We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
Source: https://www.efca.org/sof
My comments.
Why point this out? The doctrinal statement about caring for others is sometimes misunderstood. Some people think it means “be a busy body”. And they go too far. Why? They think God has ordered them to do that! My question is, “Does the EFCA actually endorse this mistake?” I do not think so. And neither does any Baptist church. Try telling that to the Baptists!
On the statement:
“others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed.”
Justice for the oppressed precludes allowing continued abuse by abusers just because one has compassion for the abuser. There is no requirement on a Christian to allow himself to continue to be abused in any fashion.
A person in 12 step recovery has no moral obligation to allow himself to continue to be abused. There is no teaching in the bible that says he does. This may mean moving across country in order to stop abuse. It may mean putting up walls and barriers. And it may mean complaining to civil authorities for protection.
It means watching one’s own bobber, not somebody else’s, especially not the abuser’s. It means not getting involved in the drama of other parties.
I suspect that a lot of people believe when they comment upon another’s confession they are “caring for one another” when in fact they are sabotaging the other’s 12-step recovery. This is especially true for ACA’s (Adult Children of Alcoholics). The Big Red Book has at least three sections dedicated to explaining why cross-talk (commenting on another’s story confessed in a meeting) is forbidden. (More on this in a separate post).
The caring thing to do is to keep opinions to one’s self until such time as a confessor indicates he welcomes feedback. That is normal practice in an ACA group. Apparently it is normal practice to violate it in a Baptist Church. The EFCA really needs to clarify this. And so do all Baptist churches.
To me this is a matter of lack of grace. Not focusing on grace but instead focusing on rules. Rules that people make up for other people. A biblical example: condemning someone for eating meat offered to idols. I.E., not allowing Christians moral freedom as believers. As I recall it is called a ‘principle of deference’. Not putting rules on people. And this would include not putting non-doctrinal personal beliefs on others.
I now have decades of experience with Baptist style churches that think they are doing therapy because it is a ministry. They want to “fix you” rather than let God fix you or let you experience God at your own pace. Instead of telling you their own story they tell you how your story should be. How you should be, because you are not good enough. Sometimes they hunt sin, your sin, and become sin hunters. They will tell you that you need to repent of something.
The result on the community:
I have met dozens, if not hundreds, of people who call themselves “recovering fundamentalists.” I am now one of them. I may even have to change churches because I cannot hear the voice of God when people are handing me a whole bunch of rules and beliefs to follow when it is merely their personal opinion.
Why I study Doctrine.
This is why I study doctrine. I want to know what a church’s doctrine is. Because when people go nuts on me I would like to know if it is just them and not the church.