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An Open Letter to American Evangelicals
There have been times in history when the church has become so broken, so distorted from what Jesus proclaimed it to be, that new movements have sprung up — not to create a new or different church, but to restore the church to what it is supposed to be. Sometimes the movement takes the form of a reformation. Sometimes it’s called a restoration. Sometimes it’s a revival. Always, the reformation, restoration, or revival is itself imperfect, because it is a human attempt to create something holy. But it has been necessary, imperfect as it may be.
Such a time has come again. The church is broken. It is off course. While holding the truth in her hand, the church staggers on a drunken course, speaking of her bridegroom without walking toward him.
For a long time, I have hoped to work within the church for its renewal. No more. Beginning now, I am working outside of the established and traditional church. I am no longer saying, “Church, it’s time to change!” Now, I am proclaiming, “Come out of that misshapen wreck, that dead carcass, and be separate!”
Those who follow Jesus need to abandon what does not work, what does not bring life, what does not love, and become again the church that Jesus built on that sure foundation, his own sacrifice.