by T. Austin-Sparks
First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazines, 1951-1952, Vol. 29-6 - 30-3.
Let us be perfectly frank. The present organised system which Christianity has come to be has involved Christians and their leaders in a set of situations which make it - to say the least of it - exceedingly difficult to escape a false, totally false, conception of unity and division... It is this crystallisation of Christian work into a fixed system, settled, and so generally recognized and accepted, as to leave no place for any other - any other being at once suspect - that has set up an entirely wrong and pernicious situation with regard to unity. It is the "church", i.e. the denomination, sect, local congregation, mission, movement, form, order, doctrine (extra to the basic essentials of salvation) which now determine unity or schism. To leave one and go to another, altogether without a consideration for spiritual values is immediately named division, "sheep stealing", etc. We are going to pursue this to its roots, and seek to lay the axe there.
