One of the most delightful of slogans to proclaim as a hip, young Christian is that "doctrine divides." If only individual denominations stopped being so nit-picky on matters of doctrine, then the consequent unity would streamline the power of the Church in the world and enable the Kingdom of God to really start growing!
The power of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution on the American mind is incredible. It is from these documents that American governance is maintained and a degree of identity is gained. "We hold these truths to be self-evident" initiated the document that brought vitality to this once-subjugated colony. In a treatise describing the perceived nature of humanity and human governance, life was brought to a new nation. Even so, that life lacked governance. Thus, the U.S. Constitution provided the rule by which Americans were to live. They united and continue to unite under its proclamations, and even moderate attempts to amend it are often squashed. The life of America is found in her Declaration of Independence, and her unity and identity is found in her Constitution.
Is there perhaps some indirect correlation between these documents with much more ancient ones? In no way was America ever a Christian nation, but did she draw her inspiration for cohesive documents from the ancient models of Holy Scripture and the creeds and confessions. It is these documents, the former God-breathed and the latter the expression of collective Church wisdom, that Christians find their unity and identity. In the Bible, one finds life in the very Word of God. The Bible, in all of its doctrines, brings to life and animates the people of God is the most fundamental sense. Upon this foundation, the creeds and confessions of the Church emphatically declare their allegiance with one voice, and thus the Church is given a systematized rule of law derived from Scripture.
Drawing this all together, those who seek to undermine the doctrinal core of Christianity are really emptying Christianity of its content and eroding the foundation of the people they hope to unite and equip. They are merely trading one unity--that of a house upon a solid foundation, for another--that of an amorphous blob with no support, identity, or direction. It is from God's Word primarily, and the Church's collected reflection secondarily, that the people of God are truly the people of God. Why do Americans understand this principle so much better than Christians? Perhaps common grace is much more palatable than the grace which offers true hope, even to many Christians.
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Even so, to be fair we in confessional traditions ought to recognize that our history is filled with bickering over relatively small points.
In the CRC, for example: Is it an affront to the Gospel to cover up a grave with sod? Can a widow bring flowers into a church sanctuary at her husbands funeral?
Theologically: infralapsarian or supralapsarian? Does regeneration happen in tandem with faith, or independent? Common grace?
Most recently: Does women in office constitute an abandonment of the Bible as the Word of God?
These things vary in degree of seriousness, but we do have to be honest and fair. Prudence means for a repentance of past foolishness, but also a return to the most important things. We can allow some things to have more weight than others without forsaking the whole contraption.
What I'd like to see is a confessional tradition with balanced humility and confidence.
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