Nonessentials

Ephesians 4:4-6
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

As we go forward with all of the election stuff I am constantly disgusted at the agruing that goes on. It is so obnoxious to me that I don't even care to watch it all. (And I love the "art" of politics and our government) I can't help but to wonder what happen if we had ONE purpose, ONE plan, and left all of the NONessentials out. I know that is easier said than done in the world of politics. But we have to take into account: will the president be black or white, with or without boobs, old or young, Mormon or Christian, funny or sophisticated. To me those seem like nonessentials. It should be about leadership for an enitre country. Maybe I am just a little old fashioned to dream that the presidential race should be about lead find a leader that will bring justice and equality for all and not about everything that the media likes to make it about.

But I have to wonder how much different are we in our churches. This being the place that we are given ONE purpose, One plan.

Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Jesus didn't talk about if we should use the red hymnals or the blue ones, he didn't talk about if our building should have steeples or stain glass, he even failed to mention what type of chairs or pews we should sit on. Jesus did, however, talk about loving our nieghbor. I think that our churches and denominations are way to caught up in the NONessentials of "religion" instead of being caught up in the ESSENTIALS of salvation.

On Sunday morning we "do church" in a banquet/wedding hall. We set up everything that is needed for our worship service and then take it all down when we are finished. We share this building with another church on Sunday mornings. Recently, their "noise" has been very loud and quite distracting to our service. A couple of weeks ago I got tickled over the irony of the situation. Here we all sit, 2 churches, the same building, fighting (not really) to worship the same God. Our NONessential differences keep us seperated. What would happen if churches came together over the ESSENTIALS (Salvation, Loving each other, taking care of the widows and orphans) and left the NONessentials between individuals and God? What if your opinion about NONessentials were the exact thing that kept someone from ever coming to church? What if you decided to only care about salvation and love, instead of having an opinion about divorce, drinking, clothing, music, marriage, lifestyle, etc. ?

I am not naive. I believe that God takes us through our lives, allowing us to have experiences, so that we can have convictions about certain things. But we have our convictions because we are in Christ and He is dealing with our heart.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

I guess the point in all of this is simple... What is an essential and what is a nonessential? What is a heaven/hell issue? Do our opinions keep others from Christ?