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<\/strong><\/h3>\nI\u2019m pretty convinced that God most desires that we love. Jesus summed up the Jewish commandments by saying we ought to love God and to love others as ourselves. As I see it, love is at the heart \u2013 essential \u2013 of the Christian witness. The chorus of the old song, \u201cThey will know we are Christians by our love,\u201d has some truth.<\/p>\n
At their best, Christians don\u2019t just love in any particular moment. They develop loving habits and characters. Such Christians exhibit a heart of love. As the apostle Paul put it, they \u201cimitate God and life a life of love, as Christ loved them.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Christians don\u2019t have the corner on the love market.<\/p>\n
NonChristians love too. I know some Buddhists who love, and compassion is a significant part of Buddhist faith. The Dalai Lama is a great example of someone who acts lovingly and has developed a character of compassion.<\/p>\n
I even know atheists who act lovingly. They say they can be good without God.<\/p>\n
So while love may be essential to the Christian faith, it doesn\u2019t necessarily distinguish Christians from nonChristians. Most people talk about the essentials of Christian faith, at least in part, to identify what makes the Christian different from the nonChristian.<\/p>\n
Say the Sinner\u2019s Prayer<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\nMany people I know think the sinner\u2019s prayer of commitment \u2013 accepting Jesus \u2013 represents the essential difference between Christians and nonChristians. \u201cHave you accepted Jesus into your heart?\u201d they might ask.<\/p>\n
Those who emphasize (sometimes almost exclusively) the moment of decision to follow Christ either explicitly or implicitly say that the essence of the Christian life \u2013 around which we all ought to unite \u2013 is the conversion experience. Christians have been \u201csaved.\u201d<\/p>\n
But this approach is lacking in many ways.<\/p>\n
Many of us know people who said \u201cthe sinner\u2019s prayer\u201d but subsequently changed not one whit. We know people who say they accepted Jesus into their hearts but never attend Church. Other such Christians don\u2019t really know anything about Christian beliefs. And some continue to live life oriented toward sin.<\/p>\n
Is saying a prayer of commitment to Christ the essence of Christianity?<\/p>\n
Have the Right Beliefs<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\nThe line I quoted about essentials and nonessentials is usually used in the context of doctrines. Most use it to say, \u201cLet\u2019s not sweat the small stuff. We agree on the major doctrines.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most Christians I know, for instance, think the mode of baptism one chooses is\u00a0nonessential. Most Christians\u00a0think nonessential whether one thinks the Bible has errors or is inerrant. These issues\u00a0matter, but they don\u2019t distinguish Christians from nonChristians.<\/p>\n
But a growing number of Christians reject the notion that right beliefs comprise the essence of Christianity.<\/p>\n
For one thing, there\u2019s little or no agreement about which set of beliefs are essential and which aren\u2019t. The multiplicity of Christian denominations is evidence that Christians can\u2019t agree on doctrines \u2013 even essential doctrines.<\/p>\n
Even if people agree about particular formulations of beliefs (e.g., the Apostle\u2019s Creed), how Christians interpret the meaning of these beliefs can differ widely.<\/p>\n
Take Christology as an example. Early creeds affirmed that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. It\u2019s paradoxical. Two Christians can wholeheartedly affirm the creeds but have wildly different interpretations of what it means that Jesus is both human and divine.<\/p>\n
Besides, everyone I know emphasizes one side of the divine-human Christological equation more than the other. They may say they affirm both equally. But\u00a0Christians I know reveal in the way they pray, worship, and talk about Jesus their emphasis upon either Jesus\u2019 humanity or divinity.<\/p>\n
Or take the contentious issue of\u00a0God\u2019s nature. Few issues seem more important. And yet Christians disagree about whether we should understand God primarily in terms of God\u2019s power or love or holiness or something else.<\/p>\n
Participation in Christian Community and Practices<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\nThe slipperiness of belief\u00a0leads many to say what makes a person Christian has more to do with\u00a0association with the Christian community. These people say the essence of Christianity is involvement in a community of Christ-followers and\u00a0following the liturgy, rites, and practices of the Church.<\/p>\n
This way of thinking has much to commend. It recognizes that community shapes our thinking, habits, lifestyles, and orientation in the world. When people disagree over beliefs, for instance, they can still unite around the celebration of Eucharist. A person may have a strange view of eschatology, but the essence of Christian faith is participation in the community not a particular view of end times.<\/p>\n
Others worry about making participation in Christian community and\u00a0practices the essence of Christian faith. After all, they say,\u00a0this sounds like salvation by works. And it sounds as if one\u2019s motives aren\u2019t as important as one\u2019s actions. Doing something with wrong motives seems opposed to Jesus’ teachings.<\/p>\n
Besides, as they say, \u201cgoing to church doesn\u2019t make you a Christian, any more than going to McDonald\u2019s makes you a hamburger.\u201d And prayer, rituals,\u00a0and meditation aren\u2019t uniquely Christian practices.<\/p>\n
So… Which Is It?<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\nWhat are the essentials around which Christians ought to unite? Is the essence of Christianity love, commitment, belief, or community? Should we pick two or three instead of just one? Does a person have to excel in all four to count as a \u201ctrue Christian?\u201d Who is a Christian?<\/p>\n
To be honest, I haven\u2019t got this figured out. I\u2019m still thinking about essentials and nonessentials.<\/p>\n
I do believe Christians ought to strive for excellence in all four categories. But I\u2019m not sure which are essential and therefore\u00a0should be used to identify those we rightly call \u201cChristian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we have to choose?\u201d someone might ask. \u201cWhy not let God decide?\u201d another might say.<\/p>\n
I think having an opinion on this issue matters a great deal. It shapes how we decide to live and what we decide to do. It influences where we invest our time and energy.<\/p>\n
If we think saying the sinner\u2019s prayer is the essence of Christian faith, for instance, we ought to focus our primary attention there and not worry much about the others. If we think right beliefs are most important, we ought to spend much more time teaching these beliefs than most churches spend.<\/p>\n
Your thoughts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, love.” I like this ancient saying. But I’ve been wondering lately what the essentials of Christian faith might be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12],"tags":[853,854,855,856,857,858,859,860,861,862,863,864,865,866],"yst_prominent_words":[2939,2948,2947,2946,2945,2944,2943,2942,2941,2940,1380,2938,2937,2936,2935,2934,2933,2836,2077,1383],"class_list":["post-1975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-john_wesley_holiness_and_the_church_of_the_nazarene","category-and_the_kitchen_sink","tag-essentials","tag-unity-in-essentials","tag-love-essentials","tag-christian-essentials","tag-right-beliefs","tag-sinners-prayer","tag-the-essence-of-christianity","tag-in-essentials-unity","tag-in-nonessentials-charity","tag-charity-in-nonessentials","tag-in-all-things-charity","tag-in-nonessentials-liberty","tag-liberty-in-nonessentials","tag-what-is-a-christian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The line I quoted about essentials and nonessentials is usually used in the context of doctrines. Most use it to say, \u201cLet\u2019s not sweat the small stuff. We agree on the major doctrines.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most Christians I know, for instance, think the mode of baptism one chooses is\u00a0nonessential. Most Christians\u00a0think nonessential whether one thinks the Bible has errors or is inerrant. These issues\u00a0matter, but they don\u2019t distinguish Christians from nonChristians.<\/p>\n
But a growing number of Christians reject the notion that right beliefs comprise the essence of Christianity.<\/p>\n
For one thing, there\u2019s little or no agreement about which set of beliefs are essential and which aren\u2019t. The multiplicity of Christian denominations is evidence that Christians can\u2019t agree on doctrines \u2013 even essential doctrines.<\/p>\n
Even if people agree about particular formulations of beliefs (e.g., the Apostle\u2019s Creed), how Christians interpret the meaning of these beliefs can differ widely.<\/p>\n
Take Christology as an example. Early creeds affirmed that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. It\u2019s paradoxical. Two Christians can wholeheartedly affirm the creeds but have wildly different interpretations of what it means that Jesus is both human and divine.<\/p>\n
Besides, everyone I know emphasizes one side of the divine-human Christological equation more than the other. They may say they affirm both equally. But\u00a0Christians I know reveal in the way they pray, worship, and talk about Jesus their emphasis upon either Jesus\u2019 humanity or divinity.<\/p>\n
Or take the contentious issue of\u00a0God\u2019s nature. Few issues seem more important. And yet Christians disagree about whether we should understand God primarily in terms of God\u2019s power or love or holiness or something else.<\/p>\n
Participation in Christian Community and Practices<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\nThe slipperiness of belief\u00a0leads many to say what makes a person Christian has more to do with\u00a0association with the Christian community. These people say the essence of Christianity is involvement in a community of Christ-followers and\u00a0following the liturgy, rites, and practices of the Church.<\/p>\n
This way of thinking has much to commend. It recognizes that community shapes our thinking, habits, lifestyles, and orientation in the world. When people disagree over beliefs, for instance, they can still unite around the celebration of Eucharist. A person may have a strange view of eschatology, but the essence of Christian faith is participation in the community not a particular view of end times.<\/p>\n
Others worry about making participation in Christian community and\u00a0practices the essence of Christian faith. After all, they say,\u00a0this sounds like salvation by works. And it sounds as if one\u2019s motives aren\u2019t as important as one\u2019s actions. Doing something with wrong motives seems opposed to Jesus’ teachings.<\/p>\n
Besides, as they say, \u201cgoing to church doesn\u2019t make you a Christian, any more than going to McDonald\u2019s makes you a hamburger.\u201d And prayer, rituals,\u00a0and meditation aren\u2019t uniquely Christian practices.<\/p>\n
So… Which Is It?<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\nWhat are the essentials around which Christians ought to unite? Is the essence of Christianity love, commitment, belief, or community? Should we pick two or three instead of just one? Does a person have to excel in all four to count as a \u201ctrue Christian?\u201d Who is a Christian?<\/p>\n
To be honest, I haven\u2019t got this figured out. I\u2019m still thinking about essentials and nonessentials.<\/p>\n
I do believe Christians ought to strive for excellence in all four categories. But I\u2019m not sure which are essential and therefore\u00a0should be used to identify those we rightly call \u201cChristian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we have to choose?\u201d someone might ask. \u201cWhy not let God decide?\u201d another might say.<\/p>\n
I think having an opinion on this issue matters a great deal. It shapes how we decide to live and what we decide to do. It influences where we invest our time and energy.<\/p>\n
If we think saying the sinner\u2019s prayer is the essence of Christian faith, for instance, we ought to focus our primary attention there and not worry much about the others. If we think right beliefs are most important, we ought to spend much more time teaching these beliefs than most churches spend.<\/p>\n
Your thoughts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, love.” I like this ancient saying. But I’ve been wondering lately what the essentials of Christian faith might be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12],"tags":[853,854,855,856,857,858,859,860,861,862,863,864,865,866],"yst_prominent_words":[2939,2948,2947,2946,2945,2944,2943,2942,2941,2940,1380,2938,2937,2936,2935,2934,2933,2836,2077,1383],"class_list":["post-1975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-john_wesley_holiness_and_the_church_of_the_nazarene","category-and_the_kitchen_sink","tag-essentials","tag-unity-in-essentials","tag-love-essentials","tag-christian-essentials","tag-right-beliefs","tag-sinners-prayer","tag-the-essence-of-christianity","tag-in-essentials-unity","tag-in-nonessentials-charity","tag-charity-in-nonessentials","tag-in-all-things-charity","tag-in-nonessentials-liberty","tag-liberty-in-nonessentials","tag-what-is-a-christian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
What are the essentials around which Christians ought to unite? Is the essence of Christianity love, commitment, belief, or community? Should we pick two or three instead of just one? Does a person have to excel in all four to count as a \u201ctrue Christian?\u201d Who is a Christian?<\/p>\n
To be honest, I haven\u2019t got this figured out. I\u2019m still thinking about essentials and nonessentials.<\/p>\n
I do believe Christians ought to strive for excellence in all four categories. But I\u2019m not sure which are essential and therefore\u00a0should be used to identify those we rightly call \u201cChristian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we have to choose?\u201d someone might ask. \u201cWhy not let God decide?\u201d another might say.<\/p>\n
I think having an opinion on this issue matters a great deal. It shapes how we decide to live and what we decide to do. It influences where we invest our time and energy.<\/p>\n
If we think saying the sinner\u2019s prayer is the essence of Christian faith, for instance, we ought to focus our primary attention there and not worry much about the others. If we think right beliefs are most important, we ought to spend much more time teaching these beliefs than most churches spend.<\/p>\n
Your thoughts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, love.” I like this ancient saying. But I’ve been wondering lately what the essentials of Christian faith might be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12],"tags":[853,854,855,856,857,858,859,860,861,862,863,864,865,866],"yst_prominent_words":[2939,2948,2947,2946,2945,2944,2943,2942,2941,2940,1380,2938,2937,2936,2935,2934,2933,2836,2077,1383],"class_list":["post-1975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-john_wesley_holiness_and_the_church_of_the_nazarene","category-and_the_kitchen_sink","tag-essentials","tag-unity-in-essentials","tag-love-essentials","tag-christian-essentials","tag-right-beliefs","tag-sinners-prayer","tag-the-essence-of-christianity","tag-in-essentials-unity","tag-in-nonessentials-charity","tag-charity-in-nonessentials","tag-in-all-things-charity","tag-in-nonessentials-liberty","tag-liberty-in-nonessentials","tag-what-is-a-christian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}