To pursue sound doctrine is to seek to properly understand what God has communicated to humanity. This isn't a trivial issue because the world is filled with competing false claims and contradictory sources. For good reason Paul told Timothy to not only watch his life, but his doctrine as well (1 Tim. 4:16). Christians fortunately understand that when it comes to sound doctrine Sola Scriptura or "scripture alone" does not simply narrow the field: it defines it.
So we see that the simplest explanation for pursuing sound doctrine is not to go beyond the Word of God while seeking to properly understand it. Yet this is not trivial either as evidenced by the many Christian denominations that exist around the world. Authentic Christians have unity on the scriptural essentials but may disagree on scriptural non-essentials. Small non-essential misunderstandings may have small negative consequences. Major essential misunderstandings have massive negative consequences. It is not suggested that any portion of God's Word should be minimized and it is not implied that one portion is allowed to be mishandled while another is not.
If you mishandle any Scripture whatsoever you do yourself and others harm. The question is how much harm is done, and what is the nature of that harm. Mishandling essential truths in scripture, a hallmark of cults, are severe enough to break fellowship over while disagreement on non-essentials is not. John 17:11, for example, reveals Jesus wish that authentic believers be one even as He and God were one. This is called unity, and the authentic body of worldwide believers has it on the essentials.
However, as Romans 14 shows, there are going to be differences on non-essentials examples of which include interpretations as to spiritual gifts, the millenial kingdom, etc... but when churches start to do things contrary to the essentials of which examples include Jesus virgin birth, the Trinity, Jesus' physical ressurection, salvation by grace through faith, etc... then that church has serious issues and can do a lot of damage despite whatever good works they are showing to the world.
To pursue sound doctrine is to follow Paul's advice given in 2 Timothy 2:15 which states, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."
Read:
History of the Bible: How the Bible came to Us by Wesley Ringer http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/bibleorigin.html
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