So, it seems like much of my pastoring life is centered around trying to get people unified on the important stuff and promoting freedom on what Paul would call adiaphera...matters of indifference. Most of the things that we make a big deal about in Christian circles really don't matter very much as far as the bible is concerned. They are personal preferences that shouldn't form lines that we divide over. These are things like the method of baptism (sprinkling or immersion), drinking (so long as it's not excessive), what day we go to church, how any spritual gift is practiced (so long as no one is targeted), the bible translation you use or any one of a dozen different theological or doctrinal stances (justification is the big one right now, but it also includes the status of women in the church, the stance on Israel, etc).
While we bicker over these things, casting millions and millions of people into hell in our minds because they differ from our preferences, the world looks on and their disbelief deepens. They figure, if Christians can't even decide what's true and what's not, then it's probably all baloney. They observe the contempt we have for fellow Christians who differ from us in tiny ways and think, "if I have to be like that I don't want any part of it." Who could blame them? It sucks to be on the INSIDE of this from time to time and I actually understand what people are arguing about.
So, what are the essentials of our faith? I had the advantage of growing up in the Lutheran church where we learned the Creeds and recited them every week in church. There are two: the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed; the former is essentially a shorter version of the latter, which fills in some of the details a bit more. The Creeds contain the things that the early church fathers thought were indispensible truths, without which critical doctrines fall apart. These things are the sine qua non of our faith regardless of demonination. If you believe something else on any one point, you are something other than an orthodox Christian. It doesn't mean you're a bad person; it has no moral bearing whatever. It's simply a catagory issue. In order to belong to the catagory "Christian", you must believe these things. If you don't you belong to another category.
Here is the Nicene Creed:
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
We must have unity on those issues. If you don't understand them, then it's pretty important that you do some research on your own or ask one of your pastors. They are all critically important Christian beliefs. That said, Absolutely positively everything else is on the table for discussion. If we disagree it's not a big deal. I disagree on almost everything theologically and doctrincally with two very close friends. We have discussions about them all the time and we go on loving one another.
So, anyone want to argue about seven-day creation? Just kidding. You don't really want to do that do you?
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