Why are there not more churches distributing right doctrine?
As my economist teacher would always say, “Supply and demand!”
There is always low supply of qualified pastors and teachers. Even rarer are those who won’t promulgate some aberrant teaching.
But the more prominent problem is that there is not a big enough demand for sound doctrine.
You may not be able to teach or preach, but there is something that everyone in a pew can do. Everyone can demand right doctrine.
When demand rises, even the preachers who shift with the wind start responding by preaching Paul.
Most people do not demand anything. They go along with everything treating church involvement like watching a movie. You attend. You watch. You comment (or complain) about what you like or didn’t like in the car on the way home.
In reality, it is a cooperative activity. When you attend a church meeting you are participating.
Your attendance is a show of demand for what that ministry is doing. It communicates to the speaker, “I want to be here and hear what you are saying.” It shows support. What economists call demand.
Likewise, you can communicate a lack of support. You can demand a church teach right doctrine and avoid error. You can hold everyone else in church accountable for uniting around truth and not the coffee and donuts or social programs.
You can demand right division of the word of truth. You can make requests about what preachers teach or speak about. (God did not inspire their speaking notes.) You can ask questions.
When you demand truth, you are supplying the necessary correction a church needs. This is how you improve a church from the pew up.
The more demand there is for a particular doctrine, the more attention it gets. It might even get supplied in more churches.
If the church you are attending has made it clear it will not supply Bible believing mid-Acts Pauline dispensational right division, then perhaps you should take your demand (and dollars) elsewhere. [Next week, we will talk about how to vote with your feet.]
For your edification,
Justin “church economist” Johnson