For most of our religious friends, the idea of “restoring the New Testament church” is just not their concern. I am not saying they don’t read and try to follow their Bibles. They just don’t think it necessary to imitate the faith, worship, and practice they see reflected in apostolic congregations. This is, and always has been, true of some within churches of Christ as well. It has become popular to say something like: “We should just approach every decision with the Spirit of Christ.” or “The Bible doesn’t contain a fixed pattern for the church. We can choose what we want in worship. The Bible doesn’t restrict us.”
In fact, you may read those sentences and think, “That sounds good to me.” What you may not realize is, those ideas not only contradict clear teaching from God, they trade the will of Christ for human wisdom. Whose church is it then? Paul puts it this way, “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”-Romans 1:25.
Should we filter our teaching and worship through the lens of “the Spirit of Christ?” Of course we should! But I find it hard to believe Jesus would ignore the very words he received from the Father, and gave to his apostles by inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 14:25-56; 16:12-15; II Peter 1:20-21). Should we follow what someone thinks Jesus would have us do, or what Jesus actually says? “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God,”-I Thessalonians 2:13.
This is not a difficult truth to grasp. Unless, of course, you want to do something clearly in violation of the words of Jesus. When you hear someone start droning on about, “How out of step with the times we are and blame it on an outdated theology that looks for a blueprint.” or “We need to have a “Jesus-centered hermeneutic.” Just go ahead and ask them how they feel about homosexual sin, women as preachers/elders, and instrumental music in worship. This is where they are headed. It is always where they are headed.
Their real problem is either a lack or courage or an overabundance of embarrassment. Culture has changed and we are afraid to stand against the tide. The words of God make us uncomfortable when talking to our friends in other religious groups. “The law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners…the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality…and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,”-I Timothy 1:9-10. The actual teaching of Jesus does not pair with fish and cultured conversation. The Holy Spirit might disrupt a delicate social palate with, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.”-I Timothy 2:12.
The Bible records the word of God. It is what the early Christians submitted to in their daily lives. Jesus guided his apostles to establish the church of Christ. We have divine instruction to know what pleases Jesus in his church and a record of how a church functions when guided by apostles inspired by the Holy Spirit.
If we are not attempting to restore the teaching, worship, and practice of Christ’s church from the first century, what are we imitating? Are we ignoring the clear teaching of Jesus to substitute our own?
Maybe the idea of “Restoring the ancient order of things.” seems a bit dated to you. You might think looking to Scripture as a guide for the church of the 21st century is a man-made idea. Allow me to leave you words from the mouth of our Lord and a sentence from a mouthpiece of the Lord’s.
Jesus: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,”-John 15:10
Paul: “stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.”-II Thessalonians 2:15
Amen.
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