What We Believe

Essentials and Non-Essentials: In Search of Unity

Robert M. Thompson, D.Min., Pastor

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During the volatile controversies at the time of Germany's Thirty Years' War, an otherwise
obscure theologian, Peter Meiderlinus (1582-1651) wrote a small tract under the pseudonym
Rupertus Meldinius. He urged moderation and love and concluded with a now-famous motto
often falsely attributed to others: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, diversity; in all things,
charity."

Meldinius' words are wise and helpful, but not easy to put into practice. First, are there really
any essentials at all? How do we decide? What if we don't agree what the essentials and
non-essentials are?

At Corinth Reformed Church, we cannot avoid these issues. Our denomination, the "United
Church of Christ,"implies theological inclusiveness. "Reformed" denotes a distinctive
historical theology. "Corinth" reminds us that we are a local church with a peculiar heritage
and mission, requiring us to name what is essential and non-essential in our fellowship.

Four concentric circles (right)
help to illustrate essentials and
non-essentials. The two inner
circles (core and confessions)
represent essentials, while the
two outer circles (convictions
and conscience) represent
non-essentials.

Core: What does it mean
to be a Christian?

The core represents the center
of our faith. What is the lowest
common denominator that
defines and binds Christians?

There is a mystical element about the core. For that reason, we should always hesitate to
judge the validity of another person's relationship to God through Christ. God is sovereign
and absolute judge.

However, we can and must possess and proclaim the witness of the New Testament: the
good news that the LordJesus Christ, the Son of God, died and rose again for our salvation.
When one turns from an old way of life, believes in Jesus Christ, accepts him as Savior,
and confesses him as Lord, that person receives the gift of salvation. That is the core.

Confessions: What are the central points of the historic Christian faith?

The concentric circle next to the core is labeled "confessions." The confessions are the
basic truths of our faith that the church has embraced and proclaimed throughout the twenty
centuries of Christian history.

The Apostles' Creed summarizes the confessions: God the Father, Creator of all; Jesus
Christ his only begotten Son, born of a virgin, who suffered, died, was buried, rose again,
ascended into heaven, and will come again to judge the living and the dead; the Holy Spirit,
the coming resurrection, eternal life.

Embracing all these confessions may not be necessary for salvation. God only knows.
These affirmations are still essentials, however, because they lie so close to the core that
we jeopardize the integrity of the core when we compromise the confessions.

At the heart of these confessions lies another confession often left unspoken in church
history because it was assumed: that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are
the final authority for faith and practice.

Confessions are the teachings of the Bible that the universal church from its apostolic
origin has found to be consistent with the witness of Scripture. We might, then, add other
issues of faith and ethics to the list of essentials if they represent the common commitment
of the church across the years and around the world.

A commitment to the gospel (core) and a commitment to the Scriptures (confessions) are
both essentials, but they are not equally essential. The core is more essential than the
confessions, because it points the way to eternal life.

Convictions: Where does the Bible speak directly?

The third concentric circle, "convictions," represents points of theology and ethics that an
individual Christian or church feels the Bible clearly articulates. These issues are not,
however, essential dogma for the integrity of the Christian faith and Christians do disagree
on some of these as matters of interpretation.

The fact that Scripture is our primary and ultimate authority is an essential. As individual
Christians from various backgrounds and perspectives seek to understand the Bible under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, however, they will come inevitably to different conclusions
about its interpretation.

Here are some non-confessional issues on which Christians hold varying but often strong
biblical convictions:

• Are all the gifts of the Spirit mentioned by Paul in I Corinthians 12-14 still functional
  today — even gifts such as supernatural healing, miracles, and tongues?
  
  
• Should the church ordain women as deacons and pastors?
  
  
• Should the church ever sanction remarriage?
  
  
• Should baptism be applied only to those who have made a personal commitment to
  Christ as Savior and Lord, or should children of believers be baptized also?
  
  
• What should be the Christian's attitude toward war?

When sincere Christians address these issues out of a genuine commitment to the authority
of the Scriptures, they often arrive at different conclusions. Some of these matters are more
important than others, and most Christians would feel the Bible is more clear and consistent
on one or more of these issues than on the others. None of them, however, affects the core
of our faith, and none of them is addressedin the creeds, as a matter of the confessions.

The Bible speaks to all of them, though, so they are "convictions" — non-essential beliefs
with a secure biblical basis, at least in the opinion of the interpreter.

Conscience: What other opinions are important?

The final circle, the outermost one, is "conscience." These are matters on which Christians
express personal opinions without a specific biblical pretext. Most Christians would argue
that their opinions in this circle are compatible with the Bible, but the Bible does not give a
clear, consistent answer on these questions.

Here are some issues of "conscience"--

• How should Christians observe a weekly Sabbath?
  
  
• Should Christians drink alcoholic beverages?
  
  
• How wide should our circle of Christian fellowship be?
  
  
• Should we join churches and denominations that compromise our convictions, the
  confessions, or even the core?
  
  
• What kind of public worship best honors God? A more formal and liturgical worship, a
  more spontaneous and free worship, or something in between?
  
  
• Where do I draw the line between indulging my desires and wants when I might be
  harming the environment or hoarding resources that should be shared with those in
  need?
  
  

"Convictions" and "conscience" are both "non-essentials," but they are unequal in
importance. The question of divorce and remarriage is more significant than whether I
mow my lawn on Sunday.

In all things, charity

At Corinth Reformed Church, we invite others to join us in seeking God in Christ as revealed
in the Scriptures. As far as attendance and participation in all the services and activities of
our church fellowship, we must be unconditionally inclusive. We do not even exclude avowed
non-Christians from attendance and participation, do we?

Neither can we hang a sign outside our church, literally or symbolically, that says "No
fundamentalists" or "No liberals" or "No Doubters" or "Only Those Who Have It All Together"
or "Pro-life Only" or "Pro-choice Only" or "No Blacks" or "No Beards."

Our attitude must be a sign that invites all to gather here, to seek God, to join in worship,
and to share in our small group ministries. We should deliberately invite honest seekers and
candid strugglers, including those who may think, act, or look differently than we do. We
invite all to consider with us who Jesus Christ is and what he has done, and to study the
Scriptures with us as our primary and ultimate authority for faith and life.

Membership in the church raises the discussion to a different level. We exercise limited
exclusiveness as a prerequisite for membership. The only basis on which to be exclusive,
however, is affirmation of the core — inviting all to join whoconfess faith in Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior. We never want to exclude from our fellowship those whom God includes in
His fellowship! The only requirement for fellowship with God is embracing the gospel of
Jesus Christ.

For church leadership (lay and clergy), we draw the line of exclusiveness around the
confessions. The church must maintain a clear witness to the truth of the gospel through
its leaders.

In all non-essentials, however, we are inclusive. We lovingly include in our circles of
fellowship and cooperation those who may differ in matters of conviction and conscience.
Diversity is not an unfortunate by-product of what it means to be the church. Diversity is at
the heart of the church's identity.

Our attitude toward the viewpoints of others should reflect Oliver Cromwell's plea to the rigid
Scots of his day: "I beseech you by the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be
mistaken."

Actions must back up attitudes. C. S. Lewis wrote, " Do not waste your time bothering
whether you "love" your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one
of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently
come to love him."

Our ultimate goal is to attract people to Jesus Christ. We certainly do not love perfectly,
but hopefully our words and actions will increasingly reflect the character and priorities
of Christ. Whether the issue is essential or non-essential, we need to live in love.

God help us. Amen.

Find out more about Corinth Reformed Church:

Worship @ Corinth
The Bible is at the heart of all our worship experiences.

About the United Church of Christ (UCC)
The motto of the United Church of Christ, "That They All May Be One," reflects its distinctiveness as a
united and uniting church.

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