Our Foundation Matters

Back in my college days I was called upon to preach at a little country church in West Texas. I had heard there had been some problems in the church, but as far as I was concerned, it was just an opportunity to preach the Word. There was obvious tension in the air the first Sunday I arrived. Sunday School consisted of a few folks gathered in a corner filling me in on some of the most recent events in the life of the church.

The pastor had resigned several months prior and in the leadership vacuum, a new member stepped forward to volunteer to preach. This new member began to incorporate some “new” elements in the worship service. Members were encouraged to pray at the same time while some began to “speak in tongues.” Worship began to focus more on emotional experiences than it did on exalting the Lord. After several weeks, this self-appointed “pastor” began to be “slain in the Spirit” and started having “out of body experiences” that included visits to heaven where God gave him special visions and instructions for the church. Many members had begun to leave as the facilities began to be taken over by this new group of charismatic worshipers. As a rookie preacher, barely in my senior year, I had my hands full.

That experience, and others, has forced me to take a good long look at what the church should build its beliefs upon. There are at least four things Churches have used as a foundation for what they believe. They are the Bible, someone’s experience or new revelation, church tradition, or what is culturally popular at the time. Some use some combination of the four.

Churches that build their beliefs upon tradition can be involved in unbiblical practices and beliefs simply because they have always done it that way and no one ever questions whether or not there is a biblical basis for the practice. Churches that build their beliefs on pop culture are also very confused. They have the good feeling of being contemporary, but their beliefs are constantly changing. They are building on shifting sand at best.

Perhaps even more dangerous is the church that basis its beliefs and practices on someone’s experience. As with the church I was involved with in college, there is no limit to the bizarre behavior or statements that can be made when one “anointed” preacher is getting his directions through a visionary experience. After teaching what the Bible says about the gift of tongues, one man came up to me and told me he used to believe what the Bible taught, but then he met this wonderful group of people who helped him experience this “fresh new movement of God.” It didn’t matter what the Bible said, he had an experience! He loved the “feelings” he experienced when he was involved with these people and that’s all that mattered to him.

Our goal should always be to base our faith and practice on the teachings of the Bible. We build our beliefs on facts not feelings. There may be a day in heaven when God shows us we said or did something incorrectly, but He should never question our desire to make the Word of God the foundation for our belief system. Just because someone slaps some biblical terminology on what they are doing, does not mean they are following the Bible in their practices.

This is one reason we emphasize the teaching of the Bible in the classroom. Opinions, experiences and even traditions come and go, but God’s Word endures forever. When the foundation is right, the house will withstand the storms of life. When it is wrong, the building will eventually collapse. We stand upon the Word not the latest fads of religion.