Shane Thacker

Q&A: How Do I Deal With Theological Differences?

7/5/2022

by Shane Thacker

The purpose of my book, podcast, and blog is all centered around one goal: to lead church leaders on the right foundation for life in the ministry.

I really appreciate the questions that have been coming in regarding life in the ministry and I need to do these Q&A blogs (and episodes) more often. That being said, I received this from a church leader:

“Just some advice I'm looking for if you have had experience with this before. What do you do if the church you are current at has different theological views than you do?”

Good question. When reading this, there’s a few things that come to mind as you wrestle with this very important issue. To get to the answer, let’s push pause and answer a few questions:

1) Are the differences Biblical matters or personal preferences?

Years ago at a church, a man marched up to me and demanded that an American flag be placed back on the stage. In all honesty, there typically was one, but it was removed from the stage for the week for a children’s event. Regardless, it didn’t matter to him, he said, “I can’t worship without that flag on the stage!” He put a personal preference on the same pedestal of a theological matter. If we’re not careful, we can do the same thing. That being said, now turn to your differences: Can you back up your beliefs with Scripture, or have you become blinded by the way you think a church should believe or operate?

If you can’t back it up with Scripture, stop here and keep searching until you find it. If you can back it up Scripturally, here’s what you should do next:

2) Are the theological differences major or minor?

Let’s be clear, there are certain things that you obviously just can’t compromise, such as Christ’s resurrection and the call of salvation (there’s plenty more but you get the idea). There’s also some things that may not be as important to every Bible-believing Christian, but it’s important to you. I’m not bothered by that at all, because it is probably fed by a passion of yours that God has given you to fulfill a particular purpose.

What you need to do, however, is identify how important those things are to you, and why. Is it something you cannot and will not compromise on? (if not… you just answered the original question!)

Even still, I think in this ‘cancel culture’ type of society, we may be too quick to skip this next part, but it’s probably the most important thing you can do, regardless of how you answered.

3) Have you talked with your church leaders to resolve the matter?

If you haven’t had the conversation on it, you aren’t anywhere near appropriately being able to walk away. How you lead through these differences (walking in both grace and truth) can be the mark of a great leader, or the stain of a weak one. Great leaders do not compromise on the Word of God, but they also don’t compromise in doing whatever it takes to lead others to Jesus. If we walk into the discussion with the right heart, we’ll be seeking the truth of God’s Word and lead everyone closer to Jesus (YES… INCLUDING YOU!), not to win an argument.

It could have been a misunderstanding that you overlooked, or something you’ve been taught in the past yourself that wasn’t actually Scriptural.

Seeking Victory

What does a ‘victory’ look like in a situation like this? Let’s say hypothetically that this theological matter is definitively a Scriptural matter that you are indeed correct about, and they need to have a change of heart. A church leader and great friend of mine gave me great advice years ago when it comes to resolving differences, he said: “You need to do everything in good conscience, so take on the heart of a servant, bend over backwards doing everything you can to bring them along. At the end of the day, if they walk away, you know you did everything you could.” I’ve applied this principle to every situation since then to resolve issues with others; it hasn’t failed me yet.

Being right isn’t listed as a Fruit of the Spirit: being patient is. The Pharisees had a lot of the “right answers”, and yet, out of all the sinners Jesus spoke with, the Pharisees were chastised the most. Why is that? They focused so intently on the Law that they left out the heart behind the Law. If we’re not careful we’ll do the same, our idea of resolving matters can quickly become pushing people away (or just leaving the church). A true victory would be standing on the truth of God’s Word AND doing everything you can to patiently lead others to do the same. Look at one of Jesus’s final prayers before his crucifixion:

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. – John 17:20-23 *

* Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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