Personal confession time:
You know how we’re conditioned to smile and nod when we don’t have the energy to challenge something - even if it really bothers us? That’s me when people say,
“Oh, you’re Lutheran? Isn’t that just like being a Catholic?”
Yeeeah… Kind of.
Sort of, if you squint really hard.
But no, not really at all.
I wear a robe when I preach; that’s kind of similar. I tell people to stand up and sit down a bunch during worship; we have that in common with the Catholics. We both talk about Jesus and salvation and grace and the sacraments, but the meaning of each of those things is drastically different from Lutheranism to Catholicism.
There are reasons, after all, why we are separate. And they mostly come down to doctrine - what we believe and teach. If I were to detail the differences between Lutheran and Catholic doctrine, for example, with a side-by-side comparison chart or a highly stylized infographic, it wouldn’t take long to see how far apart we are (the same could be said of any two Christian denominations). Differences in doctrine demand division.
The Apostle Paul had a problem on his hands when he wrote his first letter to the Christians living in Corinth. The people were divided. So, he made a strong appeal to them:
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. (1 Corinthians 1:10)
It’s important that Christians agree on what we believe and teach. Saying that grace is the power God gives you to live a holy life is drastically different than defining it as God’s undeserved love for sinners. Saying that Jesus was a great man and godly example is drastically different than recognizing him as the Son of God and our Savior from sin. Saying that baptism is something we do to show God how serious we are in our faith is drastically different than seeing it as a means by which God washes our sins away.
Doctrine is so important. It’s absolutely necessary for unity among believers. And it’s the only reason that we should divide ourselves from other people who also call themselves Christian. No earthly squabble should separate us.
Doctrine > carpet color
Pastors sometimes pick on the color of carpeting as a low-risk example of the silly things that cause drama within a congregation. You can picture those meetings. “I like red!” “I like blue!” “I think it should be neutral!” “I think it shouldn’t show stains! “I think it should be purple… and shag… and on the wall…” (which may be why we don’t have any carpet in our church anymore…)
Doctrine is what is important, not the color of carpeting. If someone says that all religions lead to the same God and he’s too kind to send anyone to hell, you shouldn’t join them in formal fellowship because that’s a denial of what Jesus says in John 14:6 and Matthew 25:31-46. But if you don’t get your way and your church opts for the purple shag carpet on the walls, those aren’t grounds for taking your ball and going home. That’s just a difference of opinion on a matter of personal preference, not a point of doctrine.
And yet…
How many times have we seen carpeting become contentious? How often do we allow our pastor’s preaching style or the style of music used in worship to be the determining factor for whether we become (or stay) part of a congregation or not? How often do personal quarrels over silly little things that have nothing to do with God’s Word divide us?
Doctrine is what matters, but it’s not always the reason for division. It was true among the Corinthians too:
One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:12)
Paul, Apollos, Cephas and Christ all taught the same thing! Their doctrine was identical! And yet the Corinthians still found reasons to nitpick and form cliques, to make some external, silly, unnecessary quirk become divisive and detrimental to the body of Christ.
It’s true that doctrine > carpet color, but it’s the carpet that can so often cause problems. So, when Paul says that we should all agree on what we say, and that we should be perfectly united in mind and thought, he includes things like the time of worship, the design of our church, the format of Sunday School.
Now, that doesn’t mean that we all have to share the same affinity for puce colored upholstery, but it does mean that even if puce makes you want to puke but everyone else likes it, you shouldn’t let that be divisive. You are still united because you have one Lord:
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:13)
Being perfectly united in mind and thought means being humble in our dealings with other Christians and not asserting our dominance over them in matters of opinion. It means keeping the “main thing” the main thing.
Is Jesus your Lord? He’s mine too.
Were you baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Me too.
Do you rely on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for your salvation from sin? Ditto.
If we all have the same Lord, if we’re all saved the same way, if we have the same hope of heaven, then I can let go of my personal opinion if you feel so strongly about yours, and I pray that you can do the same for me.
In unity and peace, we can fix our hearts and minds on Christ who unites in a bond that’s bigger than personal preference or shared opinion. He unites us in his blood. We are all sinners, but we are all sinners saved by grace and we will share in the inheritance of heaven together forever.
It’s never too early to start that sharing, so here’s to years of purple shag carpet and an eternity of unity in mind and thought!