Can’t we all just get along!?
You can almost hear an exasperated mother or grandmother when you read these words.
It is nice when the kids play nice.
Most of the conflicts between our kids are sinful conflicts motivated by selfishness.
Adults are not much different than kids, just bigger!
The Lord calls us to unity in the Scriptures (Ephesians 4:1–6). Christ tells His disciples that their love for each other and unity will be powerful displays of true discipleship (cf. John 17).
Christians and churches have failed in this goal across history. It is easy to see why our generation is hestitant about dividing.
In the last 20 years there has been significant emphasis on coming together for the Gospel.
I’m a huge fan of that desire. I truly believe God used the Gospel-centered and together for the Gospel impulses for incalculable good.
I do not have a critique on that movement at this moment, but I do have a concern for our local church.
Questions like “Is this a Gospel issue?” may be helpful for evaluating partnerships and statements of faith, but can be misleading and unhelpful for discipleship in the local church.
It is common to hear the "closed hand, open hand” metaphor summarize a biblical approach.
Some issues, the Gospel issues, must be held with a closed hand. Other issues can be held loosely.
Name a few Gospel Issues off the top of your head for me. What gets into your closed hand?
Perhaps the death and resurrection of Christ came to mind or the virgin birth or the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture.
I’m ready to die for each of those and they should be in your closed hand.
Did you think of caring for your relatives, especially aging ones?
Paul makes this a clear Gospel Issue in 1 Timothy 5:8
8 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
This verse breaks the open hand/closed hand paradigm in a helpful way.
Paul is so specific and so intense about something that will rarely (never?) appear in a doctrinal statement.
How could Paul do this? His vision of obedience to Scripture happens in real life in a real local church!
You and I are not called to simply walk together in the Gospel Issues, we are called to a life that matches the Truth of Christ.
It is unwieldy and completely impossible to walk out all that Christ commands with every Christian everywhere.
On the other hand, it is insufficient and completely negligent to walk out only “Gospel Issues” in the life of a local church.
It seems to be disobedient to Christ’s command to teach “them to obey everything I have commanded” in Matthew 28:20.
Celebrity pastors, parachurch denominations, and networks have played too large a role in shaping the local church and a Christian’s vision for what matters to Christ.
There is a time and a place for theological triage with other churches.
But the time and place for most of your discernment about what matters is the real lives of those in your local church.
In these moments, you don’t need the Gospel Coalition Statement of Faith, you need your Bible!