"In Essentials Unity"
I’m going to be honest with you guys, though I am so looking forward going to back to my school and seeing all the wonderful people and sitting under great teaching, there is one aspect that breaks my heart a little that I am not looking forward to experiencing. This is a problem that isn’t just present at my school, but is a little easier to spot in my private Christian school and in this season of life. I guess the best way to summarize this problem is "denominational prejudice." The school I go to is an Assemblies of God school that has students from many Christian denominations: Assemblies of God, Evangelical Free, Presbyterian, Baptist, Southern Baptist, Reformed Baptist, Non-denominational, Catholic, Nazarene, the list goes on. I’ve talked with many people from all these denominations about how they worship and believe and it’s helped form my view of the various traditions within Christianity. It’s been a wonderful experience, except for one aspect. So many people live with prejudices about other’s denominational background. These prejudices usually come out in light jabbing jokes or just straight up assumptions about someone because they've attended one church or another even if they don't adhere to all of that denomination's beliefs. Here's the deal, if you have been redeemed by Christ and believe in the essentials—that salvation is through grace alone, Jesus is God incarnate and is our savior, the Bible is inherently true, etc. then we are brothers and sisters in Christ. As such we should have the same ultimate goal, to live a life after Christ and share the good news of the Gospel. Yet, here we are spending our time concerned over whether we believe the same on things like Armenism versus Calvinism, or the way we interpret the gifts of the Spirit. These are issues that are about to split the denomination I grew up in right down the middle if something doesn't change, and that breaks my heart. Let's take a step back, we know there is an issue here, so how can this be thought through in a healthy way?
Denominations of the Christian faith have always intrigued me, especially since I have started college and met peers of many varying traditions. Today I don't want to explore the specific differences. Instead, I want to ask and help answer some questions; how important are denominational differences and where do they leave us with the concept of unity in the church?
First, let me say that denominations can be a beautiful thing. It is important to be with like-minded believers who share common beliefs as they grow the Kingdom of God. I have had the pleasure of growing up as the daughter of a traveling evangelist who works with many evangelical denominations. Seeing their various traditions but ultimately unified goal of sharing the good news of the Gospel amongst them has been awesome. It has shown me varying traditions and yet a unified purpose- the Gospel. Denominations are important, they help us see the many flavors of Christianity and preserve different traditions that showcase different aspects of the Gospel.
On my first day of classes at my university, my Bible teacher listed off denominations and had the students raise their hand when he named the church they had grown up in. At that moment he had me mentally pegged as what his image of a Southern Baptist was. He assumed I had certain beliefs about womanhood, free-will and the Holy Spirit that I didn't necessarily believe. I think this is a good moment to point out that within each denomination there is a great deal of variance. My roommate and I both went to different Baptist churches and believed different things on several subjects of large discussion at our school.
At this point you may be asking "beyond the annoyance of people making assumptions, why does all this matter?" Why? Because this oh-too-common issue is not biblical. I read Psalm 133 this morning and ask that you might read it too.
"1Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity![a]
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore."
How good and pleasant it is when we dwell in unity. Here is some more scripture on it, Ephesians 3:4, 1 Peter 3:8, John 17:23, 1 Corinthians 1:10. These are just a few references, reach out to me if you want more to study or do your own personal word study on unity in Scripture.
I am concerned that so many people in the church seem too concerned with making sure Christians "convert" to their denomination. It is almost a source of pride with the attitude that says, "my church is the only real church, they're all getting it wrong." News flash: though through God's grace we are seen as righteous, all earthly churches are made up of imperfect people and are therefore imperfect. I don't know if there is any single church that has perfect theology, there are many finer points of Christianity that will always be able to be interpreted different ways on this side of eternity. What if we spent less time "converting" other Christians to our church and instead partnered with that other Gospel-believing church and went out to reach the people who have never experienced life in Christ? Wouldn't that be more effective? Interdenominational Gospel work gets me more excited than most things in life. Why? Because it is an expression of unity in the church. If unbelievers see us fighting with each other over theological issues what will they think of the church? If we cannot love one another how can we love others?
There is a saying by Rupertus Meldenius from the 1600s that I think sums up the solution to this issue well, "In essentials unity, non-essentials liberty and in all things charity." In the essentials we should absolutely be unified, in the non-essentials there is liberty to disagree but in all these things we should have charity, love and respect for one another.
I love having theological discussions, they are truly some of my favorite conversations. I love hearing what people believe and why they believe it, it is only when we make judgments and tear each other down even in a teasing way that it turns into something else. Then it is divisive. There are things that are worth fighting for, the essentials that make up the truth that is the Gospel, we have to protect that truth. However, there are many finer points, non-essentials, that can be interpreted differently in scripture and are not, as a friend of mine recently called them, "a hill to die on." I want to make it abundantly clear that I am not talking about churches that are teaching a false gospel, that needs confronting. Be discerning.
Let's not make assumptions about one-another. Let's lovingly discuss our beliefs with respect for each other's opinions and then focus on what we do have in common, the greatest thing anyone could have in common, Christ Himself.
Denominations of the Christian faith have always intrigued me, especially since I have started college and met peers of many varying traditions. Today I don't want to explore the specific differences. Instead, I want to ask and help answer some questions; how important are denominational differences and where do they leave us with the concept of unity in the church?
First, let me say that denominations can be a beautiful thing. It is important to be with like-minded believers who share common beliefs as they grow the Kingdom of God. I have had the pleasure of growing up as the daughter of a traveling evangelist who works with many evangelical denominations. Seeing their various traditions but ultimately unified goal of sharing the good news of the Gospel amongst them has been awesome. It has shown me varying traditions and yet a unified purpose- the Gospel. Denominations are important, they help us see the many flavors of Christianity and preserve different traditions that showcase different aspects of the Gospel.
On my first day of classes at my university, my Bible teacher listed off denominations and had the students raise their hand when he named the church they had grown up in. At that moment he had me mentally pegged as what his image of a Southern Baptist was. He assumed I had certain beliefs about womanhood, free-will and the Holy Spirit that I didn't necessarily believe. I think this is a good moment to point out that within each denomination there is a great deal of variance. My roommate and I both went to different Baptist churches and believed different things on several subjects of large discussion at our school.
At this point you may be asking "beyond the annoyance of people making assumptions, why does all this matter?" Why? Because this oh-too-common issue is not biblical. I read Psalm 133 this morning and ask that you might read it too.
"1Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity![a]
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore."
How good and pleasant it is when we dwell in unity. Here is some more scripture on it, Ephesians 3:4, 1 Peter 3:8, John 17:23, 1 Corinthians 1:10. These are just a few references, reach out to me if you want more to study or do your own personal word study on unity in Scripture.
I am concerned that so many people in the church seem too concerned with making sure Christians "convert" to their denomination. It is almost a source of pride with the attitude that says, "my church is the only real church, they're all getting it wrong." News flash: though through God's grace we are seen as righteous, all earthly churches are made up of imperfect people and are therefore imperfect. I don't know if there is any single church that has perfect theology, there are many finer points of Christianity that will always be able to be interpreted different ways on this side of eternity. What if we spent less time "converting" other Christians to our church and instead partnered with that other Gospel-believing church and went out to reach the people who have never experienced life in Christ? Wouldn't that be more effective? Interdenominational Gospel work gets me more excited than most things in life. Why? Because it is an expression of unity in the church. If unbelievers see us fighting with each other over theological issues what will they think of the church? If we cannot love one another how can we love others?
There is a saying by Rupertus Meldenius from the 1600s that I think sums up the solution to this issue well, "In essentials unity, non-essentials liberty and in all things charity." In the essentials we should absolutely be unified, in the non-essentials there is liberty to disagree but in all these things we should have charity, love and respect for one another.
I love having theological discussions, they are truly some of my favorite conversations. I love hearing what people believe and why they believe it, it is only when we make judgments and tear each other down even in a teasing way that it turns into something else. Then it is divisive. There are things that are worth fighting for, the essentials that make up the truth that is the Gospel, we have to protect that truth. However, there are many finer points, non-essentials, that can be interpreted differently in scripture and are not, as a friend of mine recently called them, "a hill to die on." I want to make it abundantly clear that I am not talking about churches that are teaching a false gospel, that needs confronting. Be discerning.
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