Today there are over 4200 world religions. Within that paradigm lies one called Christianity.
Gordon Conwell Seminary’s study of Global Christianity said that in 2012 there were over 43,000 denominations that fall inside the category of Christianity; that’s a lot!
It begs this epic question (within the Christian faith) of who’s right?
And in your evaluation of Christianity I want you to know that there are what we’ll call “primary” and “secondary” issues.
Primary issues are points of division between Christians and non-Christians; and to these we should take a closed hand approach, meaning we WILL fight to maintain them.
An example of a primary issue would be that Jesus is the Son of God, the Bible is the word of God; there is NO wiggle room there.
Then there are secondary issues which serve as points of distinction between Christians; with these, we need to take an open hand approach; meaning we WILL NOT fight over them.
For example, a secondary issue might be: In baptism, do your dunk your doughnuts or sprinkle them? Is Jesus physically there when you take communion? Is the church building a Holy Place or am I a holy place?
Controversial secondary issues like these divide a lot of people. And what ends up happening is that you are left standing at a crossroad, on one side or the other because of your own personal, private, biblical, political, religious backgrounds that you bring along with you.
Some may go, “Well all of the issues in the bible are primary ones,” to them I’d say quite frankly there are some things that just aren’t worth fighting for. I wouldn’t take the same conviction to someone wearing shorts in church as I would them downplaying the deity of Jesus.
All of these denominational questions are to some degree what has separated the universal Christian church (i.e, – The Christian Church from all places, times).
And I want you to know that secondary issues call for debate, discussion, and distinction but never division. When a secondary issue gets in the way of a primary issue, it’s really a SIN issue of pride that needs to be repented of.
I’m telling you this because the reality is that most Christians stink theologically. We are about as ready to present basic Christian beliefs as a Pomeranian is ready to fly a space ship.
Yet, Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:10 urges the Christian Church to unity, saying, “I appeal to you…that you agree..and there be not division…but that you’re united in the same mind and judgment.”
That’s why at rest we have a core conviction that says this, “The main thing, is to keep the main thing, the main thing. We will major on majors, and minor on minors.”
I tell you this to remind you that we’re all on the same team.
We’re all fighting the same fight, and we can be much more affective if we work together.
So put down the boxing gloves and pick up some coffee, because at the end of the day there are just some things that aren’t worth fighting for.
Because He Lives, Pastor AB
