"If I don't agree with every doctrine the church teaches, I can't belong there."
How it sounds in your head: I don't see women in leadership the same way they do. I have questions about end times theology. I'm not sure about their stance on social issues. If I don't check every doctrinal box, am I a fake? Should I just leave?
"Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him."
-- Romans 14:1-3Source: Religious gatekeeping that demands doctrinal uniformity over relational unity, making theology a test instead of a journey.
She's watched people get side-eyed for asking questions in Sunday school. The statement of faith feels like a contract she can't fully sign. She's afraid if she voices disagreement, she'll be marked as a troublemaker or asked to leave.
Apollos was teaching accurately about Jesus but only knew John's baptism—his theology was incomplete. Instead of kicking him out, Aquila and Priscilla took him aside privately and explained things more accurately, and he became a powerful minister immediately with his refined understanding.
I REFUSE the lie that I need perfect theology to belong to imperfect people. IT IS WRITTEN to receive one another even in disagreement because God has already received us. My questions are not disqualifications. IT IS WRITTEN that we see through a glass darkly now, and NONE of us have it all figured out. I am Abraham's seed, blessed with the BARAK even when my understanding is incomplete, because the blessing is based on COVENANT, not correct answers. I belong because Jesus says I belong, and secondary doctrines don't change primary identity.
Your Father isn't testing your systematic theology before He lets you sit at the table. He's inviting you to the feast while you're still figuring out the finer points, because relationship comes before perfect doctrine, and He's committed to teaching you in the context of love, not in the isolation of having it all right first.