Zeal Without Knowledge

In the comments of my reply to Kitty I restated my great desire to see the Church turn away from the pattern of division and strive for unification in Christ. That desire is just as great in me as ever but those who were kind enough to reply to my thoughts made my ignorance evident. Every one of us concede that there are problems in our own assemblies and I was confident I could easily relate with others on these problems from my own experience. I must confess that is not the case and I ask forgiveness from each of you who I’ve offended with my accusation of giving up or quitting because of your decision to leave your assembly. I was wrong to have made such a broad judgment and I am truly sorry.

I have recently written on how I was confronted with the opinion that the Church is in total apostasy and I must confess the more I learn from my brethren here the more I understand and lean toward this position. It is becoming evident to me that very few gatherings are actually a gathering of the Church. Sadly it seems they are more an action of man-made institutions that draw power to them selves and drain the power from the body of Christ. I can say from my own experience that even in assemblies where these institutions are not allowed that the tendency of the flock is to advocate authority, and with it personal responsibility, then to lay all blame at the feet of His servants.

All of this is not to say that the Church is not present in these assemblies. She is there and represented well by those who struggle to serve their brethren and with an honest heart really do prefer them above their selves. The Church is present in those who strive to submit to Christ in all things and are condemned by the institutional hierarchy for refusing to give them His authority. The Church is even there in those who are confounded by the disparity and are being torn in both directions. May God grant us each the vision to see the body of Christ around us and our place within it.