What Is Really Essential in Christianity?
On February 24, 2015, I hosted a discussion between Energion authors Elgin Hushbeck, Jr. and Alden Thompson on the topic Biblical Essentials. Here’s the YouTube:
Today another Energion author, Dr. Allan Bevere, posted an entry on his blog titled Doctrine: The House in which the Church Lives. (Allan Bevere and Alden Thompson will be participating in a discussion of violence in the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, on June 2, 2015. I’ll post more information on that later.)
Here’s my question: Is the essentials/non-essentials paradigm a good one? If not, why? If so, what does it accomplish?
I’m well aware that I’ve asked this question and have used this model on this blog many times before. But I’d like a bit of discussion.
I have always thought this was a good model to help set up one’s fellowship, as in what congregation or organization should I be a part of. An individual congregation might have one set of “essentials,” while a particular Sunday School class within that congregation had another. The denomination (or other organization of which the congregation is a part) would have a broader set, while the concept “Christian” might specify something much looser.
Having characteristics on which we gather both to learn and to serve seems valuable to me. But I see a problem when we use that same sort of paradigm as a means of inclusion or exclusion, including the attempt to determine who is “saved” and who is not. The participants in our hangout had a simple answer for that, with which I agree wholeheartedly. Since it’s not our job to determine who goes to heaven and who doesn’t (or any one of a number of other ways of specifying the “eternal in-crowd), we cannot use these essentials for that purpose.
I do think we can use essentials to help define a label. Labels can actually be good things. Without labels I could not write a blog post. Language labels things. The problem is when we force people (or reality in general) to fit the labels rather than looking for the best label to use with reality from a particular perspective.
What do you think?
To help you think, here’s Dr. Herold Weiss, answering a similar question in my interview with him this past Thursday:
Self-selection on the basis of belief or doctrinal affinity is what those in power want us to do. These see themselves as “the keepers of the keys of the kingdom.” The layperson just wants to be around people of good will, you know, the “friendly congregation.” I suspect that the average church member can’t tell you the actual doctrinal positions taken by their organization. They aren’t there for that.
Even for those who take doctrinal issues seriously, I don’t think it’s a good idea to surround one’s self with like minds. When we insulate ourselves from other points of view it reinforces our “rightness” and makes us less receptive to other points of view, views we may very well need. Self-selection also tends to isolate people from each other, and from other “realities,” making it easier to dismiss them, even to consider them enemies.
Certainly we should be concerned about wide-spread biblical illiteracy in our churches. But according to Paul, “sound doctrine” is to create proper behavior, not to be the end but the beginning. Cross pollination serves this better than self-selection.