Hebraic Musing –
How to distinguish between Critical and Arguable ‘Truths’?
Christianity has
certain foundational doctrines to determine if a person, church, denomination
is truly Christian. I propose that the only critical doctrinal belief issues
are – (1) Full deity and humanity of Jesus; (2) Authority of Scripture; (3)
Justification by Faith; (4) Triune nature of Our God; and (5) Birth, Death and
bodily Resurrection of Jesus. Folks may disagree
with some of these, but I hold these as non-arguable, foundational truths. They represent the undeniable, unarguable,
defining distinctives of Christianity.
However, Denominations,
Pastors and even some Churches hold some other distinctive beliefs or tenets
that are defended, debated, argued and become strongly held beliefs. These
beliefs become known as Denominational Distinctives; and they become cause for
division in fellowship among Christians. But should they? But God
has combined the members of the body … so that there should be no division in
the body…. 1 Corinth. 12:24-26
Denominations
differ on issues of Beliefs, Practices, Social issues, Ethical issues, Theology
and Worship Styles. Here’s a sampling of Denominational distinctives. Are any
of these worth losing fellowship over?
·
Baptism
as infant or adult
·
Baptism
by sprinkling or immersion
·
Ordinations
of Women pastors
·
Confession
to Priests as intercessors
·
Significance
of Mother Mary
·
Infallibility--of
Pope or Denomination
·
Teachings
of a Mega-Church pastor
·
Torah
as Law or guide or irrelevant
·
Sabbath
or Sunday worship
·
Pre
or Mid or Post or Pan-trib
·
Salvation
– Secure or worked out
·
Which
Bible version is Authorized
·
Role
of the Holy Spirit (or Ghost)
·
Nature
and role of Angels
·
Views
toward other denominations
·
Alcohol
consumption
·
Rules
of communion
·
And
on and on the list goes….
I repeat the
question - Are any of these worth breaking fellowship over? I am not trying to diminish the importance
each of the above issues, but maybe we should spend more time understanding
where our Brothers in Christ are coming from.
Being multi-denominational myself, it has been an adventure! If you disagree with someone, can you state
their position and reasoning? It is only
fair.
At my Father’s
funeral, I became the patriarch of the family. My siblings, seven of them,
represent a variety of denominations and sought me out for understanding. While flying home at 35,000 feet, I thanked
the Lord for all the different denominational ways He gave me to bless
Him. The Lord spoke to me almost audibly
– “Joe, those are all the ways I have to bless you.”
Last Sunday my
son suggested that each denomination reflects the different characteristics and
nature of Our Almighty God. So in the
multi-denominational church service that afternoon we had each person share
their denominational background – and we identified the strength, blessing and
Godly nature of each denomination. How
uplifting it was to experience God’s perspective!
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