There is a false movement by liberals to equate conservatism with the pharisees of Jesus time. It is false in that there is no real connection. The pharisees were in fact wrong on many practical doctrines. Jesus spent much time correcting them on their incorrect stance on doctrine ( Matthew 5)
Another reason why such a comparison falls short is that the pharisees were lost, without God, on their way to hell. I do not doubt at all that there are the lost in or churches who faithfully fill pews. They come to church, want things done only their way, and go home only to worry about themselves. This is a result of the five minute gospel that immediately invites anyone claiming to be saved on to our membership roles with no evidence of a true conversion. We have not been good door keepers. And our churches are full of people who will never have a true conversion in part because they think they are alright in their pew and in their stoney heart.
But true conservatives are and have been reaching out to the lost, the hurting, and the weak. There is a balance to be maintained between standing against premarital sex, out of wedlock births, and ungodly dating habits with ministering to single mothers (those divorced and never wed). There is a balance to be maintained between standing against drug and alcohol abuse and ministering to the addicted. There is a balance to be maintained between standing against the homosexual lifestyle and ministering to those with aids as a result and are dying.
Lost people are like children and only care for themselves. Even those who fill the pews from Sunday to Sunday. For their day to day happiness and future hope are only tied up in what comes from within themselves. But those who rely on the salvation that comes only from God have an inner peace that gives them the freedom to serve others without any thought of self gratification.
We cannot minister to a lost and dying world if the holiness of God is set aside. What is being dubbed as doctrinal correctness is in fact a concern for the true nature of God. You cannot lead people toward salvation by means of scriptural proclamation if your articulation lacks any semblance of provocation. For the love of God shows you the state of your true condition. You have to get them lost before they can get saved.
Words like judgment and condemnation are battered around in defense of withholding the holiness of God. Are those who are quick to catapult such words merely fearful for the lost, or are they also fearful for their own lives? Why would a child of God avoid the conviction that brings them closer to the heavenly Father? It is my position that the conviction of God is a bitter sweet necessity that should be cherished and not disdained.
First it reminds us that we are the children of God. And for the lost it tells them that God has yet to give up on them. There is no sweeter news to the righteous nor to the lost in all of creation. Second it reminds us of our true state as created and imperfect beings in need of the grace of God to walk in the Spirit day by day.
The term "doctrinal correctness" is a pejorative of late describing the stance on the holiness of God. Such holiness should be ever before our face and should be placed before the faces of the lost and the dying. The woman that was a sinner ( Luke 7:38-39) understood all to well the holiness of God as she wept at Jesus feet. Sinners cannot come to Jesus joyfully with the only motive to simply "follow Him". Such nonsense bypasses the work of the cross and makes it of none effect. Those who understand the holiness of God have a love of God that drives them to the feet of God ( Luke 7:47 ).
May we, the church, always stand for the holiness of God ( doctrinal correctness ) so that the lost world may see Him as they should.
Isaiah 6:5-8
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me
