Over the years, I have heard people comment about the different “types” of Christian churches. Statements like, “I don’t see how there can be such differences among those who worship the same God.” I get the confusion. Yet, God shows His creative brilliance in variety. After all, there are over 16,000 known species of bees. Therefore, I don’t consider differences between church structure, worship style, or ministry offerings as negative but demonstrative of God’s desire to reach the various peoples of the earth, utilizing different ways and approaches.
Where Christian churches are to be united is in Christ and our right understanding or belief, what the New Testament calls “sound doctrine” (i.e., 1 Tim 1:10; Titus 1:9; 2:1). Orthodoxy properly reflects in summary form all the scriptures by which the church is therefore bound to believe and obey. Such sound doctrine is defined in the early church creeds as well as confessions and statements of faith.
What differentiates church types or denominations is not the essential or major doctrines of scriptural teaching but minor doctrines or nonessentials. An example of a major doctrine is Jesus Christ’s Deity that He is actually God. An example of a minor doctrine would be how a person is baptized in water after they believe in Jesus Christ. The Person of Christ and the authority of Scripture are of utmost importance, while the particular way a person receives water baptism is not that crucial.
The early church wrestled with the question of major doctrines. The church was spreading like crazy. Gentiles were coming to Christ in great numbers. A question began to arise about whether or not a Gentile had to become a Jew in order to be saved. Questions developed about how they needed to behave befitting the name or gospel of Jesus Christ, also known as orthopraxy. We call this first recorded gathering of early church leaders the Jerusalem Council, which occurred in 51 AD, about fifteen years after Christ’s ascension. The account is found in Acts 15.
What was the outcome of the Jerusalem Council? It was determined that Gentiles did not have to become Jews in order to be saved. They needed to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. They needed to believe the gospel, which is the good news of Christ for the salvation of all people. The gospel is the message that the Son of God became incarnate, lived a sinless life, suffered, was crucified and buried (died), rose again (resurrected), and ascended into heaven. This is the accomplishment of salvation. Therefore, sinful human beings who hear the good news are instructed to repent of their sins and believe in Christ, where they are justified by grace (made right with God), sanctified by the Spirit (becoming more and more like Christ), united with Christ, adopted into God’s family, and baptized by the Spirit (indwelt by God’s Spirit).
The Jerusalem Council also addressed three other beliefs and practices of a genuine believer. We read, “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood” (Acts 15:19-20). In other words, they are to embrace a belief in the “Sanctity of Worship,” “Sanctity of Sex,” and the “Sanctity of Life.” It’s important to note that the account makes it crystal clear that this was not a new directive but was part of God’s plan all along. It is, however, freshly articulated.
What was affirmed at the Jerusalem Council, and believers should affirm today, is that salvation is by faith in Jesus, not by keeping the law (works). The principle was settled that the Gentiles were not required to keep the ceremonial or civic law of the Old Testament, nor did they need to be circumcised. They were directed to “abstain from the things polluted by idols” (Sanctity of Worship). Today, our equivalence would be introducing something into worship gatherings antithetical to biblical teachings. They were also to abstain “from sexual immorality” (Sanctity of Sex). The complete disregard of the scriptural teachings on sex and sexuality is not merely a current issue but one also faced by the first-century church. Finally, they were directed to abstain “from what has been strangled, and from blood” (Sanctity of Life). The biblical understanding that life is in the blood led Jews to treat all life respectfully and with dignity. The church’s stance on the sanctity of all life is biblically rooted and historically exemplified.
These three directives teach us three things about life together in a culturally diverse church. First, we must say no to any form of cultural hierarchy that demands others’ conformity to our cultural standards before we will accept fellow believers as brothers and sisters in Christ. Further, we must say yes to mutual respect for differences. Finally, we must live out that respect even to the extent of using our freedom to forgo what is permissible in other circumstances. The differences represented by God’s church are to be celebrated and where believers are to be unified in Christ with a right understanding or belief (sound doctrine or orthodoxy) is to be held tightly. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!