As a Pastor, I am charged with guiding and protecting the Church I shepherd. Here’s how I determine what issues are dangerous and what we just like to argue about ’cause we all get passionate about what we believe. My mentor calls it “theological triage”.

Dogma>Distinctive>Debatable

Dogma

Dogma are those things which are so true that everything else stands on them. The foundational Christian dogma on which all others are based is this: the Scriptures are inspired, sufficient, and inerrant. If they weren’t, nothing else we believe could be true! From Scripture we derive the basics, like the deity of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14), his death for our sins and his bodily resurrection (1 Cor. 15), and salvation by grace alone through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8–9). We even believe God is love because the Bible tells us He is. (1 John 4:8)

There are other wonderfully deep and rich dogmas pulled from the fullness of Scripture, like the Trinity, the virgin birth of Christ, and the eternal reign of Christ. I can’t work with any church which does not affirm Christian dogma…because it’s what it means to be a Christian!

Distinctive

Distinctives are beliefs that distinguish one church or denomination from another. Baptists, for instance, have a strong belief in full immersion of believers as a symbol of Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. Other denominations practice pouring as a symbol of the Holy Spirit being poured out, still others sprinkle. All share belief in baptism, but the practice makes one church distinct from another. In the same way a healthy forest has different trees, a healthy community has different churches. As long as the dogma is agreed upon, I believe in cross-church cooperation locally.

Debatable

The last category is the largest and the way we tend to create most of our divisions. Debatable issues are where Spirit-filled, sound-minded, well-intentioned believers can reasonably hold differing positions. For example, eschatology is a widely-debated issue, because apocalyptic Scriptures are able to interpret in differing ways. Arminianism vs. Calvinism is a hotly debated issue because there are excellent arguments (and, almost always, massive misunderstandings) on both sides.

I think it is good for us to debate these issues, just do it as Scripture commands: with sound arguments, with kindness, with gentleness. Debatables should not divide believers, even within the same Church family. Why? Because Scripture clearly commands us to love one another (1 John 4:7) and not bite and devour one another (Galatians 5:15)…even if our brother or sister is, you know, sinningly wrong about what you really really really believe. (1 Peter 4:8)