Why Jesus' Doctrine "Astonished" People?

Currently in America, the unsaved are running from Christianity in droves!  According to the Pew Research group, less than 64% of Americans say they are "absolutely certain" there is a God, less than 50% of Americans claim to attend church at all, and almost 23% say they will not claim connection to any kind of religious affiliation.  Is it because of doctrine?

Currently religions groups, so called churches, continue to down play doctrine. In one breath a minister will say doctrine is important but in the next breath they will say that we need to work together in Christianity to reach the world with the Gospel of Christ even at the expense of doctrine.

As an example, church planter and director of Acts 2 Network Jim Wall in his book "Unmuted: Restoring Your Church's Voice" says "Given the state of affairs that we talked about in chapter two, I'd say its time we lay aside our doctrinal differences about how the Holy Spirit works." (My bold and underlined emphasis)  I read the doctrinal statement of the church that Jim Wall currently pastors and it is very similar to most evangelical churches and even some fundamental churches.  However, from his own words, working together is more important than doctrine.

But are we losing the battle for American hearts because of doctrine?  Let's look at Scripture to find our answer.

What set Jesus apart from the other teachers of His day? DOCTRINE!  Many did miracles (Acts 6:8, 8:6, 8:13, 15:12), yet in Matthew 7:28 and 22:33, the people were astonished at His DOCTRINE.   So many in Christianity today think we should lay aside doctrine for a variety of reasons.  Some of these reasons to "lay aside doctrine" include:

1. Unity.  Some say that doctrine divides Christianity so deeply and so rather than stand alone for sound doctrine (Titus 1:9) we should ignore inaccurate or incomplete doctrine so that we can accomplish unity.

2. Reaching the unsaved or unchurched.  Many "churches" are laying aside important doctrines, such as holiness and separation, in exchange for making unsaved and unchurched feel "welcome" in their worship services.  Some have even go so far as to say that sound doctrine has driven people away from Christ or church.  As an illustration, I just read a blog about a young couple who left church partially because the church took a stand they didn't agree with.  There was no mention of whether the doctrine was right or wrong biblically, just that they didn't like it.  With young people acting this way, many churches that once were sound in doctrine now have "worship experiences" instead of doctrine that is sound because it is more important to reach the unreached than be doctrinally sound.

3. Experiences over truth.  So many have placed personal experiences ahead of sound doctrine.  As an example, millions of Christians, including IFB members, bought and absorbed the book "Heaven is for Real."  The story of a boy who died and went to Heaven is clearly against the Bible's teachings (Hebrews 9:27).  Yet people ignored the truth of God's Word to accept an emotional story instead.

Jesus taught DOCTRINE!  But remember when He taught it, it was with love and not hatred or arrogance.  He loved people.  He was known as friend of sinners (Luke 7:34), a carer for the poor (Matthew 19:21), and a welcomer of the maimed and ill (Matthew 4:24).  Yet, he always told the truth through doctrine.

Doctrine is not what divides, its what unifies when we have sound doctrine together.   Let us not run from sound doctrine, but let us run to it!  Let us run from arrogance and self will but let doctrine become our power and authority too! (Mark 1:22)