The key to realizing any meaningful and transforming unity among the churches of the Lord is to recover our primary purpose. Here is Part 10 of our blank verse essay, Absimilation.

There are reasons why the Church has so far drifted from its Biblical moorings. Three, at least as I see it. Here is Part 9 of our blank verse essay, Absimilation.

Given the millions of people who profess faith in Jesus Christ in this country, it is surprising how little evidence there is of the Kingdom of God. Doubtless most of those Christians, every day or at least every week, pray that the Kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. So, where is it? Here is Part 8 of our blank verse essay, Absimilation.

While we use the language of making disciples, and consider that everything we do at church is contributing to that work, the paucity of true disciples of Jesus suggests that we are confused about what our great and defining mandate intends. Here is Part 7 of our blank verse essay, Absimilation.

The Church’s most foundational mandate is to make disciples. But we long ago decided that was not what we want to do. We have made making disciples an option which is all too often ignored. In our condition of drift, we prefer to make church members rather than disciples. We cannot expect the blessings of the Lord on such a choice. Here is Part 6 of our blank verse essay, Absimilation.

Oh, yes, the Lord has blessed our labors through

the years, because He is the God of grace

and mercy. But what greater blessings have

been all withheld or simply put beyond

our reach because we choose the course of drift

instead of sailing in the Wind of God,

according to His Word?

It’s not necessary to sell all our buildings and scrap all our programs to begin recovering some of that spiritual power which fueled the early Christian churches. But we must face up to the reality that our approach to “doing church” has little resemblance to what we see in the New Testament. Only as we acknowledge this can we begin to halt the drift that we have experienced for so long. Here is Part 5 of our blank verse essay, Absimilation.

Many Christians found it impossible to adjust to the growing focus on buildings and personalities that began to characterize the Church in the fourth century. They fled to the deserts or the walls of monastic foundations to be free of what they considered the distractions and drift of churches throughout the Roman Empire. Their efforts may have suited a few, but they continued to drive wedges into the unity of the Body of Christ. Here is Part 4 of our blank verse essay, Absimilation, entitled “An Unworthy Path.”

These days, mention the word “church” and what people think of is a building. We say that we “go” to church, clearly indicating that we consider church a destination rather than a living body, the very body of Christ. We fail to see how limiting this idea can be, because we have drifted so far from God’s original plan for His churches. Here is Part 3 of our blank verse essay, Absimilation, entitled “An Unworthy Path.”