Buddy Christ!

This famous image of Jesus comes from the 1999 comedy film, Dogma.

And despite the religious language, the movie is far from reverent. 

Kevin Smith, Dogma’s director, was raised Catholic but eventually became opposed to much of the church’s teachings. Though I cannot agree with Smith on everything, there is one point we do agree on…

Dogma is no good.

Dogma Defined

Merriam-Webster defines dogma as “a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church.”

If I had to simplify that, I’d call dogma any set of beliefs a religious body coerces others into following.

Dogma ignores love as Christ’s central message and instead focuses on controlling others through an abuse of doctrine.

The dogmatic approach forces belief, producing conservative zealots or disenfranchised opponents of the faith, such as Kevin Smith.

By forcing belief, dogma neglects the way in which God’s Holy Spirit uses love to stir the hearts of people toward Him.

To force the process goes against the very essence of agape written about throughout the New Testament.

A Way Beyond Dogma

Now I want to be as fair as I can be. I’m confident that many dogmatic systems began with good intentions.

But remember the theme of our series, that love is the test of a healthy Christian faith.

And, the reality is, dogma all too often drifts away from that very love.

Love is freely chosen, not forced. If we as Christ’s followers can hope to uphold that then we must reject the dogmatic approach in favor of preaching the truth in love, even if others end up disagreeing.

We must believe what we believe because we have encountered Christ, not because a high churchman tells us we have to.

And that place of encounter begins and ends in love.

Thanks for reading. Tomorrow we’ll tackle the last of love’s three impediments, idolatry.

For now, be blessed.

Jon,

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