6 Steps to Unity

(To watch or listen to “6 Steps to Unity,” click here.)

How can we have unity with Christians who disagree with us on non-essential issues? How can we grant grace and extend charity over issues like creation and end times?

Welcome to Session 10 of Discovering Good News in John.

In this week’s chapter, we read Jesus’s prayer for us in John 17:21. He prayed:

That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

John 17:21

Jesus prayed for his followers to be one. He wants us to be united so that others will believe in him. But when we look around us, we see the Christian church divided into many denominations. And we see Christians sometimes in heated disagreements over how to interpret Scripture.

So today I want to talk about how to be united with Christians whose opinions on non-essentials differ from ours by offering charity. The first step to being charitable in non-essentials is to realize that differences over non-essentials are okay.

Step 1 to Unity: Realize That Differences Over Non-Essentials Are Okay

When I became a Christian as a teenager, many Christian pastors said the rapture would occur no later than 1981. The math was simple: Jesus spoke of his second coming and then said in Matthew 24:34 that “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” Many Christians concluded that a generation was 40 years, and they considered Israel’s reestablishment in Palestine in 1948 to be the beginning of that 40-year generation. 40 years from 1948 is 1988 minus seven years for the tribulation meant the rapture needed to occur by 1981. Simple, right? Some pastors we respected taught this fervently.

The first time I really understood there were other views was when my husband attended seminary and studied eschatology. Then I began reading the works of people who held different views and discovered things weren’t quite as simple as I had thought.

And guess what? The rapture did not occur by 1981. That respected pastors could be wrong hurt the faith of some Christians who wondered what else the pastors might be wrong about.

Today, something similar still happens. Christians who have been taught only one view are stunned when they attend school or a different church and for the first time encounter different views. Christians who realize they were mistaken about a teaching suddenly wonder how many other things they could be wrong about. The fact that there are so many Christian denominations feeds their doubts further.

Therefore, it’s important to realize that differences over non-essentials are okay. It helps us grant grace to those with different opinions. This leads us to the second step toward greater unity, which is to differentiate between essentials and non-essentials.

Step 2 to Unity: Differentiate Between Essentials and Non-Essentials

The main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things. Godly Christians agree on the overwhelming majority of doctrines. Scripture teaches these things plainly. But there are some things that godly Christians interpret differently. That’s why we must discern between essentials and non-essentials.

How do we do this? First, know the essentials.

What Are the Essentials?

Christians contend that to be a Christian you must agree to certain essentials. Although there are other creedal statements, the big three are the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and Chalcedonian Creed. Here’s a quick summary of some of the essentials:

• The Bible is the inspired Word of God.
• There is one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who are co-equal and co-eternal.
• Jesus died for our sins, he was raised from the dead, and he is coming back to judge the world.
• People are saved from their sins by grace through faith in Jesus’s atoning work on the cross.

By the way, perhaps the very first creedal statement is found 1 Corinthians 15:3-8:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

1 Corinthians 15:3–8, ESV

Notice that Paul said that what he was passing on is what he received. It is a testimony that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, was raised from the dead, and appeared to the disciples individually and in groups. I think it will be obvious that anyone who denies any one of these points would not be a true Christian.

How Do We Recognize Non-Essentials?

Well, some pastors teach multiple views regarding non-essential but controversial doctrines, which helps. But for me, after I discovered my pastor had been mistaken about the rapture, I decided the best way to know what’s essential and what’s not is to read study Bibles that don’t take positions on the main areas of disagreement. Instead, they summarize the differences.

That leads us to the third step toward greater unity, which is to beware partisanship.

Step 3 to Unity: Beware Partisanship

The apostle Paul warned against being doctrinally divisive in 1 Corinthians 1:10-13:

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

1 Corinthians 1:10–13, ESV

Clay and I had a friend who would say that he himself was no expert in theology, but he considered a particular theologian to be the ultimate expert, and whatever that guy said was the truth. But do you see the arrogance in saying, “I’m not an expert but I can identify who I think is the best expert alive today and he’s the guy I listen to”? The arrogance is that this fellow thought he was an expert on experts. He thought he was qualified to say who the greatest contemporary theologian was.

Now, it’s fine to respect this or that Christian leader; there’s nothing wrong with that. But we shouldn’t turn anyone into the standard by which all Christians are measured. To do so is arrogant and partisan. It’s what Paul warns us not to do.

The fourth step toward greater unity is to grant grace by neither despising nor judging.

Step 4 to Unity: Grant Grace by Neither Despising nor Judging

Paul wrote his letter to Rome partly to bring unity between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Disputes about whether Christians should eat meat were destroying unity. In Romans 14:3-4, he instructs us on how to handle gray areas where Christians may disagree:

Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Romans 14:3–4, ESV

Verse 10 continues:

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

Romans 14:10, ESV

Paul’s warning to neither despise nor pass judgment on non-essential areas applies wherever Bible-believing Christians legitimately disagree. We should neither despise nor pass judgment on those whose opinions differ from ours on non-essentials.

What helps us to neither despise nor judge is step 5, which is to hear all Christian views.

Step 5 to Unity: Hear All Christian Views

I don’t mean hear what those you agree with say about others’ views. I mean listen to those who hold different views. Proverbs 18:17 cautions:

The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.

Proverbs 18:17, ESV

In a few cases, I’ve changed my view about this or that over the years, but even when I don’t, I’m at least more charitable toward those with whom I disagree. My favorite way is to read multi-view books in which authors state and defend their own view as well as critique the other authors’ views.

Almost everything I’ve said so far can be summed up by step 6 toward greater unity, which is to be humble.

Step 6 to Unity: Be Humble

Don’t be arrogant. Paul wrote in Philippians 2:2-11,

Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:2–11, ESV

Here, Paul tells the Philippians to be of the same mind and be in full accord. That’s about humility. He tells them to avoid conceit. He points out that even though Jesus was in the form of God, Jesus was a servant who humbled himself. We likewise need to embrace humility. And that means we need to avoid the conceit of always thinking that we’re right and others are wrong.

Some Christians make it their life to argue about every little doctrine. My husband Clay has trained apologists for years at Talbot School of Theology. He warns them not to be like some apologists who consider it an affront if you disagree with them on any point of doctrine, no matter how small. Indeed, some Christians seem to think that it is impossible that they could be wrong about anything they believe. Don’t be like that. Instead, as Paul said, “in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” So don’t think “I’m a better Christian than you are because I hold this or that particular doctrine.” That’s despising others and not embracing humility. Don’t think, “I’m a better Christian than you are because I go to a better church than you do.” Again, that’s despising others and not being humble.

Jesus humbled himself and God highly exalted him. Jesus said in Matthew 23:12:

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Matthew 23:12, ESV

So, let’s be humble because if we are humble, God will exalt us.

In Conclusion

Let’s realize that differences over non-essentials are okay, strive to differentiate between essentials and non-essentials, beware partisanship, grant grace by neither despising nor judging those with different opinions, hear all Christian views, and be humble.

This week in Discovering Good News in John, complete chapter 10: Jesus Is the Messiah. We’ll answer the question, What evidence does John give that Jesus is the Messiah? See you next time.

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Books You Might Like

• Discovering Good News in John:* This session accompanies this book
• Biblical Theology Study Bible:* Traces theological concepts through the Bible
• NIV Study Bible:* Excellent notes, maps, charts

*Affiliate link for which I receive a small commission at no cost to you.

Related Posts

• 3 Mistakes People Make about God (session 1 of this series)
• The Apostles’ Creed
• The Nicene Creed
• The Chalcedonian Creed

Join the Discussion

Please answer these questions in the comments below.

1. What one thought stuck out to you in this week’s video? Why did it stand out?
2. What one thought stuck out to you from this week’s chapter? Why did it stand out?
3. Question 33, page 183: How can you imitate Jesus’s response to a betrayal you’ve experienced?

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