There are many good things that need to be done, and Warren’s church is doing many thing via his leadership and example. But there are demands on individuals and the church that don’t necessarily transfer to functions of the government. Individual and church duties don’t become government duties because we are banded together in society. The question about orphans overseas is one example. Individuals and the church should take care of “the least of these,” and the government should get out of the way and make sure it doesn’t create obstructions to the good that people should do.

As parents, you must not become complacent when your children give only outward compliance to your directions. If you put up with a grumbling, complaining spirit as the price for your children following your directions, you open the door to lying to God. God desires obedience from the heart, not the outward form of ritual sacrifice. (Amos 5:21-23; Isaiah 29:13) So, the mindset that says, “At least he took the garbage out, even though he moaned and groaned about it,” totally misses the point of loving God. This child is not being shepherded. Rather he is being encouraged to believe that God will be satisfied with mere outward compliance to his commands.

As long ago as the early 1970s, Dean Kelley showed in his book Why Conservative Churches Are Growing that congregations with a clear belief system were more likely to grow. Kelley’s work spoke of “strong” beliefs more than conservative doctrines and included “churches” that are hardly orthodox, but he did show that belief matters.

Thom Rainer’s works, including Effective Evangelistic Churches, later confirmed that finding. In fact, Rainer’s studies have shown that churches that grow by reaching non-believers have a theology that is best described as conservative and orthodox. The bottom line is this: theology really does matter if we want to grow biblical, healthy churches.