We do not know who we are. We are an admixture of views on almost every subject. We are characterized by tremendous disagreement. Informal polls show that we are almost evenly split on almost any topic that may come up.
The ambiguity of the above paragraph is intentional. I could be writing about our nation, but I am thinking first about the contemporary churches of Christ. We must rediscover our identity before we will be firmly committed to do what Christians do. We must develop leaders that know and understand the Christian identity, and are able to communicate it to a people in exile in a strange culture and nation. We must recognize that the secular identity of the church that has slowly developed over the last half-century or so must be reversed if we are to be the light and salt people God calls us to be.
The church that is influenced by the world cannot influence the world. What factors have contributed to our loss of identity? What are your ideas? I will write about some of these factors between now and the end of the year. I would be pleased to hear from you, either in a comment or in a personal email.