by T. Austin-Sparks
First published as a continuing editorial in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazines, 1958 - 1959, Vol. 36-6 - 37-3.
During the many years of this spoken and printed ministry, very much has been said regarding the Church... Many conferences on the subject are being held, many 'church' movements are afoot, and a very considerable literature is being published.The questions which reach us are almost entirely to do with the essential nature of a 'New Testament church': how such a church is formed, what are the principles which govern it, and similar questions. There is a good deal of dissatisfaction and unrest among many sincere believers and servants of God, due largely to the poor or even bad state existing in so many churches. In not a few cases it is due to error in teaching, or disorder and sin. Many complain of spiritual starvation, and still many more are tired of mere formalism and spiritual death. While the perfect church has never yet existed on this earth, and while there always have been, and always will be, faults and weaknesses, or worse, there really is a need for a reconsideration, and a recovery, of the essential nature and function of the Church.
