Christian faith – and moved on to second tier – important but not essential. Finally, we have third tier doctrines.
These are matters of personal conviction and preferences.
Third tier doctrines might include:
- your political views
- where you send your kids to school
- how much you engage with secular media
- whether you drink alcohol or abstain completely
- worship style preferences (do you prefer liturgy and hymns or a more informal, contemporary style?)
Again, there is nothing necessarily wrong with seeking out a church or a group that matches your preferred style. If you like hymns, you can go to a church that sings hymns. You can join a homeschool group or get involved in a political party. But remember not to hold these things as essential.
You can still have close Christian fellowship with people who believe differently on third tier issues. While second tier doctrines are often where church denominations draw their lines, you’ll probably have in the same church people who believe a whole range of things on third tier doctrines.
Sometimes we can get so caught up in these matters of personal conviction and preference that we lose sight of what’s really important. For example, if we’re into liturgy and tradition we look down on other people as being unspiritual for not reading from the prayer book. Or, on the flipside, we look down on those traditional services as being legalistic (when really, we’re the ones being legalistic!)
People can often be judgemental about things outside the church but still relating to the Christian experience; education is a big one. People may say things like ‘If you really care about your kids you’ll send them to a Christian school, a good Christian would never send their kids to a public school’. And then there’s the people who look down on homeschool or Christian school families for being insular. It always seems to go both ways!
We might not be so obvious or tactless to say those things outright – but deep down do we believe them? Do we think that people who believe differently on third tier doctrines are not living as a Christian should?
There’s a passage in Romans that speaks into this very issue and the attitude we are to have towards non-essential issues.
One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
Romans 14:5-8
Here, we are talking about matters of conscience and personal preference. The issues raised here are:
- having one day more sacred than another (which might connect into people who follow the church calendar)
- eating meat or only eating vegetables (which could still be a significant issue in certain cultures)
There is personal freedom in these issues. Whatever we do in regards to these third tier issues, we should do so with the intent of honouring God. We can in turn allow other Christians to honour God by following their personal convictions, even if they are different to ours.
Next time, we’re going to wrap up our series by looking at all the amazing things that come when we have a firm grasp on theological triage. We’ll also identify some practical things we can do to grow in our understanding and appreciation of the church outside our own tradition.
Over the Teacups 