Essentials, Absolute Commandments, and Ground Rules for Unity
Let me propose a few ground rules (or guidelines, if you prefer) for unity among Christians. These are in addition to the really obvious commands that were in the Scriptures I quoted in the last post. I believe that these are biblically sound and also correspond with common sense. (If you would like me to explain further how they are biblical, just post a comment and ask.) I also believe that if all Christians followed these guidelines, the Christian Church would be very unified on the whole and disagreements would be less common and less disruptive.
The first can best be described by a quote from a famous 20th century church leader: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." Let me explain those in turn:
"In essentials, unity"
This means that in the beliefs and practices that are central to Christianity, all Christians must hold these to be true and right. The tricky part of this is that different people or denominations may think different things are essential; for example, someone who goes to a Catholic Church will say very different things are essential than I would. When this happens we must leave aside our opinions and go to our common ground for a definition: The Bible. God's word must determine for us what is essential to our faith, rather than us ourselves determining that. If a denomination or group of people believe something that is antithetical to the Bible's message, or undermines basic Christianity, then they are in error. This is usually what distinguishes a cult from a denomination, and it is a necessary distinction.
"In non-essentials, liberty"
This means that if a belief or doctrine is not essential according to the Bible, we must give and have freedom to believe something without being extremely dogmatic about that belief. This is where it is okay to "agree to disagree." I will note that many of the seemingly contradictory beliefs that distinguish many denominations from others are just extreme expressions of one facet or emphasis of Christianity, and not necessarily at odds with each other. (This is an important point, important enough that I may write a separate post just about it.) We must be determined not to let this freedom run rampant and result in schisms and divisions in the Church (see Gal. 5:13, prev. post).
"In all things, charity"
This would seem obvious, considering the immense importance of love to the gospel message, but somehow we still often fail to follow this consistently. As many of you know, charity is an archaic, "King James Version" word for love. In everything we do, love must be the priority, whether we are discussing what is essential, visiting a church that practices things that we are not used to, or talking to a person in the world. Love must characterize and sum up our actions inside, and outside, the church. If we miss this, we miss the gospel, we miss everything Jesus wanted us to do as His followers. I cannot overemphasize this, and I hope that we will constantly appeal to and fall back on this priority of love.
The last thing I will say right now is a further comment on what the Bible says in essential. To minimize confusion and disagreement, I believe it is best to only insist on the Bible's absolute truths and what I might term "absolute commandments." Absolute truths include what the Bible says about God, about Jesus Christ, about human beings, and about a few other varied topics. They must be things that are true at all times, at all places, with no conditions. Absolute commandments are things that the Bible undeniably, irrevocably, commands all people to do, at all times, and in all places. This means that we must avoid certain situational, cultural, social, or conditional instructions in the Bible when we are striving for unity among believers, and simply stick to what we can all agree to be true. The Bible is clear and unified to the point where I would hope that all sane, truth-seeking Christians would be able to honestly grasp it's main message and parts of that message. It is not only pointless, it is very foolish and dangerous and sinful, to disagree about minor matters of belief, doctrine, and practice, while we fail to do the most important things that the Bible commands us to do: Namely, loving God, and loving people. Unity is a must if we are to accomplish those things.
The first can best be described by a quote from a famous 20th century church leader: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." Let me explain those in turn:
"In essentials, unity"
This means that in the beliefs and practices that are central to Christianity, all Christians must hold these to be true and right. The tricky part of this is that different people or denominations may think different things are essential; for example, someone who goes to a Catholic Church will say very different things are essential than I would. When this happens we must leave aside our opinions and go to our common ground for a definition: The Bible. God's word must determine for us what is essential to our faith, rather than us ourselves determining that. If a denomination or group of people believe something that is antithetical to the Bible's message, or undermines basic Christianity, then they are in error. This is usually what distinguishes a cult from a denomination, and it is a necessary distinction.
"In non-essentials, liberty"
This means that if a belief or doctrine is not essential according to the Bible, we must give and have freedom to believe something without being extremely dogmatic about that belief. This is where it is okay to "agree to disagree." I will note that many of the seemingly contradictory beliefs that distinguish many denominations from others are just extreme expressions of one facet or emphasis of Christianity, and not necessarily at odds with each other. (This is an important point, important enough that I may write a separate post just about it.) We must be determined not to let this freedom run rampant and result in schisms and divisions in the Church (see Gal. 5:13, prev. post).
"In all things, charity"
This would seem obvious, considering the immense importance of love to the gospel message, but somehow we still often fail to follow this consistently. As many of you know, charity is an archaic, "King James Version" word for love. In everything we do, love must be the priority, whether we are discussing what is essential, visiting a church that practices things that we are not used to, or talking to a person in the world. Love must characterize and sum up our actions inside, and outside, the church. If we miss this, we miss the gospel, we miss everything Jesus wanted us to do as His followers. I cannot overemphasize this, and I hope that we will constantly appeal to and fall back on this priority of love.
The last thing I will say right now is a further comment on what the Bible says in essential. To minimize confusion and disagreement, I believe it is best to only insist on the Bible's absolute truths and what I might term "absolute commandments." Absolute truths include what the Bible says about God, about Jesus Christ, about human beings, and about a few other varied topics. They must be things that are true at all times, at all places, with no conditions. Absolute commandments are things that the Bible undeniably, irrevocably, commands all people to do, at all times, and in all places. This means that we must avoid certain situational, cultural, social, or conditional instructions in the Bible when we are striving for unity among believers, and simply stick to what we can all agree to be true. The Bible is clear and unified to the point where I would hope that all sane, truth-seeking Christians would be able to honestly grasp it's main message and parts of that message. It is not only pointless, it is very foolish and dangerous and sinful, to disagree about minor matters of belief, doctrine, and practice, while we fail to do the most important things that the Bible commands us to do: Namely, loving God, and loving people. Unity is a must if we are to accomplish those things.
posted by Luke at 12:00 PM
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