Over the past few decades a substantial number of Baptists have fallen in love with lists of beliefs. All deal with theological matters. Behavior, sociological, and political positions often crop up as well. Some lists are public, approved by a church or denomination or other organization. Others are personal.

The lists are used in various ways. Some Baptists utilze them as litmus tests for employment, participation in shared ministries or worship, and fellowship. Many of us utilze our personal lists to determine whether we approve of an organization, a church or an individual.

"What's wrong with lists?" you might say. After all, don't all of us make and use them? Perhaps. Still, in my experience such lists tend to feed our pride, foster tribalism, shatter lives, distract us from sharing the gospel and doing good works, and ruin our witness to the larger world.

Here's a suggestion. Why not adopt as our core belief the affirmation of the early church: "Jesus is Lord." Make that the first item on your list of beliefs. And make it the only item for a while. The longer we live with the affirmation, the more we come to see that being a Christian is about trusting, obeying and following Jesus. Everything else ought to flow from that single, core commitment.

Later, we might try adding a few key teachings of Jesus, each one of which he designed to help us follow him as Lord. My list includes: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (and be honest about how you really would want others to treat you!); "Love the Lord your God with all that is within you, and your neighbor as youself;" "You shall be my witnesses and make disciples." When I'm feeling theologically fiesty, I tend to add one of Paul's insights: "Without love, nothing else matters."

If we find our list becoming much longer, we probably ought to return to our core affirmation: "Jesus is Lord." Personal revival always starts or ends with the Lordship of Christ.

Some probably regard my approach as overly simplistic. I prefer to think it encourages simplicity of purpose.