1. The document discusses the vision of unity among Christians as described in scripture passages like Ephesians 4:4-6 and John 17:22-23. 2. It also discusses commitments that Christians should have to scripture, worship, evangelism, local churches, and Christian education as described in passages like 2 Timothy 3:16, Acts 2:38-41, Matthew 28:18-20, Hebrews 10:25, and Romans 12:1. 3. However, it notes that there are realities of division in practices and beliefs that have arisen, as well as inconsistencies, isolationism, lack of practicality, and a focus on biblical knowledge over relationships with Christ.

1. Classes 7 & 8:
The Crossroads

2. A Vision of Unity
•“There is one body and one Spirit -just as you were
called to one hope when you were called -one Lord,
one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.”
-Ephesians 4:4-6
•“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that
they may be one as we are one; I in them and you in
me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the
world know that you sent me and have loved them
even as you have loved me.” - John 17:22-23

3. Commitment to Scripture
•“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
• -2 Timothy 3:16

4. Commitment to worship
as a transforming act
•“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and
your children and for all who are far off -for all whom the
Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned
them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this
corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were
baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that
day.” -Acts 2:38-41

5. Passion for evangelism
•Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nation,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to
obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age.”
-Matthew 28:18-20

6. Strength of the local church
•Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in
the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another
-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
-Hebrews 10:25
•But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you
may declare the praises of him who called you out
of darkness into his wonderful light. -1 Peter 2:9

7. Passion for Christian
education
•Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s
mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy
and pleasing to God -this is your spiritual act of
worship.
-Romans 12:1

8. A Reality of division
•One cup vs. Multi-cup communion
•Instruments in worship
•Old style vs. New style of worship
•Para-church organizations
•Church buildings
•Premillennialism

9. Increased arrogance
leading to isolationism
isolationism

10. Created uniformity
without practicality
practicality

11. Inconsistent in practice

12. Often emphasizes Bible
knowledge over
relationship with Christ
with Christ
with Christ
•Are we teaching people to know Christ or know
about Christ?

13. from entering that church through baptism and maintaining
the structure sacrosanct. But now that vision has eroded. The
question has arisen whether the church of the NT was a
structure or an amicable, sharing, family-like, fellowshipping
community. If the latter, then the older presumptions and
strategies are called into question. The result has been
considerable confusion, which worries some and leaves others
without a formulated hermeneutic but probably finds the
majority of church members indifferent. Members seem
currently more interested in personal struggles than in
reflection upon how to interpret the Scripture.
-Olbricht (Hermenteutics in Churches of
Christ)

14. make a shift in our model of biblical literature, a shift perhaps as
radical as the change of paradigms that Thomas S. Kuhn argues
takes place in scientific revolutions. Such conceptual
revolutions, he says, occur not in a simple linear process where
learning builds upon learning, but in quantum leaps: A Kepler,
a Copernicus, a Galileo, or an Einstein proposes a whole new
way to put together the evidence that the scientific community
has perhaps long had access to. Such a revolution involves
changing world views, changing paradigms. We need a
hermeneutic revolution in our paradigm of biblical literature.
We cannot equate restoration with the process of recovering
biblical patterns; the formalistic approach has shown itself
spiritually unequal to the task.

15. hermeneutic more truly suited to the nature of our texts. A
literary theory and a theological method dating to John Locke,
British Empiricism, and Scottish Common Sense are not
adequate for the ongoing purpose of recreating pure New
Testament Christianity. Like a science based upon a flat view of
the earth, a hermeneutic based upon a flat view of the Bible will
not allow us to see biblical realities truly, without which we can
never do true restoration. If we are truly to go 'Back to the Bible,
" we must read the Bible on its own terms, in keeping with the
actual nature of biblical literature.
-Russ Dudrey (Churches of Christ at an
Impasse)