The 95% on Which We Agree

Ray A. Seilhamer
Bishop, 1993-2001

July 1994

When two Christians meet for the first time, one of them will inevitably ask (and the other will be wondering), "What church do you attend?" or "What denomination are you affiliated with?" We want to know our differences. But I've found that among Christians, agreement is far more common than disagreement. I suspect that if we listed every potential area of conflict, we would discover that we agree 95% of the time. My approach is to focus on that 95%, and be tolerant of the 5% where we disagree.

In the United Brethren church, you'll find general agreement on many issues--our key doctrinal beliefs, expectations of members, structural matters, the role and mission of the local church, etc. But we do have our disagreements. And this calls for tolerance.

Theologically, we consider ourselves Arminian or Wesleyan. Yet many UBs prefer elements of Calvinism, particularly the doctrine of eternal security--"once saved, always saved," to put it simplistically. This doesn't concern me. If we emphasize obedience and seek to be godly men and women, then the issue of eternal security takes care of itself. Calvinists aren't teaching, as some fear, that, "Since you're saved forever, you can live any way you like." Rather, they preach godliness and holiness as strong as anyone.

We have differences over baptism. This goes back to our two founding fathers. William Otterbein came from the Reformed tradition, which practiced infant baptism. Martin Boehm, on the other hand, was a Mennonite who taught that only persons who had accepted Christ should be baptized. As a result, we have historically maintained openness regarding baptism. Today, only a few UB churches practice infant baptism, and while there is some tension over this, we preserve room for these churches under the United Brethren umbrella.

As for believer baptism, we have some who would insist, "You must be immersed." That is the most widely practiced form of baptism, but we also use sprinkling and, to a much lesser extent, pouring. This is an area where we don't make our disagreements a problem.

We believe in the Second Coming of Christ, but we don't insist on a particular view of the End Times. Most UBs hold to the premillennial position, though they may disagree on details, such as whether the rapture will occur at the beginning, middle, or end of the seven year Tribulation. But we also have UBs who hold to the amillennial position of Christ's return--and to our credit, we don't insist that people believe one way or the other.

We have some disagreement about spiritual gifts--not just concerning speaking in tongues, but whether or not the "miracle gifts" continued beyond New Testament times. Probably most of our people believe that all of the gifts are available today, but you won't find barriers between UBs who hold different views.

There are many other areas in which you'll find UBs holding divergent views. Should we ordain women? What is our view of sanctification? Should Freemasons be allowed into membership? Is it okay to drink alcohol in moderation?

But as I said, I believe all of the above fit into the 5%, not the 95%. There are so many issues on which we agree.

In the early days of the UB movement, we rallied around the basic evangelical, biblical doctrines. We continue holding fast to these.

• We believe strongly in the Trinity--that God is a God of three persons. The virgin birth of Jesus. The depravity of man--that we are sinful people who need forgiveness.
• We agree on the necessity of salvation, and that Christ is the only way. We do not believe that all roads lead to Rome. We abide by Jesus' statement, "No man comes unto the Father except through Me."
• We agree on the importance of prayer, and that praying in the name of Jesus Christ is effective and powerful.
• We believe the Holy Spirit brings about specific fruit in our lives, as related in Galatians 5.
• We believe in the reality of heaven and hell, that there is life after death. We are a people of hope.
• We believe in the church.
• We believe in worship, though there are tensions about what worship should be like, particularly as it concerns music.
• And we believe Christ will return someday, though we allow differences of interpretation concerning how and when End Times events will occur.