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Top likened the difference between church doctrine and culture to an old handcart wagon wheel. The hub of the wheel is the most important part of the wheel — tying it to the wagon, holding everything together and giving it strength. He explained that the hub is the gospel of the church.
Echoing Griffiths, Top explained that the core doctrines of the church within that hub are very few, and center specifically on Jesus Christ and his atonement and resurrection.
“It is He that gives strength to all other things,” Top said.
The spokes of the wagon wheel are important as well, but Top cautioned that without the hub “they are basically just kindling, just sticks.” He likened the spokes to the principles and ordinances of the church, including faith and baptism.
“The only way they have power is to be anchored in Jesus Christ,” Top said, adding that the spokes — the principles and ordinances — are meant to lead people back to Jesus Christ.
Surrounding all of this is the rim of the wagon wheel. Top explained that just as the rim holds the whole wheel together so it can fulfill its intended purpose, without the hub and spokes it would collapse. In the church, he likens its programs to that rim. The policies and programs of the church “are intended to lead us to the hub,” he said, and enable to the church to move along on its intended path.
“But they have no saving power,” Top said, adding that, just like the recent change from visiting and home teaching to focused ministering, this “packaging” has changed through the years and adapted to the church’s needs at given times.Share
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