Allow me a few moments to speak about doctrine and dogma.
Wake you up when I’m done, you say? I understand. For many people, the discussion of doctrine and dogma rank right up there with watching paint dry and grass grow, but please hear me out.
Doctrine and dogma are actually vital — important because they provide guidance for the faith journey.
Experience shows that we need guidance when we are travelling physically. Hiking in the back-country without water and other supplies, without GPS, without maps, and without a compass, is a recipe for disaster.
The same is true in our spiritual lives. We naturally like to make our own decisions, decide in what we want to believe in — especially in this day and age. That seekers tend to prefer spiritual buffets over set menus isn’t a new thing, however.
When The Apostle Paul was doing his missionary work, he encountered a Greco-Roman world with all kinds of spiritual beliefs. Paul’s mission wasn’t to help people discover what was true for them — but to proclaim the absolute truth of the gospel to them.
The Holy Trinity is the foundational doctrine for those who confess Christ as Lord. The ancient creeds of the church, confessed daily and weekly in congregations around the world, are based upon the truths revealed in Holy Scripture, and provide the basis for all true doctrine. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity — God as, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — is the foundational doctrine of Christianity. This doctrine tells us that God is one substance, but at the same time three distinct persons who exist in equal relationship — a relationship we are made part of.
For the God who creates, redeems, and sustains, isn’t confined to some far away realm high above us, but lives right here in the midst of our world, in the intimacy of our individual lives. The God described in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is in personal relationship with you! Here is where the doctrinal rubber meets the world of everyday living.
While the Holy Trinity is the biggest mystery in the cosmos, what is not a mystery is the love that this God has for you.
