Truth and Unity

I feel like God has taken a marker pen and scrawled two words across my heart, TRUTH and UNITY, and I am on what seems a difficult search to find them in churches.

Church A is dead church, they do lots but believe little. Nothing changes, year in, year out. The faithful attending congregation gets older and smaller as time passes. Church is based around social activities which seem like a good idea but are gradually squashing God out of the picture. God doesn't speak today, he certainly doesn't heal today, and people who say they have spiritual giftings are definitely deluded.

Church B is crazy church, 'we are spirit-led' says the sign outside. Led by what spirit you wonder on walking inside, these people are weird. Rocking backwards and forwards, crying, speaking in funny voices. 'We'll skip the bible reading again today', says the preacher - I think God has something else planned. People come and get caught up in the emotion, but without hearing God's good news they remain unchanged and eventually swap church for the next craze...no-one notices they've gone.

Church C is compromise church. Out to fit into the world they have compromised the core values of God's kingdom. They tone down God's awesome grace and power to make it more user friendly. They water down the gospel message, and avoid whole chunks of the word.

Where is the truth? Now these are perhaps extremes but it seems many churches contain elements of one or more of the above, though perhaps unintentionally. In every church I have visited or been part of I have found people are friendly, in each church the leaders are committed to seeking God's will for their church, they spend time each day in prayer and worship, they want to see God's  kingdom come. Yet, there seem to be many different teachings (mostly backed up with bible verses) and many different views on how church should work. More and more church groups spring up - each dissatisfied with the attempts of others at church and often very vocal about this. Jesus prayed that the church would be one - yet the further we move from the day he returned to heaven the less unified the church appears. This is not to say that we should appear identical or that new churches shouldn't be started, but perhaps we should spend less time in petty squabbles between churches.

Church should be simple, I don't care what style of music you sing to, or even if you don't sing at all as long as it's worship (of God... not the church denomination or pastor) church is about family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and about growing the family...reaching the lost and pointing to Jesus. Finally church is about being the voice of Christ in the world, his hands and his feet. How can we do this without effectively without desiring to put down deep roots into God's word to know his heart?

I long for Christians to be people who seek the truth, people who take their primary teaching from the word of God, and in this society of broken families I long to see the church as one united family.

 Acts 2: 43-47 'Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.'