Beyond the Pale (Part 2)

As I talked about the needed unity of essential beliefs, it also means I must think about things that are non-essential that become harmful. Are there things beyond the pale outside of that mission? Absolutely. Sin is always sin and sin leads to eternal death, thus we can never soft pedal that. By the same token, God is God and the entirety of Scripture is meant to show us who He is, what He has done, what He is doing, what He has called us to do, and what is yet to come. In other words, in those beliefs that are so far beyond the pale there cannot be room for wiggle because they remove us from the body of Christ.

Paul addressed enough controversies through letters to the new testament churches that we ought to know how to deal with things fairly thoroughly! Fighting through the Gnostics and Judaizers, both of whom added things to salvation, Paul sought to keep the central things the central things and defined our place through Christ and Christ alone. Then we see through church history the issues that had to be addressed. Christology and the Trinity being central to early arguments as Pelagianism and Arianism were addressed. The differentiation between the Apostle's Creed and Nicene Creed (as shown in Part 1) shows how the controversy was addressed and orthodoxy defined. Notice these are not non-essential things, but things that drive us away from the gospel!

In non-essentials, these are things that are secondary issues at best. In other words, these are things that are not defined by Scripture as something we are called to do/live by. For example, think baptism- we are 100% called to baptize, but it is not something God spelled out exactly how. Can I baptize adults? Yep. Can we baptize infants? Yep. Is one better than the other? I prefer believers baptism, but worked in contexts that baptized infants and saw the beauty in claiming God's covenant for our children. Does that preference separate me from those who practice the other? As much as I (or they) let it. When I worked with a Presbyterian church we practiced grace towards each other because our difference wasn't about salvation or the gospel itself. In fact, I will never forget our Presbyterian pastor dunking one of our students out at the lake- mainly because he put him under once each for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! The same idea comes into the predestination/free will debate. It's not a salvation issue- thus, we need to practice grace! I've watched people quote dueling Scripture for hours arguing for their position, meaning it's not 100% clearly spelled out. Holding a more generous orthodoxy towards things that are not essential, helps us grow and requires us to return to Scripture to see what it says about it. The theme here is operating from grace in non-essentials that aren't salvific issues. 

In other things we have to hold the line and define the gospel clearly. Does something add to the gospel or require something more of us than Scripture does? Does it change definitions or vouchsafe our sin? Does it change who Jesus is or change His words? If it falls into any of those areas, it is WAY beyond the pale. If it falls there, we need to excise it and clearly stand on the truth of the gospel. Easy examples like prosperity gospel, health and wealth kind of theology, or any of the myriad things that drive people away from Jesus and towards a human tradition or idea.  In other words, anything plus Jesus isn't acceptable. The only litmus test for the Christian is Jesus, the Word Himself and what He's given us. If we're requiring anything else or judging on a different standard, we're in the wrong and are way beyond the pale. 

The requisite beliefs, the essentials, that mark us as people who follow Jesus are the Gospel. The good news that the God of the universe, the one who made everything, stopped at nothing to bring His wayward creation back to Him. That God was willing to give up His only Son to purchase back those who had spurned Him and His love is beyond astounding. This is revealed from beginning to end in the Scriptures and is the standard of measurement. Wanna step outside that standard? That's what is beyond the pale. So judge things the way they are in the Scriptures- based on God's Word and what He says matters. Any human tradition- no matter what it might be- is worthless and to be discarded anytime it pushes us away from that standard. So don't move beyond the pale, hold the line and remember what matters most.