Choose Your Battles…

Posted on April 4, 2026 by levideatrick

I remember my mother telling me years ago to “choose my battles.” She was giving me advice relating to my parenting and on hindsight, I wish I would have applied her suggestion a little more specifically. As I think back to my teen years, I realize that there were things which my parents realized were not worth a fight and that they let us have our own way with some things, even though they weren’t in agreement with what we were doing. They knew that a way to alienate us as children was to tell us “no” all of the time or to constantly be nitpicking over minor things. Now that I have children that have passed from adolescence through the teen years and into adulthood, I realize the patience which my parents exercised – and also the faith. I also wonder how I should have done differently as a parent and how my children may have profited had I not made mountains of mole hills.

However, this post is not about parenting. A couple of weeks ago I read Gavin Ortlund’s book “Finding The Right Hills To Die On – The Case for Theological Triage“.

Gavin Ortlund is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Ojai, CA. He has written a couple of other books as well. (“The Art Of Disagreeing – How To Keep Calm And Stay Friends In Hard Conversations” is supposed to arrive tomorrow). This was an excellent and much needed book. I didn’t agree with everything, we would agree on the fundamentals, but there were some areas which I believe he and I would perhaps choose different hills, but the principles apply none the less. (I do have a hard time with the title, grammatically it should be “Finding The Right Hills On Which To Die” – but that is not a hill on which I’ll die.)

The back cover explains the theme of the book.

Ortlund first ranks doctrines into 4 different categories: “First-rank doctrines are essential to the gospel itself. Second-rank doctrines are urgent for the health and practice of the church such that they frequently cause Christians to separate at the level of local church, denomination, and/or ministry. Third-rank doctrines are important to Christian theology, but not enough to justify separation or division among Christians. Fourth-rank doctrines are unimportant to our gospel witness and ministry collaboration.” I’m certainly not bound to his categories, but they do give much food for thought and a paradigm by which to begin.

Before going any further, I’ll insert that I’m convinced that some of the things over which Christians fight are actually not even doctrines. When the Pharisees challenged Jesus that his disciples were eating without washing their hands, Jesus pushed back and quoted Isaiah 29:13 and applied it to the Pharisees saying that they taught as Biblical doctrines those things which were actually just the commandments or traditions of men. There are many things which are presented as doctrine, which would be hard pressed to pass the litmus of genuine doctrine.

Back to the book.

I’ll share an overview of each chapter and some of the more poignant quotes from the book.

The first sentence in the introduction is “There’s an old saying (I can’t remember where I heard it): ‘There is no doctrine a fundamentalist won’t fight over, and no doctrine a liberal will fight over.'” It is a bit hyperbolic, but the caricature is certainly recognizable.

“The problem with making every error a heresy is that it ‘renders union more difficult.'” This quote comes in chapter 1, The Danger of Doctrinal Sectarianism. In seeking to identify some doctrines which unnecessarily divide, Ortlund quotes John Calvin commenting on those who have differing interpretations as to the immediate dispensation of the soul at death, “Calvin insists that such differences of opinion would not be a source of division apart from ‘unbridled contention and opinionated stubbornness.'” Also in chapter 1 quoting Martin Lloyd-Jones from his book Christian Unity – An Exposition of Ephesians 4:1-16, Jones said “the unity of the Church is a manifestation of the perfection of the Godhead.” Ortlund comments “It is striking that Jesus correlates the kind of unity that Christians should experience with the unity he has with the Father” (these thoughts come from the prayer of Jesus in John 17). “The church’s unity is essential to the advance of the gospel around us.” Again from Ortlund, “Much doctrinal separatism stems from finding our identity in our theological distinctives when we should be finding it in the gospel. As John Newton wisely warned, ‘self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines, as well as works!’.” These are all from chapter 1.

In chapter 2, The Danger of Doctrinal Minimalism, Ortlund shows that everything in Scripture is important. He starts with well-worn assertion “in essentials unity; in nonessentials liberty; in all things charity.” However, downplaying doctrines can also be dangerous. He now asserts 4 thoughts regarding the danger of minimizing doctrine. 1) Nonessential doctrines are significant to Scripture. 2) Nonessential doctrines are significant to church history. 3) Nonessential doctrines are significant to the Christian life. 4) Nonessential doctrines are significant to essential doctrines. He concludes chapter 4 by stating that “There is a time to fight over doctrine.”

Chapter 3 is a description of his own theological journey.

Chapter 4 takes the criterion for determining ranks of doctrine from 2 other authors, Erik Thoennes and Wayne Grudem; Ortlund reduces both of their lists and simplifies it to these 4 questions: 1) How clear is the Bible on this doctrine? 2) What is the doctrine’s importance to the gospel? 3) What is the testimony of the historical church concerning this doctrine? 4) What is the doctrine’s effect on the church today? This chapter relates to what he calls primary doctrines.

In this chapter Ortlund also explains that we must learn to recognize the difference between what must be affirmed and what must not be denied. We must distinguish what must be affirmed when someone becomes a Christian and what must be affirmed as characteristic growth in Christ over time. There must be a delineation between confused sheep and active wolves. (I think each of these can be expanded.)

Also in chapter 4 he discusses as examples the virgin birth and justification by faith alone.

In chapter 5, the focus is on wisdom and balance for secondary doctrines. He explains these as “their denial does not generally constitute a denial of the gospel. Second-rank doctrines are not essential to the gospel, but they are often important enough to justify divisions at the level of denomination, church, or ministry.” In this chapter for examples he discuses paedo-baptism and credo-baptism, spiritual gifts, and women in the ministry (complementarianism or egalitarianism). He discusses the difficulty of ranking secondary doctrines. He explains 3 reasons why they are hard to rank: 1) they don’t exist in a vacuum, 2) their interpretation often depends on context and usage, 3) doctrinal attitudes are also in play. Near the end of chapter 5, he makes this point “theological wisdom, like all forms of wisdom, is more a spiritual matter than an intellectual one.”

Chapter 6 relates to 3rd order doctrines. He lists 2 which he does not believe should be fought over (the millennium and the length of creation – and I know that he just lost some of you). Regardless of whether you consider those to be tertiary or not, there are some things that are not worth fighting over. Here is the conclusion to chapter 6: “So often, in life and theology… to avoid a fight takes a deeper and nobler strength than to engage in one… Doctrinally serious Christians must remember this…We should eagerly pursue the kind of theological conviction and strength that is willing not only to fight for the truth, but also to avoid fighting in order to promote the gospel. This is the best kind of strength.”

The book concludes with a “Call To Theological Humility.” He quotes Augustine when he was asked what it meant to do theology in the way of Christ, his explanation was “first humility, second humility, third humility.” Ortlund stated “our zeal for theology must never exceed our zeal for our actual brothers and sisters in Christ.” “The reality is that if you think for yourself, you will likely, at some point or another, hold to a different view than is socially convenient.” And so, there are 4 suggestions Ortlund gives when you have a theological disagreement: 1) be honest, 2) be tactful, 3) be gracious, 4) put your trust in the Lord.

I’ve personally wrestled through many more theological issues with brothers and sisters in Christ than I should have. Since Jesus said that it was by our love one toward another that men would know that we were His disciples, I wonder how many people have been turned away from the gospel because Christians have been so needlessly divisive over certain so called doctrines.

You won’t agree with everything in this book (I didn’t), but it should make you evaluate your approach to areas of disagreement and set a paradigm by which you’ll decide to either fight or abstain.

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All the counsel of God

Posted on December 31, 2024 by levideatrick

The apostle Paul told the Ephesian elders that he had not shrunk back from declaring to them all the counsel of God (Acts 20:27). He told Timothy, who was pastoring the church in Ephesus, that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” (2nd Timothy 3:16). When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 to Satan and told him “it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). There are a multitude of verses throughout the Bible expressing the value and necessity of the Word of God in a believer’s life; to reference each one in this article would turn it into a dissertation in practical sanctification.

I’ve often wondered “how many believers actually have heard all the counsel of God?” Some older believers have undoubtedly heard all the counsel of God, but I would venture a pretty experienced pastoral guess that many, if not most Christians have never been all the way through the Bible, either on their own or in church. Why is this? I think there are 3 primary reasons that a professing Christian could go through life and never know all the counsel of God.

First, some preachers do not preach expositionally. This article is not intended to be a full explanation of expositional preaching, but expositional preaching is systematic, verse by verse, explanation and application of the various books of the Bible. Many pastors and denominations do not use this method of preaching. It would be nearly impossible to preach all the counsel of God using as a primary method any other form of preaching than exposition.

When I think of Paul’s phrase in Acts 20:27, the words that he used indicate that he had been assertive to deliver the entire message of God’s purpose and will to them. Generally, Paul’s statement here is recognized as a precedent for systematic and comprehensive preaching/teaching. It would be difficult to declare all the counsel of God by any other way.

As I think about the ministry of preaching and teaching to which God has called me, the systematic and comprehensive proclamation of all of God’s Word is a lifelong ministry task. I have preached an overview of every book of the Bible and I have preached verse by verse through at least 25 books of the Bible (of 66) in a little more than 20 years of pastoral ministry; this type of preaching has typically been 3 times a week. If the Lord gives me another 20 or 25 years of ministry, it could take that much time to preach/teach substantively through all the counsel of God.

Expecting to preach all the counsel of God without using a systematic approach is about the same as trying to paint the exterior of a house with 2 inch brush while blindfolded and expecting to cover everything.

Secondly, lack of faithful attendance to church in which the Bible is preached will deprive many of the opportunity to hear all the counsel of God. Even with many churches now making their services available through either livestream or recordings, the digital statistics are quite clear that the numbers of those who are missing services are not watching them online. Digital technicians have a pretty accurate number of how many people are listening or watching, and the number is not anywhere near those who are not there. In a decades long ministry at a church, I’ll only have enough time to preach verse by verse through a particular book once. Furthermore, only one third of the messages I preach are going to be on Sunday morning; two thirds of the messages I preach to declare all the counsel of God are preached on either Sunday or Wednesday night. Even if someone attended every Sunday morning service, they are still not hearing all the counsel of God. Most believers go through life and never hear a full explanation and application of many parts of the life of Christ, or the epistles, or the Psalms, or the prophets, or the book the Revelation! Such a lack leaves one only partially prepared for spiritual battles, only partially equipped for ministry, only partially partaking of the things provided for life and godliness.

Thirdly, most Christians have never read through their Bible. The Ponce Foundation recently did a study that concluded that only 30% of Christians claim to have read through the Bible! Believers should not depend solely on their pastor to feed them spiritually. The ubiquity of the Bible, both printed and digital, has removed any excuse for a believer’s neglect of God’s Word. Depending on listening speed, the average time of listening through the Bible is between 35 and 70 hours. I recently calculated that I spend about 8 hours in a year sitting at one particular stoplight in my area. I spend about an hour a day in my car alone, my calculations are that I could listen to the Bible 7 times through in a given year, just in my car (depending on listening speed).

Several years ago, I read my Bible out-loud to myself in 8 weeks, by reading 2 and 1/2 hours a day. While that kind of time commitment may seem impossible for most people, the average American watches around 3 hours of television a day.

Many, if not most, professing Christians never hear or read all the counsel of God. It may be that their pastor is not preaching and teaching systematically through the Bible, it may be that they do not faithfully attend services in order to hear all the counsel of God declared, or it may be that they never read through the Bible themselves. There is not an excuse for this neglect of God’s Word.

I understand that practically there may be small gaps in someone’s Biblical diet, but it ought to be the painful exception, not the standard. If there is a gap in your Bible intake, let me challenge you to ask the Spirit of God why that is, and then ask Him to motivate you by the grace of God to “live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God!” To live by every word of God, you need to hear or read all the Words of God!

I hope that you are one of the 30% that has read through your Bible; I hope that you are one who faithfully hears the declaration of God’s Word from the pulpit in your local church. The Word of God is living and life-giving! It is powerful and transformative! It is the wisdom for life as the mind of God on every subject! It extends God’s grace through His Spirit! You need it! Don’t neglect it!

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