Church tools and resources
Part I: On being Disciple
In essentials unity ...
Ephesians 4:1 to 6; Acts 2:42 to 47
For years there have been studies done by a wide variety of secular and religious groups about why people choose this church or that church over another. For the most part the studies talk about emerging movements and the death of mainline denominations. All studies site that denominational loyalty is a product of the past.
They state that people who maintain strong ties to the denomination in which they were raised are literally dying off. And if we look at the life cycle of the Disciples, we would have to agree.
Too many people have forgone denominational loyalty and have made church choices around issues like the scale and scope of programming, the rise of mega non-denominational churches, and attitudes that are more concerned about receiving services rather than building the community. While all of this may be valid, my biggest concern is that we have created this lack of denominational loyalty ourselves.
We have undersold commitment and failed to educate why our particular voice is so unique, and ultimately, speaks so well for the society in which we live. We simply fail to talk about core values and leave our people wondering what it is that we truly do believe. And once these questions begin to surface, as we flounder for answers, churches with black and white responses to faith and life questions carry the day.
Because of this, I want to begin today a series of sermons that I hope will spark discussion within our faith community about where God is inviting us to serve, to whom we will be open to serving, and how the gospel of Jesus Christ may be shared more effectively in this place and in the world outside these walls. In other words, let's be clear about who we are so that we can once again share a message that makes sense to the world.
Many of you know the cornerstone statement from which I will be drawing my next three sermons. If not let me make you familiar with it. Even though this statement has been strongly identified with the Restoration movement, of which we are a part, this claim of faith was first offered by St. Augustine who said:
- In necessaries unitas,
- In essentials unity,
- In dubiis libertas,
- In doubtful things (non-essentials) liberty,
- In omnibus autem caritas,
- But in all thing love.
This statement for Disciples may only be rivaled by another statement of conviction, "we speak where the Bible speaks, and are silent where the Bible is silent."
To make this task of identifying essentials even more complex, when early Disciple founder Barton W. Stone was asked to define the essentials of faith he replied in his 1841 lectures on the "Union of Christians," held in Jacksonville, Ill.,
Some who are opposed to a large creed-book as a plan of union, yet plead for the necessity of a few essential doctrines to be embodied, as a bond of union. But who shall determine what there essential doctrines are? Suppose it possible that every member of the Church on earth were together, and all agreed upon three or four doctrines as only essential, and that these only shall be tests of Christian union, would they all honestly agree, that should increasing light convince them that the doctrines received were wrong, they would still retain and defend them? Would they, or could they bind their posterity to believe and receive them? But these things are impossible. No formulary of doctrines can unite the Christian world. If it can unite a party, that union is only partial, and of short duration; it is a union of disunion, for unless we give up the right of thinking, and implicitly believe as the Catholics do, such creeds are vain.
For Stone, creeds will never be a secure basis for faithful union. Only the Bible. He thinks that a reduction of faith to essentials will short change the process, inject too much human selectivity, and possibly undermine communal beliefs.
And so as I try to determine the essentials of faith for us, I am staring down the barrel of Stone's loaded gun that says it cannot, and maybe should not, be done. He would argue that most of what we bring to the table for discussion, or for admittance into the kingdom is detail. I agree. So what is it that we can embrace as central to our faith and to our church here without completely discounting Stone's concern? First and foremost, we are a non-creedal church. There is no singular statement of faith that fully encompasses the entire beliefs of the faith community. So rather than to try and find a summary, let me lift up cornerstone principles and practices central to our church. The foundational statement upon which all other practices of the church are founded is that:
- Jesus Christ is the son of the Living God, and offers saving grace to all. For a Christian, the way to know God is through Jesus Christ. No other will do.
- All persons are God's children. God has created every one of us. It is in our diversity that we better understand the complexity and the enormity of God and God's will for the world.
To move this discussion further, the beliefs and practices consistent with our understanding of church based on the foundation claiming Jesus Christ as Lord, is found in:
- Open Communion: The Lord's Supper is celebrated in weekly worship. It is open to all who believe in Jesus Christ.
- Freedom of belief: Disciples are called around one essential of faith: belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Persons are free to follow their consciences guided by the Bible, the Holy Spirit, study and prayer, and are expected to extend that freedom to others. We are a movement based on reason as much as the leading of the heart.
- Baptism by immersion: In baptism old self-centered life is set aside, and a new life of trust in God begins. Although we practice baptism by immersion, other baptism traditions are honored.
- Belief in the oneness of the church. All Christians are called in Christ to seek opportunities to common witness and service. No one denomination or tradition has all the answers. Neither does one church or one believer.
- The ministry of believers. Both ordained ministers and laypersons lead in worship, service and spiritual growth. As God has individually gifted us we are called to ministry in a myriad of ways. All are equally valued.
- The Bible is a living document that must be studied in combination with prayer and praise. Through the Holy Spirit, God continues to offer new truth to each generation that faithfully seeks and listens to the Word of God found in the Holy Scriptures.
My sense is that this is a lot to absorb. But in a nutshell, this is who we are. In the next sermon I will begin to name those parts of our church we sometimes see as defining essentials, but that are really details and even distractions that keep us from honoring our core values.
Knowing full well that any creedal statement is inadequate, I invite you to risk with me in reading together, not a creed, but a pretty good statement about who we are as member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). We will share this reading in worship for the next several weeks as well. It is the Preamble of the Design of the Christian Church adopted by the General Assembly in 1968.
As members of the Christian Church,
We confess that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of the living God,
and proclaim him Lord and Savior of the world.
In Christ's name and by his grace
we accept our mission of witness
and service to all people.
We rejoice in God,
maker of heaven and earth,
and in the covenant of love
which binds us to God and one another.
Through baptism into Christ
we enter into newness of life
and are made one with the whole people of God.
In the communion of the Holy Spirit
we are joined together in discipleship
and in obedience to Christ.
At the table of the Lord
we celebrate with thanksgiving
the saving acts and presence of Christ.
Within the universal church
we receive the gift of ministry
and the light of scripture.
In the bonds of Christian faith
we yield ourselves to God
that we may serve the One
whose kingdom has no end.
Blessing, glory and honor
be to God forever. Amen.
—sermon series by Doug Lofton. Lofton serves as senior minister as Southport Christian Church, Indianapolis, and is the chair of the General Nominating Committee of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). A PDF file of this series is available for download. Lofton delivered this series in September 2006.
