The Importance Of Doctrine In Acts 2:42 Luke records words that are so precious they have become a permanent guide for my life. This verse makes four great statements about the early church, but my interest here has to do with the very first phrase: these saints "were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ doctrine. . . " The title "Christian" is embraced by many today. More often than not, those who are questioned about what they believe will eagerly claim to follow Christ. But the true test of authenticity is not just in one’s profession; it is also subject to what is believed doctrinally. Doctrine is the Bible’s teachings. Doctrine is what separates truth from error. It is what separates biblical Christianity from groups that claim to embrace the Christian faith, when in fact their beliefs bare little resemblance to the teachings of the Bible. Doctrine is what separates Christianity from Hinduism, Mormonism, Unitarianism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Word of Faith, etc. Doctrine is that one dividing line which separates what is truly biblical from what is not. Where this becomes important can be seen in the current debate that has been gaining attention over the last couple decades. The debate is this: Which is more important: truth or unity? The most common answer given is that unity is far more important. However, that opinion is typically found among two groups: 1) those who prefer experience over doctrine (e.g., charismatics); and 2) those who are theologically liberal, and therefore do not really care all that much about the Bible’s teaching anyway. To both of these groups the doctrines of the Bible are subordinate to these people’s larger concern of "Can’t we all just get along?" The reason why this issue is important, however, is because of what Acts 2:42 means. According to what Luke writes, the early church loved the doctrines taught by the apostles. As the great British preacher Martin Lloyd-Jones suggests, there is an important order to what Luke has written, which shows that the teaching of doctrine is the most important event to occur in the church: "doctrine before fellowship, doctrine before breaking of bread, doctrine before prayer." And then he adds: "It is the reverse today, is it not?" He continues by saying that doctrine must be first. "Why? Well, this is inevitable. A man who has got something of the life of God in his soul is always a man who desires to know the teaching of doctrine." He gets even more direct when he writes: "I want to ask you some plain questions—I am addressing evangelical people. Do you enjoy doctrine? Do you enjoy sermons on doctrine? Are you interested in teaching? I sometimes hear from my brethren that they visit churches where a limit is put on . . . the content of their sermon. The people say they cannot follow doctrine; they are bored by doctrine. They want entertainment; they want more singing; they want ‘happiness’. . . ." Part of the reason why much of the church has no appetite for doctrine is because that is how it has been groomed by its leaders over at least the last several decades. Modern leaders have failed to fulfil their task of teaching the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27; 2 Tim. 3:16-17) and this has resulted in a tremendous lack of discernment. To a large degree Christians are unprepared to determine the difference between truth and error, and that is what is behind the sentiment that unity is more important than truth. But as Martyn Lloyd-Jones also said, "We may say we are Christians. Very well, let us test ourselves in light of what we are told about these people in Acts. Are we like them? Here are the first Christians. Do we conform to the pattern they set?" The main question is, Do we, like the early church, desire the apostle’s doctrine? If not, then there is a huge discrepancy between our profession of faith and the genuineness of that profession. The palate of many professing Christians is not the same today as it was during the time of Christ and the apostles. In fact, it is so different now, that what is often currently heard is that doctrine has no place in the church—that what matters is "practical teaching" (as if doctrine is impractical) and unity. To quote Lloyd-Jones once more, "We are living in an age when people are trying to say that we must scrap preaching and teaching. . . . But it was not like that in the early church." If one’s love of doctrine can be considered a true test of one’s love of God (it is impossible to say otherwise since doctrine comes from God), then there is a great chasm that separates us from the earliest Christians. May we learn to love doctrine. May we learn to want to feast on the teachings of the apostles. May we demonstrate our love for God by wanting to be saturated with His truth.