Unpredictable wait times cause frustration among the people assembled in the local emergency department (ED). When we go to a restaurant and give the hostess our party size, we expect to be seated in the order that we arrived as long as a table is available. The ED is different, though. The person who has lost a limb will get to see a provider before the person who has a stomach bug and has already been waiting for two hours. The nurse in the ED isn’t a hostess; she is a triage expert. The word triage refers to assessing individual situations to determine their urgency. Students of the Bible should be skilled triage experts, too! Such skill is necessary for anyone who desires to serve in ministry.
One of those things that keeps my gears going (as I’ve mentioned in previous articles) is our ability to work together. Unity is crucial to our success. In the local church, unity allows us to accomplish our mission and purpose. As an association, unity enables us to cooperate and partner to do more than we could ever do alone. If, as individuals, we are not skilled at triaging our preferences and beliefs, we will fertilize division.
Before studying Baptist history and church history in general, I sincerely believed most divisions among Christians came from differences in fundamental church doctrine. That assumption could not be further from the truth. Doctrinal division has rarely been the cause of Christians breaking fellowship with others. More often, and unfortunately, there are differences of opinion on something small that leads to broken fellowship.
You’ve probably heard a preacher talk about “secondary issues.” Defining what is primary, secondary and tertiary is triaging the importance and priority of our teaching. When we allow trivial issues like personal preference to become a priority, it causes division in our families, churches and associations. So, how do we triage the urgency of our beliefs into primary, secondary and tertiary areas?
• Primary issues determine salvation. The contradiction of a primary doctrine is the only time the term “heresy” should be used. Believers and followers of Christ may disagree on secondary issues without compromising the biblical doctrine of salvation and falling into heresy. These issues include who we confess Jesus Christ to be. Jesus Christ is God, who existed before the creation of the world and was born of a virgin to dwell among man and pay the price of sin. Someone who denies the deity of Christ is a heretic because they have violated this primary issue of doctrine. Only some essential things we teach are primary issues. Some issues are secondary.
• Secondary issues establish the boundaries in which we can have fellowship. I couldn’t serve or be a part of an association in which secondary issues are not agreed upon. I couldn’t be a part of a church where secondary matters are not defined. These issues usually pertain to the practice of our faith. The mode of baptism is a secondary issue. See, it wouldn’t be possible for me to work alongside someone who sprinkles because there would be too much disunity between us. In practice, other differences in our teaching arise when considering a person who doesn’t baptize by immersion. Those issues could be primary. Still, the mode of baptism by itself remains a secondary issue. It doesn’t determine whether or not a person is a Christian. In our churches and our association, we should be united on primary and secondary issues.
• The third area of triage is tertiary. These issues neither set boundaries for fellowship nor define what it means to be a Christian. Christians in good fellowship with one another can disagree on these points. Some might say we shouldn’t spend time wading into these waters if these issues aren’t significant enough to define fellowship. Without tertiary subjects, we’re limited to a shallow understanding of God. These issues should cause brothers and sisters to dive deeper into their Bible and contend from Scripture what we believe. These issues, for me personally, are the joy of Bible study. These questions tap into the mysteries of God. What do we mean by saying that man is created “in the image of God?” What is the order of events when Jesus returns? What is the ordo salutis or order of events in someone’s salvation? The answers to these questions do not inhibit our ability to work together.
We can get unnecessarily fired up about some of these tertiary issues if we are not careful. And if we are not “sober-minded,” we’ll make them out to be of primary importance. Whether it is between church members or associational leaders, the consequence is that we will become the stumbling block for disunity. When we study God’s Word, let’s be careful not to sow seeds of division on issues that shouldn’t inhibit our ability to work together.
