There is something so beautiful and so right in
Restoration. There is something so ugly
and so wrong in a divided Christianity.
I was raised Catholic.
Eventually, I was engaged by the church of Christ and was challenged by
the ideal of unity with all other Christians.
And, I was challenged to consider the inner mechanisms that were
dividing Christians and preventing them from achieving unity in Christ.
There were so many belief systems. And each attracted around itself adherents
who recognized each other as brothers and sisters, and who recognized all
others as outsiders. Against the grain
of this division and divisiveness, the churches of Christ were presented to me
as those who had turned away from it all.
They had unsprung the very mechanisms of division. Abandoning their peculiar beliefs, practices,
and traditions, they agreed to come together in unity holding only to the
Bible.
This noble path is not an easy one to walk, as our history
plainly declares. Anti-divisiveness, in
the height of irony, can become its own divisiveness. The same pride that attached to the myriad of
denominational allegiances can make its home with Restorationists. Arrogance and snobbery, and unrivaled
sectarianism, have rooted in our souls as strongly and as deeply as in the
denominations that we have come to despise.
For so long, I have focused not on Restorationism, but on
its truest objects: truth, Divine
revelation, and God. I am reminded of “conversations”
with my wife, in the early history of our long and beautiful marriage, that
degenerated from the driving issues to “communication about communication.” The real issue was set aside, while we now
bickered over how our very conversation was problematic. The resulting “communication” did not seem at
all helpful, if resolving the initial conflict was the objective. In like manner, I have not devoted much
energy to the cause of Restoration, to our conflicts. It is woven into my deepest
orientations. Instead, I have focused especially
on the Scriptures, the Cross, and the things that make for unity in Christ
Jesus.
More than a few years have gone by since I was baptized into
Christ, since I abandoned all other allegiances for the one to Jesus and His
people. I was aware of the arguments
over the direction of our movement. But
I largely ignored the squabbling. Now,
quite a few years later, I am facing the awareness that the very cause of
Restoration has been largely abandoned within churches of Christ.
It’s a good thing my convictions are so carefully formed and
well-founded. I have a profound sense of
abandonment and isolation. I can review
history and note all of the failures in the pursuit of unity. While many apparently conclude this review by
declaring Restoration to have been a failed project, I see the past failures as
lessons to be learned, none of which is strong enough to devalue the cause of
unity in Christ. Perhaps I am the last
remaining Restorationist.
I have much more to write on this. This blog will now become a true blog (rather
than a depository for some of my work).
I encourage dialog. Perhaps the
fire will re-ignite.
