Being built up in the faith requires knowing what it is

I Timothy 4:15-16 --Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that everyone will see your progress. Be conscientious about how you live and what you teach. Persevere in this, because by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.

Christians, if they are to be an alternative to postmodern relativism, need to confess their faith, in word and deed. This means knowing what that faith is.

Christians in every church body might begin by returning to their own doctrinal heritage. Lutherans, Calvinists, and other historical churches have formal written confessions of what they believe. . . Other denominations have less strictly defined doctrinal positions, but they still have their confessions of faith and their Bible-based heritage, which they should reclaim. In doing so, they might regain their vitality and testify to a core of Biblical truth that will stand as a blazing witness to the relevatistic culture. Biblical churches with doctrinal integrity will have a stronger witness than muddled, easy-to-please-everyone congregations that do not stand for anything in particular.

Emphasizing doctrine will highlight the doctrinal differences between the various Christian traditions, but this need not mean destructive religious warfare. The various traditions need to be recovered before they can be either appreciated or challenged. Once they are reestablished, debates about which theologies are most in accord with Scripture could resume, because theology would be taken seriously again. Vibrant theological debate would invigorate the church. The ecumenical method of unity -- extinguishing all characteristic beliefs -- has failed.

-- Gene Edward Veith, Postmodern Times, p. 220

2 Timothy 4:1-5 -- I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 4:2 Preach the message, be ready whether it is convenient or not, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and instruction. 4:3 For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. 4:4 And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths. 4:5 You, however, be self-controlled in all things, endure hardship, do an evangelist’s work, fulfill your ministry.