the blog
In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty.
by rachel
May 25, 2010 | Life | 4 responses
My good friend John Wesley has a great saying,
“In essentials, unity.
In non-essentials, liberty.
In all things, charity.”
It seems increasingly common for church communities and denominations to get caught up in the differences–the disagreements they have with one another. (Bruce wrote about this a few weeks ago here.) And more often than not, instead of living in this tension and choosing to learn and grow with one another, the answer to these disagreements is, “You go and do your thing, and I’ll go and do mine” (all the while judging each other for how wrong the other is).
John Wesley knew what he was talking about. Most of the disagreements that cause division in a faith community have nothing to do with the essentials, but rather the non-essentials. It became clear to me what community could look like if we practice what John Wesley suggests when I attended the Global Day of Prayer. Last Sunday night, I had the privilege to gather with 14 other church bodies–all different denominations. As the Messianic Jewish Rabbi prayed in Hebrew and opened the service with a ceremonial blowing of the shofar, we celebrated our common belief in Jesus Christ.
I worshiped and prayed with 350 of my brothers and sisters. Our doctrines may look slightly different, but our essential beliefs are the same. We could all celebrate the life, death and resurrection of our Lord, putting aside what makes us different–a clerical robe or jeans and a polo, dunked or sprinkled, a goblet or mini plastic cups.
How can I continue this mindset in my own church body–to allow our united beliefs to make us stronger and our differences to challenge us to grow?
Photo credit: Kosheen
great post rachel. i think working together is one of the best ways to overcome interdenominational prejudice and misunderstanding. in other words, service.
"In all things, charity" is my favorite part of that.
Probably should add a postscript to this about how the emergent debate has ruined talk like this. A lot of people will bring some baggage to their interpretations of what you say here, but I love that you emphasized the life, death, and resurrection.
This is where we need to remember the creeds we confess… We unite under the confession of a common creed. The early church was very familiar with disagreements and dissension, but it was the formation and affirmation of the creeds that united them as brothers and sisters in Christ. At the end of the day, I believe that we will find we have much more in common with the fellow believers we bicker with as oppose to differences.
Imagine if the Body of Christ was truly united.
"I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary… etc."