Ma Ingalls Remixed
I just preached a sermon in which I riffed on Ma Ingalls’ practical observation, “There’s no great loss without some small gain.” Although I failed to remember which book and what context the quote was in, at least I remembered it. The idea I wanted to further was a Biblical rebuttal, an even more hope-filled rejoinder for the Christian. In reflection on passages like 1 Corinthians 12:9-11, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, James 1:2-4 and 1 Peter 1:6-9, one would have to conclude for the Christian, “There’s no small loss without some great gain.” As always with such bumper sticker slogans, it is best to prove them through crash testing.
Does this work when it comes to false doctrine, bad teaching, failing discipleship or cultish lunacy? Would you agree that false doctrine is bad? Does it cause some kind of loss to the believer? Is it possible for Christians to be afflicted by false doctrine? Is this something Jesus Christ will sanctify, washing His bride with the water of the Word? Biblically, I believe the answer to all these questions is “yes” and “amen” (A good sampling would include readings such as these: Genesis 3; Deuteronomy 18:9-22; Jeremiah 7-8; Galatians, 1 John 2:18-29; Jude.) This leaves yet another question which must be answered in the affirmative if we are to know the great good God achieves through false doctrine. Is fighting against false doctrine a worthwhile Christian thing to do?
In a cultural milieu where opposing ideas are suppressed or simply canceled, Christians should be cautious not to retreat from doctrinal disagreements. Jesus, His prophets and apostles did not simply tune out wrong thinking or cancel their opponents. The truth of God, the glad tidings of the Gospel of the Kingdom gained more volume, clarity and distance through opposition to paganism and legalism. These advantages were not won at the expense of prized Christian virtues, but they were also not won through the absence of those less prized. In Christ, love, mercy, kindness, compassion, courage, boldness, faith and tenacity exist without tension. It is a sad blindspot that books on pastoral ministry focus little on the importance of guarding the flock from false doctrine and false teachers. When elders do not oppose false teaching, what example do parents and politicians have? How will church members know how to test all things and hold to what is good? (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
While there is little appetite for doctrinal fights, it is helpful to remember that Protestantism emerged from a struggle against very bad doctrine. How appreciative are we regarding the riches of “Saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the Glory of God alone according to the Scriptures alone?” The “Doctrines of Grace” were forged in the fires of theological controversy, and their wealth is far from spent in the life of the church. Consider the wonders and practicalities of “Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and the Preservation of the Saints.” These ingots were hammered out at the Synod of Dort, a response to the counterfeit doctrines pushed by the Remonstrants. How can we forget that the doctrines of the Incarnation, the Scripture, the Church and many others have been greatly sharpened and clarified through the forge of doctrinal conflict? When false doctrine raids the church, we muster the militia of elders, preachers, teachers and so on, take up the Scriptures and wage war against strongholds, “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Professor Murphy
Murphy visits us quite often. Our dining room ceiling fell in. Thankfully, our guests who had been sitting at my wife’s great grandmother’s table had already gone home. The drip pan and the cutoff for the HVAC unit in the attic had failed. Something shifted and as the ceiling parted about two gallons of water descended with a shout. We now have a new HVAC, a reinforced drip pan, better decking in the attic and a new patch of ceiling. The table survived as well. A SWAT team gathered just outside our fence. They stormed a house across the street. Apparently a little girl stayed home from school alone and a burglar had entered the home. This hostage situation was resolved and although the family no longer lives in the neighborhood, the girl was rescued. We presently live in only half our house. Mold and water damage were discovered. The remediation and remodel is taking months. When it is all completed, we’ll have better drainage in the yard, new gutters, better flooring and sealed up holes. False doctrine is damaging, dangerous and debilitating to a church. However, the grace-fueled, Scripture-directed labor of countering it brings great good.
Do you think of false doctrine spreading in the the church as a trial? How many false doctrines involving materialism, statism, racism and postmodernism slammed into the North American Church just in 2020? It was not my plan to bulk up on the doctrines of Creation, the Church, the Atonement and Revelation. Murphy’s syllabus set the schedule. I say this tongue in cheek. God sovereignly arranges trials to bring about good in the life of the church. He tests, shapes and directs the church through difficult times which often include the danger of false teaching (Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 2 Corinthians 7:5-12; Revelation 2-3). The majority of the Epistles in the New Testament were written to counter particular false doctrines. Working through all of those was no easy task for the churches, but consider the ongoing good of God’s Holy Word today, through which God sanctifies His people.
It took me from 2005 to 2013 to complete a 96 hr. M.Div. Students I sat with in class at the beginning were my professors by the end. There were only so many funds and so much time while pastoring and raising four children. I would often scout my professors and try to pick the ones I thought would be the best. Sometimes I had no choice. We would prefer to learn precious truths of God’s word on our own terms and timing. Sometimes we have no choice. Professor Murphy’s class must be taken immediately and his syllabus is quite demanding.
Speaking from experience, as an elder, I would never purposefully allow false doctrine to infiltrate the flock. It has happened. I have seen pain and loss result. I have also seen God take what others meant for evil and achieve great good. Through the fight and after the struggle, the Gospel was exposited, Christ was exalted, families were exhorted, believers were established. Would it have been easier to not pull the alarm and enter the fray? Sure. Did I and others handle everything well? Not really. But it would not have been Christlike to allow the sheep to be ravaged, and the church would have been weakened, sickened and impoverished without recourse.
Ma Ingalls liked to say “There’s no great loss without some small gain.” I think the Bible contends for the Christian, “There’s no small loss without some great gain.” I think this includes the loss, the suffering, the trial caused by false teaching. To know the good God designs through the trial of false doctrine, we must patiently bear up the truth with all endurance. We must be obedient in contending earnestly for the faith if we would know the good God brings through the affliction. This means sticking with one another in the local church, working these matters out in submission to Christ until resolved either in unity or in separation. This means confessing our wrong-headedness and rotten-heartedness as God, through His Holy Spirit, makes us holy in both behavior and belief. This means humbly* coming to the Holy Scriptures. Studying the Father’s word of His Son through His Spirit, we prayerfully and diligently labor to know the truth.
*It is not humility to claim that the Creator of mankind and the Author of Scripture has ordained such a pernicious confusion that not even those born again by the Spirit, in union with Christ can know anything for certain, or that no one interpretation of the Bible can be considered the “right one.” This is not the perfume of humble belief but the stench of arrogant unbelief.
