Eclectic Christian

Most Evangelical Protestant churches have a Statement of Faith or a Statement of Belief. It generally serves two purposes. One, it says here is how we are the same as other Christians, and two, here is how we are different. Here are some thoughts about how it can be used to prevent division.

1. Including a phrase to promote unity:

In 1982 the North American Baptist Conference (NABC) put together a statement that would act as a guide for the whole denomination. One of the concepts that they struggled with was “inerrancy”. Many thought that the word inerrancy no longer communicated clearly, and that inerrancy meant so many different things to people that it was not worth having it in the statement of faith. One region of the conference felt strongly otherwise, and stated that if inerrancy was not included then they could no longer be part of the NABC. In the end, the conference acquiesced to the regions request. It was felt that having unity with the region was more important that dividing over a term which most felt they could affirm, albeit with different understandings of what that word meant.

2. Being deliberately vague to promote unity.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada made a recent change in their statement of faith to promote unity.  They removed the word “premillenial”.  Why?  I believe it was because enough Pastors and Leaders in the denomination could no longer in good faith affirm it. The denomination decided that it was more important to them to include these Pastors than it was to dogmatically insist that everyone have the same millennium view.

Both of these types of changes are in keeping with Ephesians 4.  “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”  If you are willing to divide over such issues then one has to wonder if “every effort” is being made.

Here is an interesting side thought.  According to an extensive survey taken in 2006, forty-nine percent of American Pentecostals have not spoken in tongues.  Of the fifty-one percent who do, a significant percentage of these do not believe in the “initial evidence” doctrine.  That is, that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of being filled with Spirit.  If you put these two facts together, it means that at least in the United States the majority of Pentecostals have not either spoken in tongues or believe the core doctrine concerning it.    Could we see a change in the Statements of Faith in some of the Pentecostal denominations some time down the road with the end result that there is a better fit between the Pentecostals and the broader Evangelical community?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 4:29 pm and is filed under division, spiritual gifts, statement of faith, unity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.