About AMCU IV (2)

CHRISTIAN UNITY, WHO CARES?

It was an embarrassing contrast. The Roman Catholic (RC) contingent was well represented by archbishops, bishops and Jesuit priests from different parts of Asia. On the contrary, in spite of the fact that the event was being held in Malaysia, no Protestant ecclesiastical leader of the national level from Malaysia was present.

Observing from the strong make-up of the RC contingent, it is clear that Christian unity is one of their primary concerns. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Protestants. The absence of the Protestant leaders from this event seems to send out a clear message that we Protestants are not that keen to participate in efforts of Christian unity.

But, how can we be keen when we have so many concerns of our own local churches to attend to?

We are busy throughout the year indulging in the number game, doing our very best to ensure that our churches enjoy numerical growth annually, as it is our primary (sometimes, sole) yardstick to gauge the success of our churches. Never mind if there are not enough disciplers or shepherds to cater to the needs of the existing members and new converts, as long as new converts are brought in on a regular basis, we assure ourselves that we will be able to find solutions to the problems.

We are busy organizing gospel rallies, talks, concerts and many other kind of evangelistic programs throughout the year to lure attract people of other faiths non-Christians to our churches, so that ultimately we can convert them to Christianity. Most importantly, we want these new converts to be part of our local churches. Never mind if many are offended by our cheating imperialistic tactful methods of evangelism, as long as there are even a few who are saved, the angels in heaven will be dancing with us in joy.

We are busy keeping track of the attendance records of our church members to ensure that they are attending cell group meetings, prayer meetings and Sunday services regularly. That is why in many churches, cell group leaders are handed a checklist to record the attendance of the cell group members for various meetings. Never mind how the members feel about this kind of treatment, as this is an efficient and convenient way to monitor their spiritual health.

We are already so busy attending to the needs of our church members and the salvation of the whole world, certainly we are not to be blamed for not engaging in dialogues or joint efforts towards Christian unity, right? Surely the time and effort being used to attempt to unite the Body of Christ that is already so fragmented can be better used in saving non-Christians, right?