For the professing Church the day of theological controversy has passed. Ecumenism is now the word on every tongue. Church leaders appear to have become convinced that the stifling confusion in the Church can be overcome only by all of us getting together, minimizing our differences and emphasizing those doctrines on which we all agree. As a result some of the most important doctrines of Scripture are neither denied nor affirmed; they are ignored. But little matter, for the objective now is not to be true to the written Word of God, but to see to it that the Church is βstrongβ and commands the worldβs respect.
Ecumenism, sad to say, has made significant inroads among evangelical believers too. All too seldom do men of God stand up to defend by the Scriptures the truths they believe and proclaim. Theological debate has given place to the dialogue, in which two individuals or groups sit down together to discuss their differences and see if there is not some basis for agreement. This appears generous and objective but too often convictions are compromised and the truth watered down by such undertakings, with the result that the Spiritβs power is sacrificed for numerical strength.
No man of God can speak in the power of the Spirit when he places anything before the Word and Will of God. Nor can the Church ever be truly united and strong unless she puts Godβs Word and Will first and takes her place in the world as Christβs embassy on alien territory (See II Cor. 5:20). source
