When speaking about God, the Bible, or anything spiritual, it has been said…

• In essentials, unity; 
• in non-essentials, liberty; 
• and, in all things, charity.

This was supposedly written by John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist and Wesleyan church.  It is also attributed to five other writers, so who knows for sure?  But like gift-giving, it’s the thought that counts.

Whatever your feelings about Charles Wesley or any of the other potential authors, I propose that it is consistent with the Apostle Paul’s teachings.  So maybe it’s worth considering.  

All things

Starting with the last phrase first.  “In all things, charity.”  “Things”, relative to this quote, are spiritual beliefs you may have.

The word “all” means just that – any and all beliefs you have about any spiritual topic.

Charity

And what are all discussions about beliefs to be?  They are to be “charitable”.  In this case, the meaning of charitable is not giving to some needy cause or person like we think of today, but rather the meaning of the word in the 1700s when the quote was written.  Charitable meant to be full of love and goodwill.

The Apostle Paul says this when he writes to the Ephesians urging them to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love…”  Did you catch that?  Our interactions are to be humble, gentle, patient, and loving.  He does not specify which certain conversations are to be charitable so the implication is that, as the quote goes, “all” conversations are to be charitable.

And Luke in chapter 17 of his gospel says “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to one through whom they come!”  So woe to anyone who argues their Biblical belief and in doing so causes a brother or sister to stumble.  That’s just not charitable.

So, one part of this quote says that all conversations about spiritual beliefs with fellow believers should be humble, gentle, patient, and loving.

Essentials

Going back now to the first line of the quote which says, “In essentials, unity.”  What are spiritual essentials? They are spiritual beliefs that the Christian is not willing to renounce for any reason.  How to determine what those essential beliefs are is a larger topic for another time.  For purposes of this article and by way of example, let’s say one essential belief is that through Jesus is the only way into Heaven.  This would be an essential belief for the Christian whose citizenship in Heaven, after their death here on earth.

Various passages make that claim.  One such is John 14:6 where Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”  There are other references to the same thought such as Matthew 7:13-14.

For the Christian to believe otherwise would be ignoring Jesus’ claim and thus negating entrance into Heaven.  So you can see that this belief is essential for the Christian for whom eternal life in Heaven is equally essential.

Persecution

How essential?  People have died and are dying even today because they would not renounce Jesus’ claim for any reason.  Case in point, last year, 5,621 Christians were murdered in North Korea, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan because of their faith in Jesus Christ.  Their belief in Jesus and the gospel was essential to them, worth dying for.  It continues today.  This persecution is a real thing.

While we should be charitable in all our discussions about spiritual essentials, we need always remember they are essential to the Christian and should never be renounced.

Unity

As to the last word of that phrase, “unity.”  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:10 “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

Groupthink vs common thought

Does this verse mean we are all to think alike on every spiritual topic?  That’s called groupthink and is the hallmark of the cults.  So, no.

But the commonality of essential beliefs is what holds Christians together in the “bond of peace,” as Paul says in Ephesians 4:3.

So, as the quote goes, we now have that all believers should agree on the spiritual essentials, which for this discussion is that the only way to heaven is through Jesus.  And that we are to be humble, gentle, patient, and loving in all spiritual discussions.  No shouting matches or anger either secretly harbored or otherwise.

Now for all those other beliefs that are not necessarily essential for citizenship in Heaven.

Non-essentials

The last part of the quote says, “In non-essentials, liberty.”  So, non-essentials are all other beliefs left over from the essentials.  For this article, since we are saying an essential belief is that Jesus is the only way to Heaven, that leaves a whole lot of beliefs as not essential.

By way of example, some of these non-essential beliefs between various mainline protestant churches could be things like infant baptism, whether priests can marry, women pastors, or what instruments are allowed in the worship service.  The list goes on.  And dare I bring up the big ones like “once saved always saved” and “election vs free will?”

Remembering that we are assuming Heavenly citizenship as an essential for the Christian, you have to ask yourself, “Does a particular belief about any one of those topics affect your future citizenship in heaven?  Is having the correct position on any of these a requirement for Heaven?  When knocking at the pearl gates of heaven will you be asked if you were immersed or sprinkled?  Is any particular position on any non-essential belief worth dying for?  It’s your call.

Liberty

God must be saddened when He sees that we have split ourselves into a myriad of protestant denominations because of non-essential beliefs.  Going back again to 1 Corinthians 1:10, Paul makes his position clear when he says “that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you.”  There were various thoughts in the early church and that didn’t cause an issue with Paul.  What did bring up his ire was when those differences caused divisions in the church. 

So goes the quote that in non-essential beliefs we are to have liberty.  Simply stated, for the non-essential beliefs, believe what you like and be very accommodating to others who have differing beliefs.  After all, you could both be wrong.  We can talk about these when we get to Heaven and “know fully” as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13.

Remember three things.

• Know what beliefs are essential to you. 
• Make sure your conversations about spiritual things are full of love and goodwill.
• Be willing to discuss various spiritual viewpoints, even essential beliefs.  It won’t hurt you.  You may even change your mind.  That is called growth and maturity.

Maybe we’ll both change our minds

And how should we respond to someone who wants to discuss a different view of a spiritual belief?  You could say “Sure, maybe we’ll both change our minds.”