ion which He created.

Proposals for the reunion of the churches often arouse the fear that our
respective denominations, to which we are devoted, will be replaced by
what some conceive of as a "superchurch." Such an arbitrary replacement
of church organization is not the objective of the unity movement.
Instead, we should respond to the Spirit's prompting to keep our
denominational loyalties subject to our loyalty to Him, in order that we
may be open to whatever form of church life and action the Spirit may
indicate for our generation. We are concerned about the church as the
body of Christ in our time. As His body, we must find our unity in Him;
but this may mean that we shall have to abandon some things that have
seemed good. Some words of our Lord are hard to bear: "He who loves
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me."[23] These words of
our Lord are equally applicable to all other relationships, including
our denominational ones. It does not follow, however, that our
denominational devotion is of itself disloyal to Christ, any more than
our devotion to our loved ones is disloyal. We do need, however, to make
sure that we love and serve Him, and not something or someone else. Our
concepts of ourselves and of others may need to be changed.

The changing of these images of ourselves and of others is not a
responsibility that belongs only to our top-level church leaders. Every
Christian in every church in every part of the world must share it,
because each person has a specific responsibility for his relationship
with his Christian brothers, by whatever name they may call themselves.
The parent who seeks to exercise his ministry in his relationship with
his child needs also to be open to his responsibility as a member of
some historic branch of the Christian church for the welfare of that
church and the relationship of its separate parts. We cannot accept what
we have inherited in the form in which we inherited it. Our inheritance
in many ways is precious and wonderful, but our human response can
deform it. Our church can be a means of fulfilling our discipleship, but
it can also be an obstacle to it. Therefore, our membership and
participation in a denomination needs to be kept under the constant
judgment of God in order that we as members may serve Him more loyally.

We are Christ's, brought into this relationship by His love, and we can
grow in this relationship only as we are guided by His Spirit.
Ever