I had the interesting experience lately of working with some of my Church of Christ friends here in Denton in producing a “Statement of Faith” for a para-church agency they are creating. They want to help those who would be missionaries in foreign fields, especially those who might not be able to be supported by the established agencies.

While they themselves are members of the Church of Christ, they want this effort to reach out to any and all who wish to serve Christ in difficult fields, so they wanted their “Statement of Faith,” by which they identify themselves in mailouts, to be broad enough to include all who are resolved to serve Christ faithfully and yet narrow enough to exclude those who are only halfhearted in their profession and practice.

When the first draft seemed too theologically detailed, I told them about Occam’s Razor, a logical device that goes back to the middle ages in its insistence that propositions should be pared down to their absolute minimum (“Universal essences should not be unnecessarily multiplied”). This would suggest the “Statement” should be as brief and pointed as possible, stripped of all excess baggage. When one multiplies essences unnecessarily, he invites confusion and obfuscation. To be wordy is to muddle the water. So we sought brevity in our listing of essences.

I thought it would interest you what we came up with, especially since they are our own folk, business/professional men, Abilene-educated, and all that, including at least one membership in the most conservative Church of Christ in our area. We finally reduced our essences to five. I will list them and then say a word about them. This “Statement of Faith” is intended to inform a would-be missionary and potential supporters what this missionary agency believes.

1. We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God.

2. We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the risen Lord, and “the same yesterday, today and forever.”

3. We believe in the gospel of the grace of God as the only answer to the sinfulness of mankind and the only solution to the problems confronting our world.

4. We believe in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and in the power of the Spirit-filled life.

5. We believe in the church universal as the Body of Christ and in the essential unity of all those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Since these brethren are especially interested in working with missionaries who really believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, including those who might be labeled “Charismatic,” we framed the pros positions so as to give place for this concern and yet sought to use language that would be acceptable to the church catholic. We did not want to make “speaking in tongues,” for example, part of the statement, for this would be exclusive, and yet we wanted such ones to feel welcomed by what we said about the Holy Spirit. We said nothing about “working miracles” on the mission field, but those who believe in this would find comfort in our second proposition. Proposition 3 is especially for those who believe strongly in a “social gospel” and social action.

I would submit this statement on “general Christianity” as a basis for a working fellowship. We should be able to support, pray for, work and accept anyone who believes these things. We should welcome all such ones to our churches and treat them as equals in Christ. If our own churches have trouble with this statement because baptism is not named as a condition for membership, this does not preclude their accepting them as Christians and treating them as such.

It can be left to each congregation as to whether it will make baptism by immersion a condition for “official” membership. Such registers or membership lists are our own arrangements anyhow and are not matters of divine fiat. But what is a divine imperative is that we accept all those who follow Christ in the same way Christ has accepted us (Rom. 15:7), which has to mean that we accept folk whose faith and obedience are less than perfect.

It may not be too important if we are inscribed in each other’s church roll, but it is crucial that we find our way into each other’s hearts. But within this fellowship of loving acceptance we will always bear witness to what we believe the Scriptures teach on any and every subject, including baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. —the Editor