Doctrine of Doing

"First, all preaching should be practical.  The proper end of all doctrine is practice.  Anything brought forward as doctrine, which cannot be made use of as practical, is not preaching the Gospel.  There is none of that sort of preaching in the Bible.  That is all practical.  "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  A vast deal of preaching in the present day, as well as in past ages, is called doctrinal as opposed to practical preaching.  The very idea of making this distinction is a device of the devil.  And a more abominable device Satan himself never devised.  You sometimes hear certain men talk a wonderful deal about the necessity of "indoctrinating the people."  By which they mean something different from practical preaching; teaching them certain doctrines, as abstract truths, without any particular reference to practice.  And I have known a minister in the midst of a revival, while surrounded with anxious sinners, leave off labouring to convert souls, for the purpose of "indoctrinating" the young converts, for fear somebody else should indoctrinate them before him.  And there the revival stops!  Either his doctrine was not true, or it was not preached in the right way.  To preach doctrines in an abstract way, and not in reference to practice, is absurd.  God always brings in doctrine to regulate practice.  To bring forward doctrinal views for any other object is not only nonsense; it is wicked."  Charles G Finney (quoted from Revival Lectures, pg. 222, emphasis mine)

Jesus never preached to satisfy the curiosity or men, to excite their senses, or simply for the sake of sharing information.  He aimed to move the hearts, minds, and man's complete being to repentance and righteousness.  Jesus did not seek to only engage the mind but move the soul.  Finney wrote these words quoted above almost two hundred years ago, yet we still see this practice continually in the church.  "Feeding the sheep" today often constitutes the sharing of information rather than motivation to action.  Quite often I find that abstract doctrines, or teaching in an abstract manner does little more than please the minister.  People politely sit through message after message, sift through the material, and though there is an abundance of information there is no direction concerning how to live in light of it.  Therefore the material exists to quiet a man's conscience:  he has done his duty in listening to a sermon rather than the sermon being an impetus used by the Holy Spirit to cause a man to draw nearer to God in faith.  He has had a healthy meal at the LORD's table and returns hungrily back to the slop served up in the world's trough.

The result of this kind of preaching is overfed and overweight sheep due to lack of exercise - actual exercise of the Christian walk with Christ.  Like cows we chew and chew, digest, and stand around talking about what we're eating.  We have the scripture on our breath but it doesn't have practical impact.  Take for instance the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture of the church.  People happily take a position, but for what?  Unless this doctrine moves you to action, it is like standing in the batter's box to hit without a bat.  Your stance may be textbook, your uniform spotless, and you may have memorized word-for-word the rules of baseball.  But without a bat you cannot perform your purpose in the box:  to hit the ball!  The doctrine of the rapture can and should move us to action:  the necessity for personal repentance and evangelism; the knowledge that our time is short causes us to labor with earnest, urgent diligence; to desire and labor so our conversation will glorify God more and more as we see the Day approaching; we will be sober, watchful, and godly and on.

It has never been good enough in God's eyes for a man to know something.  Knowledge brings a man under greater condemnation!  It is the application of this knowledge that constitutes wisdom.  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.  A preacher does Christ disservice when he does not specifically apply the Biblical truths of doctrine to practical life.  Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies!  When we think of any doctrine in scripture, how does it move us to greater love?  How does doctrine stir up our hearts to glorify God with our lives?  These are questions which I must address not only with my mouth through preaching or discourse, but also through my thoughts, words, and actions.  The most essential doctrines can be degraded to information regurgitation rather than life transformation.  How we need the Spirit to teach us and guide us in our daily lives!  Let us not only be good students but servants of the Most High God.  May our lives be display of true doctrine, an outflow of the life of Christ which speaks volumes of wisdom no one can deny.