“In essentials – unity. In non-essentials – liberty. In all things – charity.”

Recently, I listened to a friend of mine give a sermon on the substance of this quote. It’s a quote that’s been attributed to various theologians for many years.

It’s intended to be an answer to the question – “What does God expect from his followers when it comes to our diverse and differing beliefs?”

In essentials – unity.

When it comes to the things that are absolutely essential to orthodox Christian faith – we should be united. We should be one.

In his “high priestly prayer” after the Last Supper (found in John 17), Jesus prays not just for his disciples, but for those who would come to know him later because of them. Basically, for US. And his prayer is this:

“I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, 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.  The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Jesus’ prayer on the night before his death was that we who believe in him, even 2000-something years later, would find unity. To be honest, it’s a pretty tall order. I wouldn’t exactly call the Christian believers throughout the world “unified”. I wouldn’t even call Christian believers in the U.S., or in Houston, or even in most churches “unified”. Would you? If the path to unity is complete agreement – we are in big trouble. Luckily, there is hope. Perhaps if we can agree on the essential things – only the things most necessary to be called a Christian – then we may honor Christ’s prayer for us.

But what are those things? What is the minimum necessary requirement to be called a Christian. Can we even agree on what those are? The answer there appears pretty bleak, as well. Throughout history divisions and factions and denominations have come about because Christians cannot agree on what is essential. Some have tried to make lists. That’s basically what the creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, Athanasian) attempted to do. Think about the words of the Apostles’ Creed that we say every Sunday. It’s probably the shortest of the 3 creeds we observe, but I’d bet there’s stuff in there that people could find to disagree on.