An Important Note To Students And Teachers
These remarks are a verbal explanation of the graphic. One should be examining the graphic while reading this explanation.
There are two horizontal lines--A and B. Horizontal line A represents the church in the form most of us know--the human form. Most of us know the church as a congregation we grew up in or are a part of as an adult Christian. Horizontal line B represents the eternal purposes of God in His association with people. This association began the moment they were created. The struggle began the moment people rebelled against God. From the beginning God was (and continues to be) interested in all people (see Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14; Jonah 4:9-11; Isaiah 49:3, 5 ,6; Acts 3 25; Galatians 3:8). While any growing congregation always will be composed of Christians who represent every stage of faith [from birth (conversion), stages of spiritual youth, to stages of spiritual maturity], no congregation will ever perfectly represent all of God's values and purposes in complete form. Every congregation needs continual growth in understanding God's will and intents. The vertical line represents the work of restoration. Restoration is never a completed task. The work of restoration is to seek to make horizontal line A and horizontal line B the same. The focus of restoration must never be limited to a theological position or an accepted form. The figure represents any Christian (man or woman). Commonly the dedicated Christian individual who studies also spiritually develops faster than does the congregation he or she is a part of. He or she is frequently somewhere between the "congregation's position" and his or her understanding of "God's values and purposes." The crisis comes for most Christians when the declared or practiced view of a congregation seems to be in opposition with his or her understanding of God's values and purposes. He or she feels torn. When is the unity of the congregation to be preserved? When are God's values and purposes to be championed?
