Points of Departure 7 Challenges to the American Evangelical Church

Have we departed from Scripture? We've created Church, Inc. Now what? Has our humanistic approach robbed the church of its power and purpose, causing us to settle for a legacy of polished performances and savvy business models? How do we get back to being the church God intended? In Points of Departure, Jim Thomson offers insights from his three decades as a church insider, asking tough questions about why we have strayed, pinpointing how we got here, and exploring the question: How do we return? "I love the Church. It's only right and appropriate that I should, after all, since Jesus commanded us to love each other. However, as much as I love her-should I insert here that some of my best friends are Christians?-I have become increasingly troubled about the condition in which she exists today. I'm concerned about us, first and foremost-regardless of how we tally the numbers of our gatherings-because we're failing in some essentially biblical ways in the value system that undergirds what we do and, strangely, seem to be unaware of it. "What I advocate is not a new way of doing things, a new step-by-step method. I'm advocating a sincere, paradigm-changing look at the values that are promoted in the Bible. I'm at war with the principles that currently underlie how we have come to function in this organization that we call church. I'm calling for a ship-righting reform of those principles. However, this transformation must flow from an intimate, life-denying love for God. Without that, we're simply-vainly-singing in the square, promoting superficial alterations that will die within a generation. "This radical set of values is ancient-as old as the New Testament-and will be extraordinarily difficult for us to realize. The book you're about to read is challenging, and it should be. We are losing the passion which Jesus requires for a dynamic life with Him, and subsequently, the war for precious human souls." About the Author: Jim Thomson's thirty-plus years of ministry include serving as a senior pastor for two traditional churches, an associate pastor of a mega-church, the leader of a simple church, and a missionary in restricted nations.