*Editor’s Note: This article is a helpful illustration of how two people can confront doctrinal misalignment in a relational way. The specific scenario deals with the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. Please note that within RENEW.org there is a spectrum of views regarding the miraculous gifts, and there is not an official RENEW.org position. This article’s story of two people discussing alignment over spiritual gifts is meant to be illustrative only and not to imply a particular RENEW.org position on this topic.
If you’re pastoring, especially post-2020, you might feel as if it’s nearly impossible to fix one problem without creating another. In 2020, a kid from my church came over to weed eat some high grass in my yard—and ended up chopping the wires of my AC unit, leaving us without air in the middle of the summer. Church leader, how often have you tried to address one problem in your pocket of the House of God, resulting in another problem downstream?
Let’s get more specific. How often have you attempted to address a doctrinal issue that resulted in a small or large fracture in your congregation?
This article doubles as an homage to my pastoral predecessor, Tim. I was his follower in 3 different aspects: 1) I was a congregant in his church; 2) I was a part-time member of his staff team; and 3) I was going to be his successor in pastoring our congregation. While still leading our church, Tim learned that I doctrinally disagreed with him on the continuation of the gifts of the Spirit. He practiced and taught the ongoing gifts of the Spirit. I was not onboard with this conviction.
Tim exemplified a way of engaging in doctrinal conflict in a way that is constructive—that builds the church. I want to describe his approach with me in order to give you some thoughts on how to deal with doctrinal misalignment in your own church.
See the issue clearly and do (or don’t do) something about it.
When he learned that we weren’t aligned on this issue, Tim jumped headfirst into the disagreement and initiated conversations with me. We began discussing the person and work of the Holy Spirit, because this was something that mattered. A leader must see the issue clearly and respond accordingly.
Tim made it clear to me that not every doctrinal issue is on the same level. Some doctrinal issues are first-tier, meaning they’re essential to the Christian faith. This requires an urgent response since it impacts the person’s salvation. Some doctrinal issues are second-tier, meaning they’re not essential to the Christian faith but they are a core aspect of the specific congregation’s doctrine and practice. This requires a diligent response since it impacts the way a church lives together. Some doctrinal issues are third-tier, meaning they’re not essential to salvation nor to the church’s life together. Even third-tier disagreements can require maturity to deeply fellowship with someone you disagree with.
“Some doctrinal issues are third-tier, meaning they’re not essential to salvation nor to the church’s life together.”
Build a relational foundation.
Tim regularly took me out to coffee and lunch to invest in our relationship while we still weren’t on the same page. As church leaders, we must spend as much, if not more, energy building the relationship than addressing the specific issue. If there’s not a strong relationship, there will likely never be a discussion, and definitely not ongoing, fruitful discussions. A strong relationship has the capacity to handle any discussion.
Get close enough to make a clear diagnosis.
Tim also took the time to look into the cause of my doctrinal stance on the gifts of the Spirit. I had grown up in a Pentecostal space. At the time, I was attending a fairly “Cessationist” school for my undergraduate degree. I didn’t know that a tradition other than Pentecostalism or Cessationism existed. I had just begun to process the fact that there were other traditions and that the one that I grew up in had its own faults. Tim recognized that my disagreement with him was an expression of where I was in the process of my faith development.
I have heard it said that immaturity and rebellion look the same from a distance. It’s up to the pastor to get close enough to know which one they’re dealing with.
“I have heard it said that immaturity and rebellion look the same from a distance. It’s up to the pastor to get close enough to know which one they’re dealing with.”
Make an argument, but don’t be argumentative.
Tim spent weeks walking me through Scripture, church history, and philosophy in order to show the validity of the ongoing gifts of the Spirit. He attempted to do more than prove me wrong; he was attempting to bring me along to where he was. He made arguments, but he wasn’t being argumentative.
Most of the works of early church fathers are master classes in doctrinal persuasion. Every point, every argument, every statement was intended to persuade readers—not merely prove them wrong. A danger of our time is that apologetics, Bible teaching, and theological discussions can be reduced to the art of proving your “opponent” wrong. It’s not hard to find examples that show us that you can win an argument and lose a person. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to present an argument that will win a person.
“A danger of our time is that apologetics, Bible teaching, and theological discussions can be reduced to the art of proving your ‘opponent’ wrong.”
Conclusion
Tim ended up winning me over. God blessed his attempts at constructive engagement and used the interactions to build His church. It didn’t end in a severed relationship, split staff, or incongruity in our leadership. I followed Tim in pursuing and practicing the gifts of the Spirit, working to see our church grow in the spiritual gifts, and carrying Tim’s baton in building a church that is growing in the gifts.
Here’s the bottom line, church leader: seek to address doctrinal issues in a way that seeks to build the individual, your relationship with that individual, and the church, and hope that God will bless those efforts. He is the one who promised, “I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18, NIV). That includes in the midst of your doctrinal disagreements. Now to Him who is able to do far more in all of our disagreements. . . .
