In the Scriptures, there is a deeply felt tension. We see both a call to unity among believers in Jesus, but also a rejection of harmful heresies that dilute the truth of salvation. The church has historically done a poor job at managing to “pursue unity” and “lovingly correct” at the same time. I’ll spare you the church history lesson, but believe me, it gets ugly. I suspect, based on the Christian divisiveness around social and political issues today, we still don’t understand what to unify around and how far to bend to accommodate the diverse faith practices of other Christians.

The Call to Unity

Multiple times in Scripture we see the Apostle Paul encouraging the churches to be unwavering in their defense of the gospel, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (Colossians 2:8). He also warns Timothy, for example, “Command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer” (1 Timothy 1:3).

Keep in mind that Paul is defending the most basic claims of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and Lordship. Only Jesus deals with our disunity properly by calling us out of sin and into submission to the same master. Two people are only truly united when they submit to the same master, Jesus Christ. The Christian call to unity is always around the centrality of Christ and keeping his commands; less important issues take a back seat. Jesus’ beautiful prayer is first that we be unified to him and the Father, and secondly unified to one another: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:22-23).

Church Unity in the First Three Centuries

The first three centuries of Christian churches around the Roman and Parthian empires showed remarkable diversity of thought, interpretation of Scripture, worship style, and church governance. It was the First Ecumenical Council in 325 C.E. that affirmed the non-negotiable doctrines of all orthodox Christian churches in the East and West. The Nicene Creed captured the broadest and most essential doctrines of Christian belief. In the last few centuries, the Evangelical movement has attempted to refocus and reunite churches of various denominations around the primary Christian doctrines and mission.

A general list of primary doctrines serves as pillars that hold aloft and give shape to Christian faith. They generally include: the Trinity, the sinfulness of humanity, the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, the virgin birth and sinless life of Christ, his substitutionary death, salvation by grace through faith, the bodily return of Christ, the final judgment, and the authority and inspiration of Scriptures. To depart from these core truths is to abandon the broad house of Christianity as taught and lived through Jesus Christ and practiced in the first three centuries by his followers.

Secondary Issues 

The Apostle Paul not only defended the indisputable truths of God, but he also seemed capable of differentiating them from the less important ones, such as how our churches function or our end times eschatology, for example. In his letter to the Romans, Paul began with a defense of the pure gospel and then, in the later chapters, pivoted and forced people to make room for each other’s diverse opinions and practices on less important topics: “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters…Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. [1] Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister” (Romans 14:1,13).

When the Scriptures command us to rebuke in love, it is almost always over the primary issues of idolatry or sinful living. In fact, it was the dogmatic divisiveness over less important practices and doctrines that drew further rebuke. For example, Paul corrects several of the churches for arguing divisively over certain sabbath or ritual laws. We could probably expand the list of secondary issues to include modern applications, such as our social action strategies and political affiliations, beliefs about church leadership and polity, the extent to which the presence of Christ is present in the sacraments, styles of preaching or worship, and whether women can serve in church leadership, among others. These are not insignificant, and the Bible addresses these issues. These issues, however, are not the core of our faith. They are a part of working out our faith together in specific communities. While we can find communities that align with some of our interpretations on secondary issues, our goal is to keep the main thing the main thing. We want to be unified in the essentials of the faith, yet express generosity and freedom to individuals and churches in the non-essentials. As the saying goes: “In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity (love).”

A Few Examples: Primary and Secondary issues

We can unite around the central authority of Scripture even if we disagree on how to interpret every issue. What we can’t unite around is a diminishment of Scripture’s truthfulness or inspiration. We can unite on the core mission of the church to “make disciples of all nations,” even if we disagree on our strategies or structures for fulfilling that mission. What we can’t unite around is the idea that everyone will eventually be saved and go to heaven. We can unite on the sinfulness of humanity even if we disagree on the extent to which humans have free will or not. What we can’t unite around is the false idea that we don’t need a savior, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sins. We can unite around the idea that Christians bring their values everywhere, including the social and political conversation. We will certainly disagree over competing political strategies, and that requires humility and understanding. Congregants and leaders should strive to keep the main thing the main thing, our faith in Jesus Christ. It’s essential to be discerning about whether your church is adhering to an expression of orthodox Christianity and not elevating secondary-level conversations to primary-level status. Even still, secondary issues are not unimportant.

As we partner with specific church communities, secondary issues arise because they affect the way that we practically live out our faith. For example, maybe a verse-by-verse style of preaching is especially important to you and your family as you find a community to worship with. You have the liberty to find a church that aligns with some of your convictions, cultural patterns, and Biblical interpretations. Just be careful not to judge the church down the street based on your convictions on secondary issues. Just because the church down the street doesn’t preach the Scriptures verse by verse doesn’t mean they are not a Biblically based church. Different people come to different conclusions and express their worship in different ways. And we don’t have to control, punish, or judge other people and other churches. Christianity is a big family with a great deal of diversity. It is important that we honor and respect each other as we pursue Jesus Christ and his mission. If we unite on the main things, we can honor and value the rich complexion of Christianity and its practices around the world. “In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity.” What a liberating attitude. We can stand firm on the essentials while respecting the fact that we all perceive God and approach him through our human filters and cultures.

All Things in Love

Whether we agree on essentials or disagree on non-essentials, we are called to do all things in love. Again, the church has historically done a poor job of clinging to both truth and grace together. Now, in our nation, everyone seems to be weaponized with opinions these days. Everyone thinks they are so right, and everyone else is blind, ignorant, or evil. That’s called pride. What happened to humility? Or listening? What happened to giving room to say, I could be wrong, or we could both be right, or maybe there’s a better way, or you bring up a good point, or I never thought of that before, or maybe we need each other’s perspective to bring balance?

In the church, we can cloak our accusations in self-righteousness by accusing others of heresy or questioning whether they are even a Christian. This is happening between Christians who diverge on their political convictions. Don’t get me wrong, Christians can have a robust family political conversation, but those convictions are secondary to our collective family identity. We live for a different kind of King, and it is his kingdom we are pursuing before anything else.

As our nation disunifies politically, I’m reminding us not to act like the world or get caught up in the worldly winds of divisiveness. Colossians 3:14 says, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Jesus knew how to speak the truth. But he expressed himself in the Father’s love. “In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity.”

[1] Italics added by me for emphasis

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