Tag Archives: Apostles Creed

Inclusive vs. Exclusive

April 8, 2025 Tom Vander Well 3 Comments

But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”
Matthew 9: 34 (NIV)

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about the spiritual revival that broke out while I was in high school. I wrote about the fact that I was merely an observer of the revival because I had insulated myself inside of my fellow holy huddle with other believers.

I’d like to unpack that experience a bit further as I meditate on today’s chapter. In it, Jesus begins to experience opposition from the institutional religious leaders of His day. They have their own holy huddle going.

I have observed along my spiritual journey the difference between an inclusive spirit and an exclusive spirit.

An inclusive spirit is one that is outreaching, arms wide open in anticipation of God who can do exceeding, abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine. An inclusive spirit fully embraces the Apostles Creed when it says “I believe in the holy catholic church,” which means the expansive true church made up of all believers of every nation, tribe, language, race, people, and denomination of which God alone truly knows the number and the full membership. An inclusive spirit sees God working in His enemies like Nebuchadnezzar, the Roman Centurion in yesterday’s chapter, and Saul of Tarsus, and drawing them to Himself. An inclusive spirit understands that Jesus is not slow in returning, but rather patient wanting everyone (including my personal enemies) to repent and believe.

An exclusive spirit, on the other hand, is one that feels that it is right and only those who agree are acceptable. An exclusive spirit has arms extended in a defensive and warning posture. Only those who pass the litmus test, are pure in their doctrinal agreement, and visibly shun unacceptable actions, words, beliefs, and political/social affiliations are accepted in. Most people are excluded, and exclusive thinkers are convinced that God thinks and acts in lock-step with them.

Jesus was being inclusive when, in yesterday’s chapter, He healed the Roman Centurion’s servant and handed His enemy an invitation to the feast of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in God’s Kingdom. Jesus was being inclusive when He and His disciples feasted at Matthew’s house with unacceptable tax collectors (e.g. politically incorrect Roman collaborators) and their sinful social circle. He was certainly being inclusive when He called Matthew to become one of The Twelve.

His political and religious opponents were exclusive in their thinking. They alone were exclusively “God’s people,” “Children of Abraham,” and anyone who disagreed or believed differently was obviously not “of God.” Jesus refused to walk, speak, act, and believe in lock-step with their exclusive religious world-view. Therefore He could not be of God despite the miracles He performed. If He is not of God, then He must be of Satan.

So, in the quiet this morning, I look back at that revival in high school. It taught me another important spiritual lesson. Yes, I missed out on being a part of it because I was too busy in the exclusivity of my holy huddle. At the same time, me thinking that I needed to be a part of it is a different brand of exclusive thinking. God was doing something amazing and He didn’t need me to be involved. He was working through others whom He had prepared, raised up, and through whom He was flowing. I could be envious, jealous, and think (exclusively) that anything I wasn’t a part of doesn’t count. I could also open my arms, rejoice, and embrace that God was at such powerful work in others all around me. I chose the latter.

The further I get in my journey, the more open my spirit has become to God doing whatever He wants to do in whomever He wants to do it in order for all things to work together for good and accomplish His ultimate purposes in this Great Story. I long ago took off my Junior Holy Spirit badge pretending that I had exclusive rights, insight, or editorial control of that Story for myself or anyone else. The result is that I approach each day of this journey with a sense of awe and wonder.

God, what are you going to do today?

I’m open.

Surprise me.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Chapter-a-Day

Members Only (or Not)

May 9, 2024 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

I did not receive [the Gospel] from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:12 (NIV)

I have an issue with church membership.

Let me explain.

Many years ago I was hired to be the pastor of a church. I accepted the call, moved my family, and began leading a wonderful group of people. About a year-and-a-half into my three-year commitment, I received a call asking for an emergency meeting of the church elders. For those of you who have never been on the staff of a church let me tell you that an emergency meeting of the elders is never a good sign.

I joined the elders in my office and found out that the “emergency” was that I, the pastor that they asked to lead them and had been doing so for over a year, was not a member of the church. What the elders with their undies in a bunch were getting at is that I had not gone through the official, denominational bureaucratic hoop-jumping steps of church membership. Forget that they hired me to be their pastor and that I had been faithfully and passionately serving them for over a year. I hadn’t checked a legalistic denominational box which called my loyalty and leadership into question.

At the next congregational meeting, I officially and dutifully jumped through the hoops and requested that I be accepted into membership of the church. I’m happy to say that my request was almost unanimously approved.

I wish I could say that this was a one-time anomaly. Actually, I have two almost identical stories involving churches in different denominations and locations. I’ve learned that church “membership” carries a lot of weight with some people despite it being a human institutional invention with no Biblical authority or priority. My struggle is not that the institution wants to do things that bring order to the organization. I get that. My struggle is that somewhere along the line individuals place a greater priority on institutional human rules than the clearly stated life priorities God gave us in His Message. It’s at best silly and at worst an indicator of deeply messed up spiritual priorities.

This morning, our chapter-a-day journey enters Paul’s letter to believers in the region of Galatia today. These are local gatherings of Jesus’ followers whom Paul founded when he traveled through there years before. It was Paul who preached Jesus’ message to them. It was Paul who lived among them and helped them establish and organize their local gathering. Paul is writing to his spiritual children.

But there’s a problem.

The Jesus Movement came out of orthodox Judaism. Paul himself was an orthodox Jew. The believers in Galatia, however, were mostly non-Jewish Gentiles. Some orthodox Jewish believers from Judea began visiting these local gatherings in Galatia with their undies in a bunch and calling emergency meetings of the elders. They proceeded to claim that 1) Paul was not an officially and institutionally sanctioned apostle of the Jesus Movement and that 2) If any non-Jewish person wanted to be an official believer in Jesus they must first go through the orthodox Jewish hoop-jumping steps to get their orthodox Jewish membership certificate, and only then would they be official, card-carrying members of the Jesus Movement. What were the hoops they had to jump through? For men, the major hoop was having the foreskin of your penis cut off.

As you might imagine, this stirred up some conflict and confusion.

These are the circumstances in which Paul picks up his papyrus and stylus to write his friends back in Galatia.

In today’s chapter, Paul addresses the concerns raised about him not being an official apostle of Jesus. Paul reminds the Galatian believers that he was once more zealously orthodox in his Jewishness than any of those who were questioning his authority. He then establishes that it was the risen Jesus who appeared to him and called him to take Jesus’ message to the non-Jewish people. Third, Paul explains that while he had established a relationship and understanding with Peter and James (the recognized, apostolic leaders of the central Jesus Movement in Jerusalem) he was largely unknown to those who were now questioning his card-carrying membership in the Movement.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on the tension between divine purpose and human organization. When I was a child, most of those who considered themselves Christians were certificate-wielding members of large denominational institutions of human origin. Most of those institutions have now fractured and imploded into small fragmented networks of like-minded congregations. Many believers have abandoned denominational loyalties. I have personally found it fascinating to observe and experience. I don’t grieve the change.

The Apostle’s Creed states, “I believe in the holy catholic church.” “Catholic,” by the way, translates to “universal.” It is not a reference to the institution of the Roman Catholic Church. Rather, it means that I am part of the Church (capital “C”) made up of every other believer in the world as determined by the indwelling Holy Spirit in each believer and having nothing to do with jumping through hoops, attending a class, and receiving a certificate of church membership. It means that I am part of what God is doing in the Great Story on a grand scale and that I have a Church family made up of all believers, regardless of human denomination, nationality, tribe, ethnicity, political views, or local church (lowercase “c”) membership.

Along my spiritual journey, I have personally been led not to sweat my church membership, and to prioritize being a part of what God is doing in His

Along my spiritual journey, I have personally been led to not worry so much about my local church membership certificate, and rather prioritize being a part of what Jesus is doing in His Church.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Note: The featured photo is of an editable church membership certificate that can be purchased and downloaded at Etsy.

Chapter-a-Day

The Unknown Disciples

March 20, 2024 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

“Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
Acts 1:21-22 (NIV)

Over the centuries, followers of Jesus in many different varieties have adopted certain texts that are regularly used in corporate gatherings. One of them is known as the Apostle’s Creed, which is a statement of core beliefs. Among the stated beliefs is that of “the holy catholic Church.” For those of the Protestant persuasion, this statement prompts a lot of head-scratching. “Wait a minute. We’re not Catholic!?”

The word catholic is an adjective meaning “broad or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, or the like; having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal.” The Apostles Creed isn’t referring to the institution of the Roman Catholic Church, but rather it is referring to all believers around the globe of every persuasion.

Along my journey, it has been my observation that most believers don’t give this specific belief statement much thought. We tend to think in terms of our particular silo like loyal fans of a particular sports team. We stay in our lane, attend our team’s gatherings, and largely don’t think much about the other teams in our league, let alone in other leagues around the world. Yet, the Great Story ends with a picture of eternity in which there are people of “every tribe and language and people and nation.”

Today we begin our chapter-a-day trek through the Acts of the Apostles or just Acts. It is the history of the early Jesus Movement from Jesus’. resurrection through the first, roughly, thirty years. It is written by Dr. Luke, the same man who investigated and wrote an account of Jesus’ story that we know by his name, Luke. A physician by vocation, Luke became a follower of Jesus whose investigation into the Jesus story led him to become an associate of the Apostles. He eventually traveled with the Apostle Paul, writing some of Acts of the Apostles as an eyewitness account of what happened.

What struck me in Luke’s opening chapter was his mention of just how many followers were around during Jesus’ resurrection and in the earliest days of the Movement. I tend to think just in terms of the eleven disciples (the Twelve, minus Judas) and the Marys who were at the tomb. Luke describes about a hundred and twenty people who were regularly meeting together with Jesus’ disciples after the resurrection. When it came time to fill Judas’ open position in the Twelve, the stipulation was that it had to be a person who had been a follower and member of Jesus’ entourage from His baptism all the way through to His resurrection. There were enough of them that two were appointed who then drew straws.

I contemplated these 120 unnamed, largely forgotten believers. Many of them had been just as faithful in following Jesus throughout His ministry as the Twelve had been. It wasn’t just the Twelve and a few women who interacted with the risen Jesus. In his letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul states the total number of people who witnessed the risen Jesus was around 500 over the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension. Paul even states that most of them were still alive if the Corinthians wanted to corroborate his statement.

In the quiet this morning, I meditated on the fact that relatively few individuals got mentioned and top billing in the history of the Jesus Movement. There was a whole host of unknown, unmentioned followers who had their own personal Jesus story. They were a crucial part of participating in and carrying out Jesus’ mission. It is not unlike the realization of what it means when I say the Apostles Creed and state that I believe in the “holy, catholic Church.” I’m stating that I believe there are fellow believers of different persuasions around the world, but do I really think about them in more than a mental acknowledgment that they exist?

For the past several years, Wendy and I have regularly prayed for a group of orphans being raised in an orphanage on the other side of the world. We have photos and names of each one of the orphans in a little photo album. We pray for them each by name as part of our daily prayers. We support the work that is providing for them. It’s amazing how, over time, our prayers have led to genuine care and concern for them. It’s a small thing, but it’s a tangible way to put action to our belief statement. If I really believe what I say I believe, I want to be both mindful and active in supporting all of the unknown and (to me) anonymous disciples around the world.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Truth & Wackiness

October 11, 2023 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
Colossians 2:16 (NIV)

I have been something of a denominational nomad during my faith journey. The ancient Apostle’s Creed says “I believe in the holy catholic church” which confuses a lot of modern believers. They get it confused with the Roman Catholic tradition. The word “catholic” means “broad, universal, comprehensive.” In other words, the “church” is not contained by one denomination or tradition. I’ve always embraced this belief. Thus, rather than play for one team, I’ve been a bit of a free agent. I feel at home in many different denominational traditions, even though I may not agree 100% with the jots and tittles of their particular doctrinal statements.

Along my spiritual journey, I’ve encountered a number of individuals and groups that hold what I consider to be wacky beliefs. There are the Pentecostals who equate “speaking in tongues” with spiritual elitism (“You don’t have to speak in tongues, but why go Greyhound when you could fly first class?”). I’ve never had to work hard to find all kind of legalism that still exists around the Sabbath (“You can go outside and play catch, but don’t you dare play an actual game!”). I have a friend whose parent refused to attend their wedding unless they were baptized three times. Silly.

I find it fascinating that Christianity began as a spiritual movement. Jesus did not fret too much about structure. Twelve marginally capable men and a handful of dutifully faithful women were directed with little detail to spread Jesus’ love and teaching to the ends of the earth. Peter was given a leadership role, but no real job description. It wasn’t an organization as much as it was an organism.

As the Jesus movement spread, the reality is that there were a number of wacky beliefs that emerged in various locations. Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Colossae was specifically written to address some of these. Paul doesn’t name any specifics. It’s likely that it wasn’t a single, organized false teaching but rather a loose number of strange things different individuals were spouting. What Paul does make clear to the believers in Colossae is that they were to hold fast to the simplicity of Jesus’ core teaching:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

In the quiet this morning, I am prepping for a message I have to deliver on Sunday from the book of Revelation. Talk about a book that spawns a wide range of thoughts and beliefs (and, yes, some of them are wacky). I find John’s Revelation is a lot like what Paul was communicating to the believers in Colossae. One can get spiritually distracted by all sorts of things. For the Colossians it was dietary restrictions, Sabbath regulations, and New Moon festivals. In John’s vision it’s beasts and horsemen and plagues. As I get to the core of it, however, the vision is about one thing: Jesus Christ is Lord. Paul was telling the Colossians to ignore the wackiness stay focused on that.

I’ve always found that to be a good plan.

I’ll stick with that.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.