The first key is to understand how serious the matter is. There is a difference between heresy and error.
Some have spoken of theological triage. When someone comes into the emergency room, they are assessed to see how serious the concern. Someone with a gaping wound from a shooting will take precedence over the teenager with a severely sprained ankle from the basketball game, even if that teen has been waiting a couple hours. The same, it has been argued, should be the case with theology.
We can have a difference of opinion about the timing of certain End Times events and even remain in the same church. One of us (maybe both of us) is clearly wrong — but it does not necessitate needing to go to a different church. Likewise, we might disagree with another believer on whether or not we should baptize infants. Our conviction here will make it difficult to be in the same local church, but we still consider each other believers. Lastly, there is a foundational difference between someone who denies the resurrection and someone who builds their faith upon the reality of a resurrected Christ. One is to be a Christian; the other is to deny the faith.
We do well to at least attempt theological triage. Yes, there are even arguments here. What constitutes a first level offense? Yes, we know that it’s more important if a doctrine is close to the gospel itself; but if the gospel is the A to Z of the Christian life it becomes difficult to discern what isn’t a gospel issue.
One more thing should be said here. There is a difference between someone who says, “I believe Paul taught X, and I don’t really care what Paul says” and someone who says, “I do not think Paul meant what you think he meant.” Am I knowingly denying a key doctrine of the faith or am I merely wrong on a key issue? There is a difference in the Proverbs between the fool (who is settled in his error) and a simple person (who is ignorantly in error).
When we are dealing with error, we need to understand both how serious the issue is and how seriously the person is holding onto the error. This helps us know how best to respond. But this begs a question, should we even bother with doctrine? Doesn’t doctrine divide and love unite?
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