In Pursuit of Theological Humility | Guest Post by Phylicia Masonheimer

Learn how to use the steps of theological triage to guard against pride and ungraciousness

Phylicia Masonheimer is the founder and director of Every Woman a Theologian. I’ve been following her ministry and writing for several years and am constantly encouraged by the way she lives out her convictions with humility and generosity and teaches others to do the same. In this month’s guest post she shares the process of theological triage that she has found helpful to discern between issues of Christian orthodoxy and Christian freedom. Developing this discernment gives us freedom from anxiety, both the anxiety that pushes us to perform (radical Christianity) and the anxiety that tempts us to choose safety over faithfulness (evangelical safety culture).

I pray Phylicia’s words are an encouragement to you. She’s not on Substack (yet!), so go follow her on Instagram or sign up for her weekly newsletter and let her know if you found this valuable.

The Altenberger Dom in Northeast Germany. The first church on this site was built in 1160 Since 1856 it has served as a simultaneum, a parish church for both Catholics and Protestants. Picture by Tabitha McDuffee, edited.

“I don’t think I can listen to someone who doesn’t share my views on modesty,” the message read. I sighed, swiped away, and opened the next message.

“What denomination are you?” The message demanded. “I want to vet everyone I follow.”

“I’ve been a member of, or attended, over a dozen denominations,” I type back. “All of them grounded in the Word of God, expressed in diverse ways.” Three dots flicker on the screen, then an abrupt response: “Yes but which one? Do you hold to this theology?” 

In almost ten years of online ministry and almost six in person, I’ve heard responses like these on a weekly basis. There is a fear and an urgency behind these questions; a desire to be theologically “safe”. This is a good desire! We should desire the truth of God’s Word and God’s Person to undergird everything we do. But what happens when Christians in different expressions of the faith (denominations) all claim to be right? How do we discern between them?

This is where theological discernment, and the tiers of theological urgency, come in handy.

Defining Orthodoxy

Theology becomes real when it is ingrained into our being; when the truths about God and Christ and the Spirit become not just facts we know but realities we live. The goal of this information is not to bludgeon people with facts or compare notes and make lists of people who don’t measure up to our standards. The goal is for us to develop a reasoned faith; to employ heart, soul AND mind in pursuit of our Savior.  The result of this pursuit is Christian maturity:

“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity.” (Heb. 5:13-6:1)

Milk—easy, foundational teachings about Jesus—is good for baby Christians. But eventually we have to grow up. We have to be trained to “distinguish good from evil”. This practice is called discernment. In the years I’ve led Every Woman a Theologian, I’ve found that the best way to teach discernment is not to scare people with all the false teachings about Christ; it’s to educate them in the right teachings about Christ. As some say: know the original so well you aren’t fooled by the fake. The right or sound teachings about Christianity are called orthodoxy. The right practice of those teachings is called orthopraxy. We need both to be effective and holy witnesses for Christ in the world.

I love G. K. Chesterton’s definition of orthodoxy. He said that orthodoxy is the creeds (such as the Apostles’ Creed, Athanasian Creed, and Nicene Creed) and the historic behavior of those who followed such a creed. Basically, what we see outlined by the church are the fundamentals of Christian belief and Christian moral behavior. What behaviors were followed? How did they live? What kind of practices revealed Christian values?

The pursuit of orthodoxy is a key to being “taken forward to maturity”. Our training in discernment helps us tell when something aligns with core Christian teachings or when it doesn’t. And if this discernment is rooted in a strong personal relationship with Christ, we’ll be sensitive when our orthopraxy is falling short—when we aren’t living what we believe. The tagline of Every Woman a Theologian is “know what you believe, and live it boldly”. Knowing the orthodox way is not enough; we must live it out with grace.

The Rise of the Ungracious Christian 

Living graciously is much harder than it sounds. When Christians first dive into theology, knowledge feels like power. Suddenly we have an ability to recognize why certain teachings are unbiblical! Young believers, and even seasoned believers who have spent years in the church can fall into the trap of becoming “theological guard dogs”, lecturing anyone who will listen about the errant teachings of this pastor or that Instagram account. Because they are still in the process of being “trained to distinguish between good and evil”, they sometimes misconstrue core Christian doctrines - orthodoxy - with issues of freedom. They elevate things like worship music, dress codes, and Bible translations to the same importance as the resurrection and virgin birth of Christ.

When left unchecked this lack of discernment gives rise to a new brand of ungracious Christians. These Christians deceive themselves into thinking they are “loving” because they speak “the truth”, but their tone is sarcastic, condescending, and angry, and their “truth” revolves around issues of preference—not core doctrines of the faith. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” says the apostle John. “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8) Love should characterize our doctrine. It is as Francis Schaeffer said: “Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.”

To avoid the trap of condescending Christianity, we need a methodology for discerning between essential, orthodox doctrines of the faith—the creeds and the historic conduct of those who held to the creeds—and the God-given freedom to practice Christianity diversely. Dr. Albert Mohler presents a method called “theological triage” that is immensely helpful for this purpose.

Theological triage is a method for narrowing down the theological problem we’re facing and running it through analytical steps to discern what level of theological importance the issue is. The triage uses tiers of doctrinal necessity to discern whether something is false teaching, heresy, or just a difference of practice.

Steps of Theological Triage

Mohler’s method is not exclusive to him, but it is a helpful meter for discerning doctrine. When faced with a topic in question, we can run it through the tiers of doctrinal “urgency” and improve our communication on the topic. There are three tiers to consider:

• First order issues are doctrines essential to the Christian faith. The truths summed up in the creeds about the nature of the Trinity, the physical life, death, and resurrection of Christ, the hope of eternity and the final judgment of sin are all considered essential doctrines. In addition, we can look to passages such as Acts 15 for the essential behaviors of Christians who held to these truths. Acts 15 in particular emphasizes sanctity of worship (no other gods), sanctity of life (honor for the image bearer) and sanctity of sex (sexual morality as held by Christ, who affirmed the sexual ethic of Mosaic Law: all sex outside of marriage between a man and woman constitutes adultery). 

• Second order issues are denominational differences that may prevent fellowship under the same roof. For instance, if you believe in infant baptism, you’re probably not going to go to a Baptist church. If you believe that spiritual gifts are for today, and you speak in tongues, you’re probably not going to go to a Reformed church. These churches tend to have a specific view on these things that prevent fellowship with those who do not hold that view. Differing on secondary issues doesn’t mean Christians can’t be friends, but it means you’re probably not going to submit to a church structure that holds a different view than you. This is the primary level of doctrine that separates churches even though they unite around the first tier or core doctrines.

• Third order issues are disagreements that still allow for close fellowship within one church body. Maybe you’re in the same church, and you have different views on modesty, maybe different views on the end times or different views on how roles in marriage should look. Third tier issues grant freedom for diverse thought and Spirit-led conviction.

There is potential for extreme and error on both sides of the theological spectrum, both conservative and progressive. Mohler describes these two extremes: 

“The error of theological liberalism is evident in a basic disrespect for biblical authority and the church’s treasury of truth. The mark of true liberalism is the refusal to admit that first-order theological issues even exist. Progressive Christianity treats first order doctrines as if they were merely third order in importance, and doctrinal ambiguity as the inevitable result. Fundamentalism, on the other hand, tends toward the opposite error. The misjudgment of the true fundamentalist is the belief that all disagreements concern first order doctrines. Thus, third order issues are raised to a first order importance, and Christians are wrongly and harmfully divided.”

As you learn to think theologically and dive even deeper into the truth of your faith, be on guard against elevating third order issues to first order importance. In our quest to help the church adhere to truth, we must make sure the “truth” we’re sharing is both loving and accurate. The Holy Spirit is always at work in his people. He does not need an assistant! If you are led to speak up about an issue or teacher, begin prayerfully. Listen to the Lord’s voice. Run it through theological triage. Then speak your peace. God is sovereign enough to defend himself and he does not need a theological bulldog. He can accomplish more through your educated grace than you can accomplish through unrighteous anger.

May the truth be readily on your tongue, yet guarded by grace. May we be as Paul told the Ephesian church:

“...we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves ,and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Eph. 4:14-15)

God desires that we know him truly and accurately. But he also desires for us to present him graciously, because he is the very nature of grace. We may have significant differences of opinion on theological topics, to the point we choose not to attend a specific church. We might not agree with how someone arrives at their modesty standards, their end-times views, their parenting decisions, or their view of spiritual gifts. It’s wise and good to have conversations about these topics and their implications, because theology always impacts behavior. And… there is also no such thing as a prideful, biblical theology. Let’s not pretend there is.