I am a Heretic

Several weeks ago I had a Jehovah’s Witness knock on my door…

The conversational conditions were a little less than ideal due to a variety of variables.  JWs almost always go in pairs.  Typically it’s an experienced elder along with an elder in training.  I’ve been told, as a general strategy, to converse primarily with the elder in training.  The reason is simple.  You have a greater chance of helping them get out.  They have yet to memorize all the arguments and JW doctrines.  In this particular case, the elder in training was literally about 10 years old.  Needless to say, it didn’t exactly feel right to focus my attention on him.  So I ended up conversing with the experienced elder.  After a few minutes of dialogue we were at an impasse.  JWs deny the deity of Jesus and the doctrine of the Trinity.  Those two issues had surfaced quickly and I wasn’t backing down.  In fact, I was piling on the evidence.  I was laying it on real thick.  And he was reeling.  I ended up having to end the conversation after about five minutes because I was taking care of my boys and they were taking advantage of having my divided attention.  We exchanged emails and I extended an invite for him to get in touch.    

A few days later I received an email from the experienced elder. 

He put forth a few arguments against the deity of Christ and the Trinity.  I responded with a rather heavy email.  I think a good argument should always be able to provide both a negative case and a positive case.  That is to say, a person should be able to state positively why they believe what they believe, but then they should also be able to respond to the critics, to those who disagree.  I did both in this email.  And then I put the onus on this elder.  I pointed out that he had yet to present a positive or negative case for his beliefs and not so subtly suggested he get started.  I never heard back from him…

Here is the problem:

You can win an argument and still lose. 

And that is exactly what I did.  I lost miserably.

Sure, I outwitted him intellectually and theologically, but I failed in the area of love.  And failing to love is perhaps the worst heresy a person can commit.   Just consider how prominent the command to love is throughout the NT.

Do everything in love. – 1 Corinthians 16:14

“This is my command: Love each other.” – John 15:17

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” – John 15:12

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. – 1 John 4:7

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” – Matthew 5:44

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. – 1 Peter 4:8

…serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." – Galatians 5:13-14

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. – Galatians 5:6

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. – Romans 13:8

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." – John 13:34-35

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."  -- Mark 12:29-31

It’s a bit startling to think that the church, both presently and historically, has placed more emphasis on doctrinal accuracy than on the command to love.  In many cases, (maybe even most), the pursuit of doctrinal accuracy has led to the violation of love.  I remember in my graduate studies, for example, reading about John Calvin and Michael Servetus.  To make a long story short, Calvin had Servetus burned at the stake for a non-Trinitarian view of God.  Notice the irony!  In the name of pursuing doctrinal accuracy, Calvin put Servetus to death.  By putting Servetus to death, Calvin violated the greatest command / doctrine in the Bible!  Honestly, who was the greater heretic?!?  Wouldn’t you agree, based on the mountain of love commandments in the Bible, that failing to love is a bigger offense than not having the right doctrines?  I would.  And yet, we see this same pattern over and over again throughout church history.  Examples abound.  The Crusades and Inquisitions are perhaps the most obvious.  But just the other day I was reading about the Anabaptist movement.  Pretty much all the founders were put to death for their so-called heresy.  Over and over again…the very people who claim to follow Jesus repeatedly violate his greatest command in the name of maintaining doctrinal accuracy.       

I am all about right theology.  Right theology is a good thing. 

But right theology must always begin and end with love...otherwise it’s not right. 

I’ll be honest, waking up to my heretical tendencies hasn’t been much fun. 

Noticing how I fail to love my wife, my kids, and those I encounter on a regular basis has been a bit painful.  But they say that awareness is the first step.  In order to reverse a bad habit you first have to become aware that the bad habit exists.  Waking up to my heretical tendencies, although painful, has also been empowering.  I am starting to choose love in moments I otherwise wouldn’t.  I am starting to see people as God sees them—as divine image bearers and people Jesus died for.  I’m stepping into opportunities I previously would have walked past.  It’s really kind of exciting! 

If living in love truly became the primary benchmark for the church, two things would immediately happen.

1).  Confession.  We’d all have to confess that we are heretics.

2).  Transformation.  Living in Calvary-like love would change the world.