Here’s how the question came to me? “Why, if Jesus was so accepting of all, do Christians try to change all who do not believe exactly as they do?” As with all of these questions, I wish this question came in the form of a conversation so that dialog could lead to greater understanding on both sides. I fear at times that I may be answering something that wasn’t asked. Nevertheless, here’s my response.
On a rather philosophical level, all communities exist because they hold to specific beliefs or practices. A Harley Davidson biker club expects you to have a bike with a rumble. A book club expects you to read the selection of the group. And Christian communities have standards of belief and practice that hold them together.
Yet it is appropriate for us to examine how a group’s shared values influences its treatment of those outside the community. Do they treat people of other communities with respect and love or do they argue and attack? “We should criticize Christians when they are condemning and ungracious to unbelievers. But we should not criticize churches when they maintain standards for membership in accord with their beliefs. Every community must do the same” (Tim Keller in The Reason for God).
But Christianity does not create clones. One of the most beautiful aspects of Christianity is its love of diversity. The biblical vision of heaven includes people “from every nation and tribe and people and language” (Revelation 7:9). God does not destroy cultures but has a way of redeeming the good in them. It is in this diversity that we will live out our future in heaven. And this should influence how we relate to each other now even as Christ and the Scriptures provide the common ground.
As we build community and relate to those outside the community, we should follow a maxim shared in our membership class: “in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity (love)” (often attributed to Augustine).
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