Watch over doctrine closely

I Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers

What does it mean to watch over our doctrine closely?

What about for pastors who have been entrusted with the spiritual development of God’s people and given the role of watching over the church? What does it mean when we are trying to help other people watch over their lives and doctrine closely? 

I want to share a few ways we are to apply this verse to our lives and our ministries as well as pointing out a few things that this verse does not mean…

First, what it does not mean:

• This does not mean that we have to defend God’s character and pontificate on perfect orthodoxy at every moment and on every point. God has not called us to police everything and everyone around us to make sure that no one in close proximity to us believes or promotes a false teaching (As God places us in a relationship with people we can and should gently disciple that person, but if we are the doctrine police, we will have little time for anything else, because there is a lot of confusion out there about who God is.)
• It also does not mean trying to parse every word, reading between all the lines and somehow figuring out what nefarious thing the person really means (Even when people are promoting a specific belief, it does not mean that they are really aware of what they are saying or what the Bible says about the matter. We must be gentle, and give the benefit of the doubt that they are not trying to malign God or His Word, but simply are unaware of the truth.)
• Finally it does not mean automatically excluding or excommunicating people we disagree with (We know that there is absolutely a truth revealed in the Bible and the gospel and indeed there are people who are part of God’s family/kingdom and others who are not. But it is not our job to speak or teach or dialogue in such a way that our primary goal is to push away anyone who sees something different than we do, but instead that we go together with people to God and His Word and His church so that He can help us to know the truth of a matter. Also there may be things God never clears up this side of eternity, and we have to be okay sojourning with people who think differently on some things.)

So what does it mean to watch over our doctrine closely (and that of those we lead?)

• It means to read the Word carefully, listen to Godly counsel (including the creeds and historical beliefs of the church), attend church regularly, pray often and let the Lord guide us into understanding who He is and what He is doing
• It means seeking to understand doctrine, its formation and particularly how it flows forth from Scripture and from God’s revelation and activity in the church and the world
• It means helping other people to discern God’s voice and learn deeply of His character and activity
• It means being discipled and discipling others

One big temptation when it comes to matters of doctrine is that we condescend to give our “pearls of wisdom” to people who are less knowledgeable and less mature than us. Another big temptation is to presume that the other person is willingly and knowingly distorting the truth towards their own ends. We must recognize that in doctrinal discussions (like so many other areas of life) the devil seeks to distort, confuse and blind people and we must graciously and patiently seek to help them to come to a knowledge of the truth, even as we ourselves recognize that we do not know or understand perfectly and still need God to help and guide and instruct us. 

This article may already have angered some of you, because it may seem that I am soft on doctrine. I want you to know that there is true and right teaching and there is false teaching, and I believe that there is orthodox teaching and there is heresy. But how we deal with it is of utmost importance. If we believe in a holy God and His call for us to be holy, that means we must be holy even in how we engage with others as we dialogue about doctrine. 

Finally let us be challenged to consider that doctrine can be defined as the words that God gives us to explain the encounters and relationship we have with Him. And that doctrinal explanation of who He is, who we are, what He has done, and what is available to us, helps us to find and use words to express God’s activity in our lives and the world. If we can explain doctrine without having encountered God and entering into a right relationship with Him, we will make ourselves pious Pharisees, and bring judgment upon ourselves, not for our orthodoxy, but for our unkindness and pride. 

May the Lord be merciful to us, helping us to indeed watch over doctrine closely, but may we do it in a God-honoring and holy way!