What We Believe
Faithbridge's Convictions, Persuasions, and Opinions (CPO's)
What we believe
Prayerfully review the following doctrine guideline with the understanding that these beliefs and issues have varying levels of importance to each person. Faithbridge seeks members who:
- passionately share the same belief convictions, and
- are comfortable ministering alongside others who may or may not share the exact same belief persuasions or opinions.
We believe if our differences involve convictions, we should not attempt ministering together. But we are comfortable with your holding differing persuasions and opinions if you can model, teach, and promote Faithbridge’s positions without feeling your integrity is compromised.
Convictions
Core doctrine that we believe is the essence of Christianity.
Persuasions
Beliefs about which we have persuasions, though recognizing many biblical Christians have drawn different conclusions.
Opinions
Topics about which we welcome opinions about, but would not even argue for, such as:
- What songs or instruments should be used in public worship services.
- Which Bible translation is best for sermons or devotions.
- Various biblical end times scenarios and timelines interpretations.
Social Issues
Faithbridge’s Biblically Guided Positions on Current Social Issues
Beliefs about which we have persuasions, though recognizing many biblical Christians have drawn different conclusions.
The doctrine outlined in the convictions, persuasions, and opinions is the basis of how we understand God and His will for our lives in all matters of faith and practice. It is the foundation of all teachings, sermons, Bible studies, Grow Group curriculum, and instructs and informs how we act, speak, behave, and live as disciples of Jesus Christ.
This doctrine is unchanging—as it describes the eternal truths of God. However, we continue to update our teachings so that they are clearly understood to a constantly changing culture and society. We believe it is good practice to keep a short, up-to-date list of “frequently asked questions” of our understandings on certain current issues. These carefully worded positions are grounded in the eternal truths found in the Bible.
We ask that you keep these three principles in mind as you read through this list:
- We are aware that the Church, historically and globally, has not always stewarded well the balance of biblical truth with loving grace and acceptance in all areas.
- We believe peace is found in the truth of the Gospel, which calls us to keep our eyes on Jesus and His outrageous love, forgiveness, and extension of grace to all who would believe in Him.
- These positions are not ranked in importance, they are merely our best effort at applying God's authoritative Word to our culture's current most frequently asked questions.
As followers of Christ, we must ensure that the exercise of our freedom to consume alcohol never becomes “a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Cor. 8:9), including those with a propensity towards intoxication, victims of alcohol-related tragedies, relatives of alcoholics, children and under-age students, and pre-Christian skeptics who assume alcohol is forbidden and seek to find faults in Christians. Our personal preferences are always of secondary concern to the reputation of Christ, since we have been crucified with Christ and thus no longer live, but rather, live by and through Christ indwelling in us (Gal. 2:20).
Faithbridgers must do everything possible to create a safe place for all people, while also preventing potential legal and reputational controversies; therefore, we choose to abstain from serving or consuming alcohol at all Faithbridge-related functions, living by the spirit of the law over the letter of the law, when in doubt.
We believe God created the distinction of gender between male and female within His good design, with each gender serving unique purposes within creation (Gen. 1:27–30). We recognize that, culturally, the topics of sexuality and gender are uniquely intertwined, and present deep and complex issues. In pursuit of conforming ourselves to God’s design, we believe first our identity should conform and cling to who we are in Christ, and second our biological gender is given to us by God to steward for God’s purposes.
- Abortion - We believe the life inside a mother’s womb is a living person and therefore, we believe the act of abortion is incongruent with God’s will (Ps. 139:13–16; Jer. 1:4, 5; Ex. 20:13). We implore anyone considering abortion to seek counsel and help with God-honoring alternatives from Faithbridge and our network of support partners. At the same time, ours is not a message of guilt for past choices, but of grace—knowing God offers full forgiveness to anyone who repents of sin and turns to Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:7; Col. 2:13–15)—and we seek to embrace, welcome and support each person in his or her spiritual and emotional healing at Faithbridge.
- Suicide - We believe suicide is not the way a human life should end and is incongruent with God’s will (Gen. 9:6; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20). Often the result of untreated depression and/or pain and suffering, we strongly appeal to anyone contemplating suicide to seek pastoral, medical, and therapeutic support. Suicide is not “victimless,” and we consider the stigma that so often falls on surviving family and friends unjust. We lovingly embrace surviving family members and encourage them to find community, support and emotional healing in the church. We affirm nothing, including suicide, separates us from the love of God (Rom. 8:38, 39) and is not in and of itself an “unforgivable sin.”
We are reminded that “none are without sin” and “all have fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Our hearts break for all who are challenged and struggle in pursuit of God’s call to sexual purity. No matter the struggle, we welcome the opportunity to walk alongside everyone in pursuit of Christ together.
All are welcome to attend Faithbridge and to participate in activities and ministries within the church, just as all are welcome to the free gift of grace found in Christ.
However, after repenting of sin and turning to Christ, we lovingly insist that any believers actively behaving sexually outside of God’s design wait for a period sufficient to establish a pattern of freedom and victory prior to being a candidate for a leadership role at Faithbridge (I Tim 3:16).
- Sex - We believe sex within God’s design is always a mirror of His oneness involving the whole person (physical and spiritual), uniting, in marriage, one man and one woman into “one flesh” (Eph. 5:31). We believe sexual expression is a gift from God given to man and woman in marriage—and only them—to solidify and enhance their covenant relationship (Eph. 5:21). We believe violation of the marriage covenant and sexual expression outside its bounds stand in contrast to God’s design and is thus sinful. Examples of these include, but are not limited to, adultery, polygamy, polyamory, pornography, homosexuality, co-habitation, sex before marriage, or any sexual relationship where one or both partners are exploitative or abusive (Ex. 20:14; Matt. 5:27, 28; Rom. 1:26, 27; 1 Cor. 6:9–13; Col. 3:5; 1 Thess. 4:3).
- Singleness - We believe “singleness” is a gift and an integral part of God’s design within the body of Christ (1 Cor. 7:7–8). We reject that singleness is simply a “season” with the ultimate goal of marriage. We believe God has called all believers, whether single or married, to be agents of His redemptive purposes in the world.
- Marriage - We believe marriage is a lifelong, exclusive, and interdependent relationship between a man and a woman. Scripture offers healthy guidelines for a lifelong, loving, monogamous marriage between a man and a woman in terms of procreation, godly intimacy, the nurture of children, and sexual activity (Gen. 1:27, 28; Gen. 2:18; Mal. 2:15; 1 Cor. 7:2).
- Divorce - We believe God loves every divorced person wholly and fully, as do we. We recognize that divorce is a reality, as evidenced by sin and brokenness. Because “God hates divorce” (Mal. 2:16) for the pain and division it so often causes, we strongly encourage biblical reconciliation and restoration within marriage (presuming neither person has remarried and/or that there is no threat to someone’s health or safety), and accordingly, we offer a range of marriage-strengthening ministries in hopes that no marriage ends in divorce. We recognize that the high frequency of divorce affects numerous persons in the church, and thus we also offer and encourage involvement in our divorce-recovery ministries. Neither divorce nor remarriage serves as single qualifying or disqualifying issue for leadership in the church. We work to understand the fuller picture of a person’s story, while guiding individuals into a lifestyle consistent with God’s Word (Matt. 5:27–32; Matt. 19:3–9; 1 Cor. 7:10–16).
- Homosexuality - We believe God loves all people (John 3:16), including those who are sexually attracted, oriented and/or identify themselves in a sexual lifestyle outside of God’s original design. Though we recognize the practice of homosexuality as sin, we emphasize grace, love, and the sacred worth of all persons in the midst of truth. We also recognize that the temptation of same-sex attraction is not in and of itself a sin (James 1:13–15).