Not every belief carries the same weight. There are essential elements in Christianity: the grace of God revealed in the gospel of Jesus and our faithful, loyal response to Him. There are also important elements—hills worth being wounded defending because faithfulness to Jesus requires careful obedience. But today we want to talk about something else: the personal elements.
These are areas where Scripture either does not provide decisive clarity or where Scripture explicitly gives freedom. Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 address this reality: eat the meat or don’t eat the meat; observe the day or don’t observe the day. Each one should be fully convinced in their own mind. That is remarkable—different beliefs and practices existing within the same church.
The apostles did not bind consciences where God had not bound them. They did not elevate personal conviction to universal command, nor did they confuse preference with holiness. Personal elements are written in pencil, not because they are careless, but because God in His wisdom left room—room for conscience, room for maturity, room for cultural difference, and room for growth.
“Personal elements are written in pencil, not because they are careless, but because God in His wisdom left room—room for conscience, room for maturity, room for cultural difference, and room for growth.”
These personal elements may include whether you drink wine or abstain, whether you observe special days or treat every day alike, how you understand certain details of creation, how you work through the timing of Christ’s return, or how you interpret difficult prophetic passages. These are serious matters worth studying, discussing, and sharpening one another over. However, they are not worth dividing the body of Christ.
Here is where maturity shows. Can you hold a conviction strongly without holding it arrogantly? Can you believe you are right without assuming others are rebellious? Can you articulate your view without binding it on every other believer?
Personal elements require something beautiful. They require humility. They require open-handedness. They require trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in other believers even when they see things differently.
“Can you believe you are right without assuming others are rebellious?”
Clarity about categories protects unity. When we confuse personal matters with essential ones, we create unnecessary division. When we bind where God has given freedom, we damage consciences. But when we honor personal freedom, we display the beauty of the gospel.
We show that our unity is not built on uniformity. It is built on grace—strong convictions, soft hands, firm faith, and open hearts. This may be one of the most important lessons for the church in our moment: not everything is a hill to fight on.
Some hills are meant to be walked together with patience, understanding, and love. When we learn that, we do not weaken the church; we strengthen it. Mature disciples know what to hold in blood, what to hold in ink, and what to hold in pencil—with humility, freedom, and grace.
