Stand in your church parking lot and throw a rock. Chances are, you’ll hit another church down the street. Paul told the Ephesians that there is “one body and one Spirit…one hope…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, [and] one God” (Ephesians 4:4-6). So why are there so many unique denominations?
Some divisions occur because of preferences over things like worship style. But most of the core distinctions between different churches lie within their fundamental beliefs. And that’s ok! It’s perfectly possible for churches to remain united in their core beliefs even while preferring to cultivate communities that embrace certain particulars. The question, though, is how to sort out what’s essential—and what’s not.
THEOLOGICAL TRIAGE
A number of recent writers have used the phrase “theological triage” to refer to the way we sort through questions of faith. In medicine, “triage” is a term used to refer to what’s important, or what receives top priority. Christian teachers might also use the term “theological triage” to sort out what issues are most important from the issues of lesser importance.
What follows is a general three-tiered approach to understanding Christian doctrine and unity.
Primary issues: What Christians MUST believe
Some issues are essential to all Christian faith. These are the things you must believe in order to be saved and count yourself a Christian at all. These things include:
- The full deity of Christ
- Salvation by faith in Christ alone
- The resurrection of Jesus Christ
- The doctrine of the Trinity
Mind you, not everyone understood the concept of the Trinity or the divine nature of Jesus the moment they got saved. But there’s a difference between not understanding these ideas and denying them altogether. Failing to embrace these issues of primary importance jeopardizes your Christian identity as well as your salvation.
Secondary issues: What Christians ALSO believe
Other issues remain of great importance, but they will not threaten your salvation. Such issues include:
- The nature and type of church government
- When and how to baptize
- The role of women within the church
- The nature and place of spiritual gifts
Affirming or denying these issues won’t alter your salvation. But it will influence the kind of local church you attend.
In other words, if you and I disagree over a primary issue, it means that you and I no longer share the same spiritual destiny. But if you and I disagree over a secondary issue, it means that we won’t fit in at the same local church.
This is where denominations come in. While all orthodox (that is “right-thinking”) denominations embrace the same primary issues, denominations also form around a common understanding of secondary issues.
Of course, that’s not the sole basis for forming Christian denominations, as some churches form their identity around tertiary issues.
Tertiary issues: What Christians MAY believe
Finally, there’s a laundry list of third-tier issues that Christians may believe—and disagree on—but not necessarily impact their ability to exist in the same church. These include such things as:
- The age of the earth
- The exact timing/sequence of Christ’s return
- Calvinism vs Arminianism
- Views on alcohol
- The relationship between Israel and the church
Now, here’s where it gets a little tricky. Some denominations choose to make these third-tier issues a major part of their identity. For instance, some churches might expect you to agree to a particular view of the Rapture or the doctrine of election. But other churches allow their members freedom to think through these issues on their own and decide what to believe without dividing the church over it.
For that matter, many non-denominational churches (including The Flock) also choose to organize around primary and secondary issues, but leave these third-tier issues as matters of individual choices. That’s why these sorts of churches might include both Calvinists and Arminians, young-earth and old-earthers, and those who simply haven’t made up their minds yet!
IN ALL THINGS CHARITY
Rupertus Meldenius was a German Lutheran writer from the early seventeenth century. He famously said that as Christians think about what they believe, they should abide by a simple formula: “In essentials, unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” Christian love should remain even when we don’t agree on doctrinal specifics.
This is how the church can remain unified despite the diversity of denominations. Mind you, denominations are a good thing. They preserve certain teachings of the faith as well as provide a form of support for church leaders. But even when Christians find themselves on opposite sides of a second- or third-tier issue, they can still find hope in their common identity in Jesus Christ.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- How do first-tier issues help to unify the church?
- Has your church ever discussed or displayed a position on second-tier issues?
- Do you have a position on any of the third-tier issues listed above? How can you show love to those who hold a differing view?
