Can You Change Your Biblical Doctrine?
As we ended our Zoom session last Monday, Dr. Mary Pandiani challenged us with this haunting question, “Can you change your biblical doctrine?” Of course, I also heard in my head the implied follow-up question, “If yes, what would it take for you to change it?” I couldn’t help but notice that her provocation came after our Zoom discussion around God, Sex, and Gender where many of us in the cohort shared personal experiences related to various topics in the book. Linking personal experience with doctrinal change is not a coincidence. As Andrew Marin has demonstrated in Love Is an Orientation, one’s personal experience can lead to a tremendous amount of life change.
Marin, with his book and foundation, desires Christians “elevate” our conversation with our LGBT neighbors, coworkers, friends, children of our friends, and visitors to our churches. This work by Marin, as attested to by favorable and unfavorable reviewers alike, is an extremely important work and vision. I would also say, timely. This morning I read an article detailing how to get my church ready for transgendered visitors. “It will happen” the blogger wrote. Last week a member of our cohort stated that he desires LGBT people to come to his church. It will happen. Marin gives us a glimpse of what it can look like to love our LGBT neighbors and how to engage them as they start attending our churches.
Three things have recently challenged my biblical doctrine and I believe I am in the process of shifting.
The first part of my shift started through life events. As a high school student I see a lot of myself in Andrew Marin. However, over the years since graduating high school I have come to know many in the LGBT community. What I found out about myself is that many of the beliefs I had about God, sex, and gender were mostly tired old stereotypes I picked up from various sources. As a pastor, I have had the joy or officiating several weddings over the past 14 years. Just over 50% of the couples were living together when I married them and my guess is that only 2 or 3 couples were actually virgins at the time they took their nuptials. These experiences along with developing friendships with people who call themselves LGBT and the recent tsunami of divorces in the my church, have lead me to shift my thinking in many ways. I always wondered how much Brian McLaren’s son being gay affected McLaren’s thinking on the topic. When it came down to it, would I perform a wedding for an LGBT couple? What if one of the people getting married was my child? I can honestly say at this point, March 23, 2017, I just don’t know. I am not happy here in this conundrum, but I also don’t mind the liminal space.
Anthropologist and missiologist Paul Hiebert has helped me change doctrinally as well. This week I read another book that, Like Love Is an Orientation, has a forward written by Brian McLaren. Now I know, many in our cohort might dismiss both books because they view McClaren as a liberal. But please, let me ask you to suspend judgement for a bit. Dave Schmelzer in Blue Ocean Faith describes what I have come to believe and follow as a way of being together as the church. Schmelzer describes Hiebert’s Bounded Set and Centered Set models. Please see picture. Bounded set way of thinking has definite constricting boundaries and creates an insider and outsider mentality and culture. This is the culture Jesus challenged with his parables. This is the culture Paul challenged with his “Shifted Doctrine” on circumcision. I told the members of the church I pastor that sometimes I wish the Hub followed a bounded set model because pastoring a bounded set culture is so much easier than Centered set church. With Centered Set thinking, we have Jesus in the middle and people are either moving toward Jesus or away from Jesus. In a sense we let God be the judge of all the closed-ended questions. Marin quotes Billy Graham after Graham got flak for attending a Clinton rally. Our job is to love, let’s let God be the judge. This is the epitome of Centered Set thinking. Giving up judging, stopping building walls, and surrendering my us vs. them mentality have led me to shift my biblical doctrine. This allows me to focus on the outcomes of things, what the Bible calls, “fruit.”
The third thing that has caused me to shift my biblical doctrine is actually a person; the greatest teacher ever to live, Jesus. Jesus lead some pretty horrible people like tax collectors. He demonstrated love to people like the Woman at the Well, regardless of sex and gender. His parables are key for me here, especially the story of the Prodigal Son. I think the whole reason Jesus told parables was to shift our doctrine. However, many Christians today hear the parables with closed ears and hearts and interpret them in ways that simply reinforce their current religious or political thinking. Thatcher pointed this out in the section where he said that most people find what they want in the Bible. I want to be like the father in the Prodigal Story and not like the older brother. When it comes down to the Bible vs. Jesus, like the passage that gave the father in the parable the right to disown and even kill his son, I want to side with Jesus.
For me it has to start, continue, and end with Jesus. In John 5.39, Jesus says that eternal life does not come from the Bible, but from Jesus. In Matthew 28 we learn that all authority has been given to Jesus, not the Bible. Think about, ALL AUTHORITY is given to Jesus. John 15 is one of my favorite sections in the Bible. Here Jesus tells us that we can do nothing (like Paul who says we ARE nothing without love) without remaining in Jesus. Then a few verses later, Jesus calls us his friends. Dare I say he “elevates” the conversation between Lord, King of Kings, and us, his followers.
Can I change my biblical doctrine? You betcha!
How? By trying to live as close as I can with Jesus and copy him.
PS: I also think the whole point of being a student, especially at the doctoral level, is to be open to shifts of various sorts. I am thankful for LGP6.
About the Author
Aaron Peterson
I am a working priest which means that I am a husband(to Lisa), dad(to four wonderful children), senior pastor and church planter(The Hub Vineyard Church), and high school social studies teacher(Verdugo Hills High School LAUSD). I am currently working towards a DMIN in Leadership & Global Perspectives @George Fox Seminary.8 responses to “Can You Change Your Biblical Doctrine?”
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Aaron,
I believe that it is a good thing to go through passages in life where we re-evaluate our biblical views in light of new input or new experiences. It is a process in which we start thinking through issues that we did not think before and make the pieces of our theology fit stronger after we re-arrange them or tighten them. I’ve gone through those processes in my life as well. The hardest one was the one during my seminary years in which I had to deal with bibliology, which led me to question the very existence of God. It was, as you call it, a liminal space in which I had to struggle through questions I had not asked before. Some people do not survive that process. What helped me was to be surrounded by other believers and professors who heard me without judging me and who shared with me their reasons for their views. Doing so helped me get a better understanding of not only what to believe, but why to believe it. Perhaps most of my life I had been exposed to the what, but now it was time to answer the why.
I see you are going through a similar time in your views regarding sex and gender. I pray the Lord will grant you a discerning mind and people who can surround you without judging you as you discover the “why” of your convictions.
Based on our last post, you know where I stand on these views. If you allow me, I will try to write a summary of the main ideas that inform the why of my convictions, so that you can chew on some of those concepts too as you think through them in this liminal space. I may email them to you later.
Did you read the last testimonies added to the end of the book? I found them insightful as they were testimonies of Christians who are dealing with same-sex attraction. In their testimonies they get to explain part of the why of their convictions. I found the very last one well written and particularly insightful.
Pablo
Thanks Pablo.
Aaron,
Thanks for your thoughts. You are pushing all of us by asking if we can change our Biblical doctrine. That is a deep seated and ingrained perspective that does take serious consideration to change or even slightly bend.
I believe what has changed for me as I grew up was the dogmatic of penalty preaching to the grace of going on the journey with someone. I still speak the truth the best I know how from the Word but I will do everything not to judge you but go with you on the journey. That is not always easy to go the “second mile.” Condemnation or gracious kindness are choices but still representing the truth while giving kindness is what I believe is important. My students expect me to tell them the truth even if they are living something different. What helps them is when I still care about them even though we disagree.
Kevin
Aaron,
When Dr. Mary Pandiani asked the question in ZOOM last Monday, ”Can you change your biblical doctrine?” My first thought was, I can, but why would I want to? As I read that question in your blog, I recalled that in my spiritual journey I have completely changed religious theologies from one that was totally transcendent and non-biblical, leaving no room for an immanent experience as well. Then, to one that is fundamentally biblical and transcendent/immanent. But, what about changing biblical doctrine? I have already changed my biblical doctrine over the course of my Christian experience. As I moved from a “baby Christian” to a more mature Christian, I began to question some of the doctrine taught at the church I was attending. Some concepts I initially put on the shelf while I sought to attain a fuller understanding of them through personal Bible study and prayer, others I discarded. Now, I think I am on a firm foundation of Christian doctrine and the only things that are likely to change are my understanding and clarity I gain through experience, meditation, prayer, and biblical studies.
Aaron,
Once again, another well stated blog on a very controversial subject matter. I also, really appreciate you level of openness and vulnerability on this and so many subjects that we have covered. The thing I wrestle with the most is something that you seem to be more at ease with, I say this with true respect for you as person, leader, and fellow minister. That is allowing my experience to not shape or enhance, but change my core belief on a subject. For instance, on the subject of LGBTQ I feel that Scripture is straight forward (no pun intended) on this subject. I also know and practice love and peace with my fellow man. These are not at condtriction to me (biblical truth and love). However, I struggle with changing my theological stance of right and wrong because of a person, or mass of people. Any insight or thought on this journey would be appreciated, as I respect you and your heart for the Lord and His peoople.
Aaron
Aaron P,
You wrote, “I think the whole reason Jesus told parables was to shift our doctrine.”
Am I agreeing or disagreeing with you if I said that Jesus told parables to CHALLENGE doctrine (particularly as it affected expected behaviors), but even more importantly to deliver Truth about salvation?
How is my statement the same or different from yours?
Henri Nouwen definitely is with you, in seeking for us to be more like the father than the older brother. (Have you read his “The Return of the Prodigal Son”?) This may take not only a doctrine shift, but also an attitude shift. Perhaps this gets us closer to being in the right frame of mind to build relationships in the GLBT community.
Hi Marc. I don’t think I understand your question fully. I guess I define challenge and change pretty much the same in this case. I think scripture points to Jesus so if that means parables challenge doctrine for you I think I agree.
Hi AC.
One thing I heard this weekend at a conference was, “The Bible is the soil out of which Christianity grows.” This has helped me on this journey.