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, bodily Resurrection and ascension 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 NIV
Denominations have
been known to differ on issues of Beliefs, Practices, Social issues, Ethical
issues, Theology and Worship Styles. Here
is just a sample 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 for 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? That is
only being 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. Then the Lord spoke to me almost
audibly – “Joe, those are all the ways I have to bless you.”
My son has suggested
that each denomination reflects the different characteristics and nature of Our
Almighty God. So, in a
multi-denominational Bible study we had each person share their denominational
background – and we identified the strength, blessing and Godly nature of each their
denominations. How uplifting it was to
experience God’s perspective!
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