What is missing? That is the question that has been running through my mind and my spirit for several months now. I read a book over the summer and at one point the author looked at the Christian Church in America and observed that it did not look very much like the Church described in the New Testament. It was an observation that ruminated in my heart. The character of the American Church looks very little like the New Testament Church. So I began to consider the question, “What is missing?” What is it that the New Testament Church had that is missing in the American Church? I began a journey of looking for those answers. Along this journey, I also wanted to see where I was coming up short in having the character of a New Testament Christian.

I’m not talking about practices or cultural thinking that was limited to first century Palestine. I was looking for eternal truths within the character of the early Church that transcended cultural limitations. In this stumbling journey, I combed the book of Acts and the epistles of the New Testament for answers. Not wanting to limit myself to my own observations, I consulted dozens of pastors and missionaries to get their ideas about the answer to the question, “What is missing?”

Some ministers gave me long lists of everything they thought was wrong with the Church in America. However, many of those responses turned out to be examples of how the Church had left the traditions of the more recent past. I am not interested in comparing the American Church with what it used to be in 1950 or 1914 or 1741. I AM interested in comparing the American Church with the Church described in Scripture. For every characteristic I believe is missing from today’s Church, I want to be able to point to Scripture and say, “Here! Here is the characteristic in the New Testament Church that we are missing in the American Church today!”

In this journey to discover what is missing, literally dozens of answers were found and discussed. Being the habitual organizer that I tend to be, I eventually grouped these answers into four areas of emphasis. These are the basic emphases that I feel the American Church is lacking. These are the four basic emphases we need to rediscover if we are to be more like the New Testament Church.

The American Christian Church is missing:

·         An emphasis on whole-hearted commitment to Christ

·         An emphasis on true discipleship

·         An emphasis on loving community

·         An emphasis on life in the Spirit

The purpose of the blog is to document my journey and my church’s journey to rediscover these emphases for ourselves as individuals and as a church. As a pastor, I take some of the responsibility in being in a place where the question of “What is missing?” needs to be asked. I have been comfortable with the Americanized version of the gospel, living as an Americanized Christian and leading an Americanized church. That ends now. In 2017, my church and I will be exploring what it means to have the character of New Testament Christians in a New Testament Church. This is more than a sermon series. As we discuss each of the four emphases we are missing, we will also discuss implementation steps we will make as a church to change the focus of our church.

I am not a great preacher. I am not a scholar. I am not especially insightful. But I am convicted by the Holy Spirit to take this journey. I do not know what the results will be, but I am committed to the journey. I have no doubt that I will stumble and fall. I will get discouraged. There will be successes and failures. But through it all, I commit publically to move forward on this journey. Like Abraham travelling to Canaan, I might not see the destination clearly, but I commit to moving through the obstacles, and may each obstacle increase my trust in the One leading me.

So I will update this blog as we move forward. I will expand on those four emphases as we explore them as a church. I will try to keep you updated on our progress fairly consistently on how things are going. I plan on being brutally frank and not everything will be “encouraging” in the common use of the word. But perhaps I can encourage some to learn from this journey. And perhaps there will even be those who will walk alongside us to journey together.