Creeds or Deeds or Both?

[Picture of the late Chuck Colson, Founder of Prison Ministries -  "You will be missed!"]

"We need Christians to not only do good deeds, but to know the creeds"  -  Chuck Colson

NO CREED BUT CHRIST - Early American Church Slogan

We live in an age where people are sick of the church fighting over creeds, doctrinal differences and distinctives, and where are the deeds from the church that make this a better world to live in?  Beliefs are under attack in our gray world and Christian deeds and saints modeling them are a rare commodity.  The world has quit listening to the church for many reasons but one of them is the church's own inner divisions, contradictions, and arguing over things nobody cares about!

The power of God's story redeeming and healing us still grabs people's imaginations and changes people's hearts but even this is getting lost under the rubble of theological squabbles over the atonement and academic duels over theology where it seems the biggest loser in the end is the church.  Is the Bible simply a bunch of arguments to use against others or is there this grand story within the Bible that wants to turn this world right-side up again?  Is the issue we would rather be right than loving? 

We can not throw the creeds out because they are signposts to our faith (without them, we are more likely to lose our way and might even get lost).  But creeds should not be used to separate from other followers of Jesus or think church unity means uniformity of belief.  There is a uniformity that God desires but the focus can not be on creeds but on Christ.  The focus can not be simply on beliefs but on the uniformity of the Spirit.  It is the Spirit of God that reveals both our relationship to one another and the unity of the Church. 

Maybe we need more poets in the church to help us understand the Scriptures.  Maybe we need more Christian mystics to show us what a disticntive Christian lifestyle might look like?  Maybe we need to sing the faith more with songs of praise like "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord."