Back to the Basics

When football teams win championships, it's not just because they depend on big plays from their star players. A lot depends on the fundamentals: blocking, tackling, physical conditioning, executing the game plan. A couple of weeks from now, major league baseball players will begin spring training by going back to the basics: bunting, executing the hit-and-run play, running the bases.

When it comes to matters of faith, we had better pay attention to the basics, too. This is crucial because an increasing number of people in our culture don't know or agree with the central teachings of the Bible.

The apostle John wrote, "Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son" (2 John 9). Shouldn't every preacher present an occasional sermon (or sermon series) on the foundations of faith? Shouldn't every congregation offer introductory classes or refresher courses in basic Christian doctrine?

Even those who have been Christians for years need frequent reminders about the basics of our faith so we won't lose our focus. It's easy to become sidetracked by current social issues or the latest evangelical fads instead of lifting up the Lord Jesus and doing his will. The apostle Paul told a divided, distracted church, "I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you." The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, he wrote, are "of first importance" (1 Corinthians 15:1–4). When the apostle Peter was nearing death, he wrote to the churches and said, "I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have" (2 Peter 1:12).

Shouldn't a church's elders, Sunday school teachers, and small-group leaders review basic Christian doctrine from time to time—for their own sakes as well as for the benefit of those they teach? Shouldn't we keep the Lord's Supper at the highest level of priority in our worship services? No matter what else happens when Christians gather on the first day of the week, we remember how Jesus suffered and died for us when we eat the bread and drink from the cup, communing with the risen Lord. This holy meal reminds us about the central facts of the gospel, the foundation of our faith.

But a foundation is something to build upon, not a place to fall asleep. The basics should be a launching pad for further growth, not an excuse for nongrowth. When we grow too comfortable with the familiar, and talk about nothing but the basics, we end up sidestepping the hard work of in-depth study. Preachers do us no favors if they merely scratch our "itching ears" (2 Timothy 4:3). We need to heed even God's uncomfortable truths and obey even his uncomfortable commands. Remember, one of the basics of following Jesus is carrying a cross!

Shallow, bored, apathetic Christians aren't sticking to the basics—they're repelling unbelievers and nauseating the Lord Jesus (Revelation 3:16). He wants us to feed on the meat of the Word so that we can put into practice what we learn and eventually teach somebody else (see Hebrews 5:11–14).

Yes, let's go back to the basics—but not so we can just take it easy there. With "the elementary teachings about Christ" firmly settled in our minds, let's "go on to maturity" (Hebrews 6:1).