Dare to Be Dogmatic
And Other Essays to Help You Think and Live Like a Christian
by
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"Dogmatism" is a negative term today. It is often used pejoratively to describe anyone who is unbending in his or her personal faith. When employed as an accusation, the term is so negative its application dismisses strongly held beliefs like the swipe of the hand chases away a pesky fly. “You’re being too dogmatic!” we say -- end of discussion. Of course, there is a grain of good reason behind our aversion to dogmatism. Dogmatisms-run-amuck can be cited by the hundreds and multiplied a thousand times over. When motivated by prejudice more than knowledge, dogmatism is an onerous attitude, indeed. I have kept in my files (under “Examples of Stupidity”) a copy of the June 23, 1985, Power for Living circular published by David C. Cook because it serves as an absurd example of such ill-informed dogmatism. Many churches distribute this adult circular through their Sunday School program. Every eight-page-issue includes one feature article and several shorter pieces, such as a column, devotional, or poem. It is published to inspire readers in their Christian walk. This edition in question contained several “Letters to the Editor.” Most spoke highly of the publication’s content. But nestled among these encouraging words were two letters from individuals identified only as “E.B., Minnesota” and “Pastor G.B., Minnesota.” (Probably a husband and wife, whom I will call Pastor George and Ethel Babble.) Both letters were written to rebuke the publication for picturing on one of its front covers two men with unshaven faces. One of the men was wearing (gasp!) a beard, and the other a mustache. Their dogmatism was scathing: “I am thoroughly disgusted with your paper when you continually picture hippies on its pages,” whined Ethel Babble. “Why don’t you picture Christians there instead of such creatures?” Pastor George Babble joined the attack: “In our church we have standards, as does every church worthy of the name . . . one must dress modestly, and in the case of male members, such must have a neat haircut and be clean-shaven -- no beard, mustache, or long sideburns.” According to Pastor Babble, facial hair identifies a man “with the hippies, the Beatles, the beatniks, the rock and roll groups, the dope fiends, the drug addicts, the homosexuals, the draft dodgers. Certainly no Christian would want to look like them when the Bible says in Romans 12:2, ‘Be not conformed to this world.’ . . . If there is anything in this world that makes one look like the devil’s crowd today, it is hair all over one’s face.” The man with the moustache had developmental difficulties. The man with the beard had befriended him out of Christian love. The story was both heartwarming and inspiring—the kind of Christian love we need to be reminded of from time-to-time, facial hair notwithstanding. I’m embarrassed such silliness can be found throughout Christendom. Little wonder we have grown shy of dogmatism when no-brainers like these threaten to make us guilty by association. It would be laughable were it not so disheartening. But having admitted that, let me also say that we are now in danger of going too far in the other direction. The pressures of living in a pluralistic society have encouraged a mind-set that says, “I’d rather die than be dogmatic!” This attitude is the rallying cry for many whose minds have been turned to mush by the politically correct pied pipers of popular culture. Turn on the TV and you will hear this slogan in varying forms on nearly every popular talk show that airs. If anyone dares to be dogmatic -- especially about matters of religion or morality -- audience boos are quick and loud. Truth, by nature, demands conviction. The Apostle Paul wrote of this in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 when he reminded the believers in Thessalonica that “our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (ESV). Truth and conviction together breed dogmatism. When we refuse to be dogmatic, Truth, The Good, and The Right become the most noteworthy casualties. If we refuse to be dogmatic about what we believe to be true, Truth is meaningless. Ironically, when followed to its logical conclusion, anti-dogmatism (a.k.a. “tolerance”) becomes the new dogmatism -- the only one permissible. Speaking in favor of dogmatism, I like the way A.W. Tozer put the matter into perspective: “We begin with gentle dogmatism. Now I use the word ‘dogmatism’ because I want to be dogmatic about what I’m saying. But I use the word ‘gentle’ because I don’t want to become offensively dogmatic. I want to be gently dogmatic. I believe what I’m saying. I believe it completely. I believe it with sufficient emphasis that I control my life by it. It has been the reason I’ve lived and it’s the reason, if the Lord tarry, I can die boldly.” “Gently dogmatic” -- I like that. I too want to be dogmatic enough to live well and die boldly. Let the rest of the world die with a whimper. Dare to be dogmatic!
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About the Book
Today's modern Christian often struggles with overwhelming issues and questions at home, at work, in the marketplace, and within the depths of his or her own soul. Often these issues come in the form of attacks against positions we take when we speak God's truth into the lives of our loved one or our places of work. Many Christians have been trained to dialog with unbelievers on the big issues of apologetics, but few have been equipped with the less weighty but no less troublesome issues of everyday life. Dare to Be Dogmatic was written in the format of short essays to equip the reader in thinking through many of these issues. Many topics are covered that will prepare the reader to give an answer and a reason for the hope that is our in Christ Jesus (1 Peter 3:15). Some essays are fun, some a bit frivolous, but all have a point rooted in a Judeo-Christian and biblical worldview.
About the Author
Larry has served as a licensed minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) for nearly 30 years, having begun pastoral ministry as a senior pastor in 1989 in a small country church in Pink, Oklahoma. In 1990, Larry and his wife, Melissa, moved to Centerville, Louisiana, to serve a C&MA-affiliated congregation called Calvary Bible Church (CBC). Larry was ordained by the C&MA while pastoring the Centerville church, where he served for ten years. As pastor of CBC, Larry became active in the St. Mary Parish Ministerial Association, serving a good number of those years as its President. During the Louisiana years, the Longs were blessed with two daughters who continue to bring the couple much joy. In December of 2000, the Longs moved to assume the pastoral leadership of Fellowship Community Church (C&MA) in Midland, Texas. While serving as pastor, Larry was used of God to bring many to faith in Christ, build the body of Christ in number, facilities, and spiritual maturity, and disciple many in what it means to think and live like a Christian. With a heart for the city, Larry served as both the Vice President and President of the Midland Ministerial Alliance on several different occasions, giving leadership to many worthwhile cooperative ministry endeavors. These included: (1) Serving on a committee to help sponsor the nation’s 2001 International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) event; (2) Recruiting 35 Midland churches to each give $1,000 to raise $35,000 to purchase and open a rescue center for abused and exploited women and children in Chiang Mai, Thailand; (3) Organizing area pastors to speak against the abortion industry of the Permian Basin; (4) Writing “The Midland Declaration” to define how Christians would treat our Muslim neighbors, and how we expected them to behave as fellow citizens; (5) Developing a “Unity March” of more than 1,000 area Christians to march against religious persecution around the world; and (6) Creating an interchurch, yearly Marriage Enrichment Seminar called “Love Rekindled” in the Permian Basin. For the past six years, Larry has also enjoyed ministering to the Mission Center Adult Day Services center, where he brings a weekly message and serves communion. For four-and-a-half years, Larry produced a live radio show on a local talk radio station (KWEL Radio, AM 1070, FM 107.1) called “The Intersection.” The show aired for one hour each Sunday afternoon. It gave Larry a community-wide platform to present a half-hour monolog followed by a second half-hour of live, call-in conversations that focused on how the Christian faith intersected “with life and culture and politics and whatever else might interest you.” Expanding the reach of his voice in this manner was a busy but worthwhile task, even as Larry conducted his regular church ministries. Larry is looking forward to expanding his reach even further through the publication of this book, with several more possibly to follow. After working for several years to lead FCC through a smooth pastoral transition, Larry’s ministry with the church ended in September of 2019, at which time he began looking for God’s next assignment. Larry was born and raised in the western town of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Being called to ministry between his ninth and tenth grade years while attending a 1976 C&MA LIFE Youth Conference in Saint Louis, Missouri. Toward this end, Larry earned a BA degree from Crown College (1983) in Minnesota and a M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky (1987). Larry and Melissa met while in college in Minnesota. They lived for a few years in Oklahoma, where Larry began his ministry. They then moved to the humid land of Cajun Country, followed by the arid lands of the West Texas desert. So what’s next for the Longs? They don’t know. But God has never failed them. So they look with excitement toward what God has in store for them next. Reminiscing the past, enjoying the present, let us always live with anticipation for “the next.”