Taking (All) Doctrine Seriously: The Problem with “Evangelical Apathy”

There is a strong sentiment that is alive and well throughout a large segment of evangelicalism. If you’ve hung around these circles for more than a few months you’ve probably heard about it at least once or twice. It’s almost an unwritten dogma of evangelical Christianity and it goes something like this:

“[Some secondary Christian belief] doesn’t really matter. Plenty of Christians disagree about that and we all love Jesus, right? Let’s just forget about those secondary issues and focus on what’s really important.”

Sound familiar?

Things like baptism, church governance, spiritual gifts, and even the sovereignty of God are frequently lumped into this category of allegedly “unimportant Christian beliefs.” Many evangelicals assume, “I don’t need to have an actual position on these things, they’re not essential.” Some even act as though having a developed position about Christian beliefs that are not central is immature, unhelpful, or even arrogant.

When it comes to less-than-central beliefs, it’s almost as though the only right view is to have no view at all.

Now, don’t mishear me; I’m not encouraging us to be unnecessarily divisive about less-than-central Christian beliefs. We should be able to appreciate and respect other Christians who disagree with us on secondary beliefs. At the same time, though, we should be careful not to treat these secondary beliefs as though they’re unimportant. And that is what I’m referring to here as “evangelical apathy,” the idea that secondary Christian beliefs are not only secondary, but altogether unimportant.

Here’s why I think that’s a bad thing.

Where Does “Evangelical Apathy” Come From?

It’s helpful to begin by asking the question, “Where did this train of thought come from in the first place?”

In 2014 Jonathan Leeman, Editorial Director at 9Marks, wrote a very insightful article entitled Long-Term Consequences of Pragmatism in the Church. In it he explains what I believe led to this widespread evangelical apathy. “Think back to the 50s and 60s,” Leeman writes, “…In order to preserve the gospel, evangelicals wanted to keep a tight grip on gospel essentials, and a loose grip on everything else.”

In other words, evangelicalism set out to keep the main thing the main thing. This, in my mind, is the biggest strength of evangelicalism.

Leeman goes on to explain, though, “This often included a loose grip on the local church. Evangelicals rightly observed that church structure and programming are secondary, but this led many to treat these as unimportant.” There it is! Unfortunately, one of the ways that evangelicalism sought to keep the gospel as the main thing was by insisting that other secondary Christian beliefs (like the doctrines of the church, for example) are unimportant.

The Effects of Evangelical Apathy

As a result of this shift in thinking, the vast majority of evangelical Christians are no longer exactly sure what makes Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists different, but they are certain that those differences don’t matter. This is why it’s not uncommon or odd for an evangelical to leave a Baptist church, for example, and become a member at a Methodist or Assemblies of God church–or vice versa. After all, these folks are keeping a “tight grip on the gospel and a loose grip on everything else.” This sort of flip-floppery seems rather “evangelical,” of them, doesn’t it?

But is it true that secondary Christian beliefs don’t really matter? If so, why does the Bible seem to speak about so many things that “don’t really matter”? If the majority of the New Testament was written to local churches, for local churches, regarding the life of the local church…shouldn’t we, as the church, care about these things and try to discern them rightly?

And, in my mind, the biggest question of all: What would it look like if we kept a tight grip on the gospel and a slightly-less-tight-grip on other, more secondary Christian beliefs?

The Half Truth of Evangelical Apathy

The tricky thing about this topic is that there is some truth behind the notion of evangelical apathy. We should distinguish between core doctrines and secondary Christian beliefs. Much harm has been done throughout church history by well-meaning Christians who were willing to die on the wrong hills.

I’m not saying that we should treat all Christian beliefs as though they’re central. But there are plenty of secondary things that are still quite important. In virtually every other aspect of life this is just common sense. How much money I make, for example, will not determine whether or not I will have a healthy family, but it’s still important that I live a productive life and provide for my family. In the same way, what we think about secondary Christian beliefs may not determine whether or not we’re Christians, but they certainly will inform the way we approach the Christian life. And that’s pretty important!

Leaving Room for Complexity

This trend of “evangelical apathy” leaves no room for nuance. “It’s either important or it’s not, there’s no middle ground!” That attitude certainly makes the Christian life seem more simple–and the idea of a simple Christian life is very appealing to many people–but it should never be our goal to make Christianity more simple than the Bible does. What if, upon further review, Christianity is not actually all that simple? Shouldn’t our faith leave room for the complexities of an intricate, all-powerful God?

It’s okay–and I would even say important–to read the Bible and develop convictions about Christian beliefs that may not be central to the Christian faith. At the end of the day, if God saw it fit to include something in Scripture, then we should care about it, regardless of whether or not it’s central.

My encouragement, then, is to genuinely care about all Christian beliefs. Care about them to varying different degrees, yes, but care about them. Seriously and carefully read the Scriptures in search of God’s wisdom and truth, discuss these topics with more mature believers, and–regardless of where you land–proceed with humility. Do not add to what is written in Scripture; and yet at the same time, do not disregard anything that is written in Scripture. Contrary to popular opinion, it is possible to have biblical convictions about secondary issues without treating them as though they’re central. We need more of that, actually.

I think this is what Paul had in mind when he wrote to Timothy, a young pastor in the first century of the church, saying, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 13-14).

Paul doesn’t sound like a guy who’s interested in minimizing the importance of doctrine and theology. In his mind, Christian theology is a “pattern of sound words” which should be faithfully and lovingly “guarded” at all costs. With this in mind, let’s humbly and patiently strive to grow in our understanding of God’s word. As we do that, let’s find faithful, like-minded local churches that we can commit to and invest in. And, when it’s wise and possible to do so, let’s agree to disagree about secondary matters and work together for the cause of the gospel.

At the very least, though, let’s care about sound doctrine and keep a close eye on our humility.

Photo courtesy of Quinn Dombrowski.