Essential /e sen(t)Shel/ adj. absolutely necessary; extremely important
I spent a lot of time early in life in the water. I grew up near a lake and went swimming as often as possible, some fishing, sailing, and water skiing. My “training” began early. As a young boy I was in the water often, sometimes by myself, but most frequently with family and friends. And, when you are young, sometimes the decisions you make are not always the brightest…like, for instance, wrestling bigger kids than you while underwater. More than once, I gulped too much water when I couldn’t get up for air. Scary times.
I suspect if you had asked the 5-year-old me if air was an essential to life, I probably would have looked at you like you were a weirdo. But after some thought, I might have agreed that it was essential. But, did I really believe that it was? Was air essential to my life as a 5 year old swimming in the lake? Well, certainly I could not do without it, but I suspect the “essential character” of air for my body was only important to me when I was likely not to have any.
What makes something essential? According to our dictionary, something is essential if it is absolutely necessary or extremely important. We are going to embark on a journey this fall in exploring “The Essentials of Our Faith.” Our focus will be on illuminating those key aspects of our faith that are essential, necessary, important. We will look at key theological and biblical ideas that are crucial to the Christian faith—and, if essential, then necessary—without which you do not have Christian faith.
But, think of the different ways we use the word “essential.”
Gravity is essential to everyday life on this planet. Honestly, no one gets away with life without gravity. But, when was the last time you thought about gravity? If we want to use the term “essential” then shouldn’t it be more front-and-center in our lives? Surely, gravity is necessary for everyday life, but if you never think on it, how “essential” is it to you? In other words, some things can be essential, as in necessary, without much conscious thought, and therefore, not very essential.
For many Christians a lot of “essential” doctrines are simply not that important in everyday life. Sure, the Trinity might be something that the Church has always stressed as an essential teaching; but many in practice, if not in theory, deny its importance every day. The return of Christ in glory for the Judgment Day and for heavenly blessing might be acknowledged in theology class, but it is hardly “essential” to how we live, right? If I can ignore it every day, if I can practically disregard it, then it can’t be very essential.
We think it should be otherwise. If something is “essential” to our faith, it should impact us, change things, influence thought and actions. If essential, then important, and if important, then influential. The “essentials” we will explore are not only important in theory, they are essential to life—essential, important, necessary. If indeed these teachings are essential, then they will change the way you live every day.
For this coming Sunday, please study Proverbs 3:1-8.
1. Notice that these verses break into two parts—verses 1-4
and 5-8. How would you give a subtitle to these verses? What is the common
thread between them?
