Monday, April
3, 2017
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a
firm footing. Psalm 143:10 (NLT)
On vacation Elizabeth and I worship with different churches, often of a
denomination different than our own. We
hung out with the Baptists a week ago, and the Lutherans yesterday. Between our Lutheran fellow Christians’ heavy
focus on liturgy, and a diagram a friend posted on Facebook last week, my
normal wandering mind drew me to the question I’ve been asked too many times to
count: why all the creeds, confessions of faith and different groups?
The diagram[ii]
my friend posted on Facebook may help illustrate why doctrine (from which our
confessions and creeds are born), is, and has been, safely transmitted from one
generation to the next.
Note
how on both sides of the diagram the foundation is The
Bible. All truly Christian
groups start with that, the sacred library of 66 books we call Christian
Scripture.
Then
note on the right side of the diagram how the arrows (representing our life’s
pathway) veer either to the left or right.
This demonstrates false doctrine…the believer is led astray; it’s the broad
path, not the narrow way Jesus talked about in his Mountain Sermon(Matthew
7:14).
On
the left side of the diagram it is different – the creeds and confessions of
faith, drawn from the important truths and doctrines Scripture holds as life-giving
musts, act like safety bumpers, keeping us on the narrow way.
Have
you ever gone to a bowling alley when young children are playing? They place safety “bumper” guards over the
gutter channels so the unskilled little ones have a chance at knocking down
some pins. The gutter of life is also an
open hole of sin into which we humans can slide. Our doctrinal creeds and confessions,
repeated often in church and private devotions become an inner guard against
false doctrine.
David
prayed that God might teach him to do things God’s way. He knew that was the only firm
footing for his life. This
is the nature of our doctrinal creeds and confessions of faith. They teach us God’s way.
For You Today
So,
the next time you’re asked to stand with your congregation and repeat the creed
or confession of faith, or another form of liturgy that your church uses, save
the eye-roll or groan…you need to do that!
That’s
how we pray like David!
NOTES
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