Christian Hope, Christian Fellowship and Christian Pluralism

I concluded last week's blog with an invitation for you to “return and join me as we begin to explore the blessing of what I call Christian Pluralism.” Today I wish to elaborate a bit on what I mean by the idea of “Christian Pluralism.”

These two words together appear, on the face, to present a contradiction in terms. For to be a true Christian, after all, one must believe that there is only one singular way to heaven, and that Jesus Christ alone is that way. To be a pluralist on the other hand is to believe “that there is more than one basic substance or principle.”¹ But elsewhere, pluralism is said to be “the existence in a society of groups having distinctive ethnic origin, cultural forms, religions, etc.”² I will draw from the second definition.

However, as I reflect, I must ponder aloud if the words “Christian Pluralism” truly represent the meaning that I wish to convey. And as I track back through the recesses of my memory I cannot pin down the origins of the phrase. Did I concoct it? Or did I read these two words together somewhere and catalog them for future reference? Honestly, I do not know.

What I do know is that in the 2,000 years since Christ's resurrection, Christianity has spread across the globe and today is expressed in many unique and colorful ways. By “Christian Pluralism,” I mean the diversity of expressions of the same core Christian faith. My test or standard for Christianity has always been the historic creeds—the Nicene and Apostles Creeds. Do you, as a Christian, hold fast to the basic tenets of these creeds? Can you publicly, boldly, in faith, and in good conscience, proclaim:

“I believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth,

And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, dead and buried;

He descended into hell;

The third day he rose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,

And sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in The Holy Spirit;

The Holy Catholic Church;

The Communion of Saints;

The forgiveness of sins;

The resurrection of the body;

And the life everlasting.

If you can, then you and I share far more in common than living in the same community. We share a common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You may be a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Catholic. Or perhaps, like me, you belong to a non-denominational church. You may be Black, White, Asian, or Hispanic. Or maybe a mixture like so many in our nation today. Here's what the Bible says about us:

And they sang a new song, saying,
"Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation ...”

Revelation 5:9 (ESV)

We Christians are the redeemed of God. Yes, we have differences. Yes, we the Church, have experienced many splits and misunderstandings down through the centuries. I prefer my local church and you prefer yours. I hold to certain non-essential beliefs, and so do you. But at the core, we hold to the same essential beliefs. Here is what we Christians believe:

Jesus Christ is God. He left heaven and came to the earth in human form to purchase back a wayward people lost to sin. He was born of a virgin. He lived a perfectly sinless life. He willingly surrendered that life to make full payment on the debt that each of us owed to God as a result of our rebellion against Him. His death dealt a deathblow to our sin. And His resurrection dealt a deathblow to death itself. The grave could not hold Him. He ever lives and reigns. And through our faith in Him, we have the promise and the hope of eternal life in the presence of God.

Because of our common faith in the essentials, we can set aside our non-essential beliefs and step across the divide, shake hands, cultivate neighborliness, and enjoy a rich fellowship. I'm not at all saying that we just toss out our non-essential differences. God forbid. For therein lies some of the beauty, the contours, the rich flavor of the body of Christ. But we should be willing to momentarily set them aside if they become a hindrance to genuine Christian fellowship. Infant baptism or believer's baptism? Charismatic tongue-speaker or non charismatic cessationist? Catholic of Protestant? Reformed or Arminian? None of these differences will determine our ultimate standing before God when we meet Him face to face. And so they shouldn't cause pain and separation within the Christian community.

Well, for what it's worth, you now know just a little bit more about the man behind the blog. In my next post, I will tell you about my efforts to help facilitate reconciliation within the local Christian community in the 1990's. I will also let you in on the reasons my wife and I chose to be a part of the local church where we belong.

I would love to hear from you. Do you have something you would like to share with the local Christian community? Let me know. patchblogger@aol.com

1.  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/PLURALISM Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.

2. Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009