Gospel Reductionism Lite

"All that matters is that we believe in Jesus."

Ever heard someone say this?  I have, in many different ways.  To be honest with you I'm getting rather weary of hearing people say stuff like this.

I think the name for it should be "Gospel Reductionism Lite."

It's not full-blown Gospel Reductionism like you find among the liberals – where everything in Scripture is reduced to bare Gospel at the expense of the Law, leading to antinomianism, and where the Gospel even trumps the need for faith.

Instead, the Lite version says something very much like, "All that matters is that we believe in Jesus." The idea is that doctrine beyond faith in Christ for salvation is unimportant and maybe even divisive.

Is this where the LCMS is going?

I was reading a post by Pastor Jonathan Fisk the other day regarding the changes certain people in the synod want to make – namely, altering what was up till now considered "unalterable" by changing the LCMS's confession of faith into a "confessional basis" and making the actual "confession" a rather generic statement.  It strikes me very much as an example of Gospel Reductionism Lite.

Do I believe that faith in Christ is all that is necessary for salvation?  Absolutely.  As the Reformers would say, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone.  My question is, where does that faith come from, and how is it best sustained?

To hear some speak, you'd think that doctrine beyond faith in Christ for salvation was thought up by people who wanted to do nothing but cause division in the body of Christ.  They don't seem to realize that the doctrines many people regard as peripheral are actually quite crucial. Heterodox ideas that seem innocuous on the surface can, when taken to their logical conclusions, prove quite devastating to faith.

It makes me wonder whether Gospel Reductionism Lite is behind Lutherans dabbling with the Church Growth Movement.  Dan at Necessary Roughness had a post about this the other day.  For the CGM folks it's as though the most important thing is getting people in the door, spiritually speaking.  "All that matters is that they believe in Jesus."

Where does Gospel Reductionism Lite come from? 

I think it's a combination of pietism and a faulty view of how faith is created and sustained.  Pietism's emphasis on one's inner experience with Jesus over the objective, external Word and Sacraments might lead one to think that doctrine beyond faith in Christ is unimportant or divisive.  And if one lacks confidence in the power of the Word and Sacraments to work faith in a person, one might just be tempted to waffle on those "peripheral issues." 

If I believe that faith is something I work up – or even something that's created by a "zap from above", so to speak – then what one believes about Baptism or the Lord's Supper or the place of the Word of God in a worship service would matter very little to me. 

But if, on the other hand, I believe that faith in Jesus Christ is created and sustained by these means, then what one believes about them might matter to me a great deal.