Belief is not mental assent to a list of doctrines. Belief is trust in a person.
It’s one thing to believe facts about Jesus; it’s another thing to trust him. It’s one thing to accept doctrine about Jesus; it’s another thing to entrust yourself to him. Doctrine matters, I suppose, but I’m beginning to suspect that it doesn’t matter as much as we suppose. It at least doesn’t carry as much real-world-weight as trust carries.
Doctrine has more to do with what my mind can comprehend. Trust has more to do with how wide my heart can open.
It’s possible to be overconfident in my doctrine. It’s impossible to be overconfident in Jesus.
An overemphasis on having “right doctrine” is a symptom of self-reliance—as if that somehow makes me more saved, or more holy, or more loved. An overemphasis on trusting Jesus keeps me humble and reliant upon him.
Believing the “right things” has never proven to make my life any more enjoyable. Learning to entrust myself to Jesus has given me tastes of that eternal life he talked about.
It’s a waste of time to be overly concerned about straightening out other people’s doctrine. It’s never a waste of time to be overly concerned with helping people learn to entrust themselves entirely to Jesus.
An emphasis on doctrine favors the intellectual and the well-educated. An emphasis on trust favors the simple and needy.
Doctrine is a shallow well. Jesus’s living water flows deep.
Of course, the ideal scenario would be to have the best of both worlds: good doctrine and unshakeable trust. But if I have to lean harder into one, let it be trust.
