Personal Preference vs. Bible Doctrine

I wanted to make my first “official” post one that wouldn’t be controversial, but then it hit me that when looking at topics and trying to answer them with a scriptural basis, it’s going to be controversial either way. My goal is to keep things as Biblically focused as possible, but one thing that I believe is good to understand is the difference between personal preferences and biblical doctrine. As we look at the difference between the two, I hope the reasoning behind the importance of this topic becomes clear.

Personal preference is defined as “a greater liking for one alternative over another or others.” I believe that’s fairly easy to understand. I like mayonnaise instead of miracle whip. Some people might not like either. I like Pepsi, others like Coke. With that said, all of those are just preferences. I’m not going to change my life or disassociate with someone who likes Coke because I like Pepsi. That would be ridiculous, it’s just a preference.

Bible doctrine is different. It’s an absolute. The definition of doctrine is “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a Church, political party, or other group.” When the Bible teaches doctrines such as Salvation through Christ, the Holy Trinity, and Heaven and Hell, there is no preference there. God says, “this is the way it is,” and it is so. We either believe it or we don’t. There’s no room for our personal opinion because it’s not open to our own definition. God defined it and it’s up to us to believe it and obey it.

Where we as Christians get it wrong is when we try to make our own preferences into doctrines, and doctrines into preferences. We mistake and confuse the two. A good friend of mine painted a very clear picture for me one time and it looks like this:

These two are parallel lines. Parallel lines will continue on forever and never meet. That’s how we need to look at preference and doctrine. They should never cross. A doctrine can never become a preference because doctrines are not a choice, it either is or isn’t, and a preference can never become a doctrine because preferences are based on opinion and not on absolutes. Don’t get me wrong. Preferences are not bad. The only time it becomes a problem is when we overlap the two.

This is where this post becomes controversial. I’ll give you an idea of the two when it comes to specific Bible topics.

The difference in these are very clear. Doctrine throughout the Bible can be defined as something that is fairly black and white. For example, when Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me,” I’d say that’s black and white. He is the only way. Preference is something where it’s not black and white, and where the Holy Spirit has room to lead and guide. Things like which worship music you use in church, and the clothing you wear to follow God’s command to modesty.

As we dive into more topics throughout this blog and eventually on to other formats, I want this to be clear in our mind. Some things the Bible teaches are doctrines, and others God leaves to preference. We cannot mix the two and we cannot overlap the two. They both have their individual lanes and need to stay there.

What we’ll look at together will be more about what the Bible says to the preferences we choose to live our Christian lives by as opposed to the Doctrines. There are some doctrines that are more confusing than others and have more dividing sides which we will look at, but I’m more interested in the preferences.

Why do you worship the way you do? Why do you read the Bible version you do? Why do you go to church once a week, or why do you go three times a week? Why do you wear shorts to church, or why do you wear a suit and tie?

Before you answer those questions, you must first ask, “What does God say about that?”

- Scott Mason