I thought my list was short

"Important stuff Youth Specialties believes (a.k.a., Statement of Faith)" by Mike Yaconelli:

...We know there's other important stuff out thereÖactually, a lot of other stuff: theology, doctrine, homosexuality, abortion, war, the second coming, prophecy, music, discipleship, appearance, serving, worship, tattoos, dancing, drinking, traditions, smoking, language, baptism, moral issues andÖwell, like we said, lots of stuff. All that stuff is important, and certainly people should try to figure out what to believe about all those things, but that's exactly the point. We believe that if the "biggies" are sorted out, then all the other stuff will eventually fall into place too. It might not fall into the same place as the brother or sister next to you, but that's what makes the kingdom of God so interesting. Right?

Update: There seem to be two approaches to spirituality. One is defined by the center (Jesus). Augustine said, "Love God and do as you please." The other is more focused on the boundaries: what you believe on every issue, how you behave. It's not that the first group doesn't care about the issues; it's just that the issues aren't their focus.

Comments

[Jacob]

Darryl, I've been looking for that Augustine quote you posted. I haven't been able to find it. I did find a quote by Martin Luther, "Love God and do WHAT you please". It was written in the context of individuals being autonomously free to Love God outside of the reigns of the church. Could you point me to the Augustine quote?

[Darryl]

If you do a Google search, you'll find it attributed to Augustine, Luther, and even Anselm. I think the context is the Great Commandment ("Love God") that, once in place, makes all the other commandments nothing but commentary.

[George]

Mike: Re your quote above "won't reopen the homosexuality/abortion issue, but perhaps we can choose some other point of doctrine that we can agree is a "grey area". Got one in mind? Good." Mike do you agree those issues are not "grey areas" ?