Add your voice to the call for unity in the church
We know that unity is very important to Jesus. In his longest recorded prayer, he repeatedly asks the Father to make us one. (John 17)
We also know that the church is not living in this unity today. It seems that Christians will fracture and splinter over anything and everything.
Rachel Held Evans recently published a blog post “Announcing the Rally to Restore Unity.”
Here’s a brief description of this online rally:
The rally will include a synchroblog, contests, celebrity guest posts, roundtable discussions, and a fundraising effort for Charity:Water. The goal is to lightheartedly combat some of the vitriol coming out of the online Christian community by celebrating what we have in common and demonstrating that we can have a sense of humor when it comes to non-essential theological disagreements.
I plan to take part in the synchroblog next week May 1-7, 2011. I encourage you to take part in order to promote unity among brothers and sisters in Christ. Read Rachel’s post for more information about how you can join this rally to promote unity.
Where do we find a list of non-essential theologies?
Josh,
Check Romans 14-15. All of those issues are theological issues.
-Alan
Alan: Where do you see a list of non-essential theologies? I see Paul addressing a mixed community of Jews and Gentiles and he’s saying in 14 that one ought not to judge the other based on food or which days one regards as special and in 15 he continues that line of thinking, though calling them to be of ‘one mind’ and ‘one voice’ (Rom 15.5-6).
I don’t see any issues of theology proper (i.e., “Who is God?” or “Who is Christ?” or “What is the atonement?” or “What of hell?” or any number of other things). So do you know of a place where we can find a listing of the “non-essential” or arbitrary things in Scripture?
Josh,
Each of those issues relates to how people understand God. This is theology.
-Alan
Christ and He alone is our unity.
Alan: So that’s a “No” to my question? 🙂
Redefining ‘theology’ to mean ‘dietary and day-keeping issues’ doesn’t seem like an answer to me. It seems like there’s no place in Scripture that tells you which things are essential and which are not. It sounds like even here, Paul is asking us to be of ‘one mind’ – something hard to do if you’re worshiping with someone who rejects the divinity of Christ or perhaps has different beliefs concerning the nature and efficacy of the sacraments.
Josh,
Actually, I did give you a Scripture passage. You don’t agree with that passage.
Did people understand that keeping a certain day or staying away from certain types of food was important for their relationship or right standing with God?
Why did Paul stand firm against some people, but tell Timothy to deal gently with others?
-Alan