Do christians really have to believe the same thing?

This week as I was leading a meeting I overheard some dialogue that has started to become very common when I'm talking to people who are just beginning their spiritual journey. They were talking about what is was exactly that they had to believe to be a christian. Do they really need to believe in something as horrific and nasty as hell? Surely the fact that people that don't accept Christ can be damned there seems very inconsistent with this loving gentle God that is so common in the sunday school classes where most kids have their first encounter of the idea that there might be a God that exists that created the whole universe. While we're on the subject of creation actually do we really need to believe in this whole creation thing? Could God have created evolution? The bible does talk about God's timeline being very different from ours. One thousand years being like a day. Is it possible that maybe it wasn't really seven days that the earth was created? Maybe it was seven thousand years or seven million years. I'm not sure I'm ready to jump on the boat that says that maybe both creation and evolution are both right and both happened, but I can't help to wonder is this something that really matters? When we get to heaven and we're judged for how we spent our time on earth is this something that God is really going to care about? What about all these sins we talk about? Which ones really matter? Its easy to get the murder and adultery type ones, but what abut all those people in church that complain or gossip? Are those sins that don't apply?  Also on this subject why is it that some sins seem to be way worse than others?  There sure seems to be a lot of hoopla over stuff like homosexuality and abortion. You definitely can't be unsure of whether you think that stuff is wrong or not? Or can you? There are plenty of good arguments that talk about if you really interpret the scriptures to do with homosexuality that you find they were talking about only promiscuous adulterous one-night stands and the scriptures aren't really talking about homosexuality in a committed relationship? Again, not really something that I'm set to accept, and I can easily say that I'm still prone to believe that simple body functions led us to believe that God may have pretty much intended for us to just have the man and women thing, but does homosexuals getting married really change the definition of marriage? My marriage sure doesn't mean anything different? And couldn't the church except people with these struggles and vices and not really agree with them, but realize that eventually when we truly follow Christ, read his word, pray and figure out what it means to be a follower of Christ that we tend to naturally figure out the things that are wrong or right?  It goes back to that whole flesh vs. spirit and you increase and I decrease thing. You know the more I get of the spirit of God the more I tend to think like him, act like him, and respond like him. In fact, I think that's the best way to get rid of sin. Just get more into the things of God then sin will have no room to dwell in our life. Anyway, back to the question what do Christians have to believe to be a christian? Well, its no secret that churches have there differences. They differ on everything from theology to dress code. Who's right? Who's wrong? Will getting these things right be things that matter to God?  The answer is simple I think. It can't be about believing in God. The bible says even the demons got that one down. In fact, maybe its not about what we believe that matters, but what we do. No matter what we believe it will be the things the actually do that will be remembered that will count for eternity. Then, what is it that we do the all Christians must do to be called a follower of Christ?  Let's add another element, we have become pretty accosted to saying that we as Christians are not into religion we're into relationships, so being a Christian is about having a relationship with God. So, what's a relationship? It's about talking, dialogue, relating, growing, and that's just the start. Therefore, it is pretty reasonable to assume that to be a follower of Christ we have a relationship with him by talking to him (sounds like prayer), getting to know him (again prayer, but the word of God might help to), and doing things with him (you'll probably find this in the bible as well what this might include). Sounds pretty simple. It is actually, because once we do these things pray, get into the word of God, get into the house of God, get around other followers, we'll start to realize that the question of what do we need to believe becomes irrelevant, because we won't just compare notes from church to church, denomination to denomination, or even follower to follower. We'll live our life with Revelation that comes from truly knowing the character of God and that in itself will give us the answers and what really matters? Will everyone come to same conclusions? No, that's impossible God is that big and we're too small. That really doesn't matter though, because I don't need someone elses revelation of God. I need my own. Does God give different revelations of who he is to people? Absolutely! Why? Because we're different and we have different life missions to reach different people. Perhaps, its all best summed up by something that Rob Bell says:  "God has spoken, everything else is commentary".