Washington, DC International Christian Church

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16

Welcome to the Washington, DC International Christian Church!  Sent out by the Spirit from the Central New York Church of Christ, along with members from churches in Chicago, IL and Corvallis, OR, our 18 member mission team arrived in Washington, DC in late July of this year.  To gain a vision for this lost city with a metropolitan population of 5.8 million, we traveled to the Lincoln Memorial, which overlooks the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, to pray for the entire metropolitan area of DC to be won for God!  Despite the chaotic weeks of finding jobs and dealing with steep housing prices, the Lord has already blessed us with a baptism and 2 placed memberships!  God willing, 4 more will be added today at our Inaugural service!

Perhaps you have asked the question, “Why another church in Washington, DC when there are churches seemingly on every street corner?” Our collective convictions are unique; we believe our Savior Jesus is the Son of God risen from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4); the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16); “sold-out” baptized disciples compose God’s church universal, of which we are striving to be a part (Acts 2:41-42); every member is called by God to participate in daily discipling relationships, thus creating family (Hebrews 3:12-13); the mission of each disciple is to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20); and we believe wholeheartedly in building a movement of “like-minded” congregations (1 Corinthians 4:17) whose motivating vision is the evangelization of the nations in this generation (Romans 16:25-27).

The importance of recognizing the lack of unity on these critical issues in churches today reminds me of a book entitled, “Knowing God” by J.I. Packer, written back in 1973. The preface alone was inspiring; his conviction behind the book is that ignorance of God – ignorance both of His ways and the practice of fellowship/communion with Him – is the root of much of the church’s weakness today.  Two unhappy trends seem to have produced this state of affairs, and looking at the present state of the Kingdom worldwide, I believe these issues are more pertinent than ever before.  The rest of this article will attempt to surmise these points and apply them to the current situation of our churches.

The first trend that Packer discusses is the fact that disciples of Jesus have been conformed to the thinking of the world.  Christians have stopped thinking spiritually and started to think more worldly – something that is very easy to do if we are not looking at the world with spiritual eyes.  As Romans 12:2 states, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” There are great thoughts of and for man, which leaves room for only small thoughts of God.  The worldly way to think about God is to set Him at a distance, if not deny him altogether; and that the irony is that “worldly Christians” have become more preoccupied in maintaining their religious practices than being part of a movement.  Living the life of Jesus in our discipleship has been replaced with worldly philosophy.  Instead of the church raising its voice to remind the world of what is being forgotten, the church has formed a habit of playing down the issues of life and doctrine.  Sadly, the lack of conviction on foundational issues of the Christian faith will result in drifting and eventually spiritual suicide for those who walk the Christian life.

The second trend that Packer discusses is the fact that disciples of Jesus have been confused by worldly arguments.  Due to the fact that foundational facts of the faith have been called into question, worldly arguments have abandoned all ideas of a unity of truth.  There is a unity of “fellowship” but not a unity of “discipleship.”  Sadly, this concept of unity is not unity at all.  If everyone has a different standard of life but claims to hold on to a common doctrine, what example is that for the world to see?  As Jesus stated in John 14:7,12, “If you really knew me you would know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him…I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.” Are we imitating the life of Jesus (1 John 2:6)?  To know the correct doctrine (Acts 2:38) is just one aspect.  We must also watch the standard of discipleship in our lives!

A true knowledge of God should humble our pride, expand our intellect, and comfort our worries.  I agree with Packer that the uncertainty and confusion about God, his ways, and the practice of discipleship with Him present in our day are worse than anything since Gnostic theosophy tried to swallow Christianity in the second century.  Church history reminds me of the fact that church revival is a constant.  Many Christians, including myself at one point, suffer from historical amnesia.  The time between the apostles and their own day is one giant blank.  As a consequence of our ignorance concerning Christian history, we find disciples vulnerable to the appeals of “freedom in Christ,” and respond by accepting a distortion of discipleship as the real thing.  I, like many others, have tried to be humble before God and wrestle with the Scriptures in order discern what is best (Philippians 1:7-9).  However, without the call of revival to an obedience of the Scriptures, the church will become weak and clumsy in its basic task of holding the church to the realities of the gospel (John 8:31-32).

It is my prayer that by wrestling with the Scriptures, we can grow in our desire to know God, and to make Him known.  As Bruce L. Shelley, a professor of church history has stated, “Church historians often ask, ‘Is the church a movement or an institution?…The church’s mission in time calls for institutions: special rules, special leaders, special places.  But when institutions themselves obstruct the spread of the gospel rather than advancing it, then movements of renewal arise to return to the church’s basic mission to the world.”  I pray that in our day of conformity and confusion, God will use our new movement to restore the true unity and discipleship of New Testament Christianity.  And to Him be all the Glory!

Andrew Smellie
Evangelist