A central problem for the church in our time is that we have lost sight of the one allegiance which unites us. When you observe the numerous conflicts and divisions that tear at the unity of the church, it becomes clear that our witness has been seriously weakened by the competing loyalties of factions within the church. It is rare to hear someone say in the midst of these battles, “I disagree with you strongly but Jesus is our Lord and we are united in that faith.” Our behavior seems to betray such a faith. In my city there are over four hundred Christian churches. All of these churches claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I cannot imagine any single issue that we could not effect dramatically in our city if we could all agree. Yet we cannot even agree to have the clergy, let alone the members, come together for prayer and discussion of the state of our city.
Most of the time we are engaged in a variety of forms of competition with each other and have forgotten who the real enemy is. Studies are clear that the vast majority of people who leave churches do not leave to join another church but leave church for the secular society around them. Coalter, Mulder and Weeks remind us, “Throughout the twentieth century, we have been preoccupied with combating various forms of Christian belief (heresy) instead of combating visions of life that are not religious at all (idolatry).” They point out that we have so enjoyed the benefits of secularism that we have turned a blind eye to some of its dangers. “The danger of secularism is its capacity to erode the vitality of Christian faith by relativizing and neutralizing Christ’s claim on our individual and collective lives.” (Vital Signs, The Promise of Mainstream Protestantism, Milton J. Coalter, John M. Mulder, Louis B. Weeks, ppl. 126-127, William B. Erdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1996) Worship which is based on the clear faith that God is present and addressing us from outside ourselves through Christ helps remind us of who our Lord is.
