The Restoration Movement...for those interested.

[Spiritus Naturae]

I have been in a battle of sorts since my marriage, as it was upon meeting my wife that I was introduced to the "Restoration Movement" and it's offspring, one of which my wife's family of origin is a member and has been for generations. I find them intrinsically fascinating and struggle still to understand their thinking. Their intentions were noble; wanting to bring a real unity to the body of Christ as a whole, but I think they missed the mark entirely. The Restoration Movement is a fascinating portion of the much larger scope of Ecclesiology and the history of the body of Christ.



An excellent site in regards to a cataloging of Restoration Movement texts, founders, proponents, teaching and understanding of Scripture: http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/index.html

[elysian]

I agree- fascinating. The only disturbing aspect of independent churches is that there can be a considerable lack of leadership and conflicts on doctrine and practice. This is something that really bothered me about Baptist churches. My sister lives in a rural area where just about everyone is Southern Baptist- but in a county of about 60,000 people,there are 124 Southern Baptist churches! For the sake of argument, let's say 15,000 of the 60,000 go to Southern Baptist churches. This averages out to about 120 members per church. Even if all 60,000 people in her county went to a Southern Baptist church, the congregation size would average 485. Most churches in her area have 150 or less members. The reason for this is that if people suddenly don't like something the Pastor said, or really don't like so-and-so at church they simply transfer to another one.

I'm not saying that a bigger church is better, and those of us who belong to large churches need to make an effort to be involved in small groups and studies and need to find ways to fellowship with other, but the attitude that "if I don't agree with ______ I'll leave" is not healthy. Our Pastors should be offending our ears! (http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?SearchType=AND&language=english&searchpage=0&search=itching+ears&version=NIV) Leaving the church over relatively stupid disagreements like "I prefer the red hymnal" or "I don't like the new decor" or shopping about for a Pastor who makes you feel warm and fuzzy is not Christ-like behavior.

I don't agree 100% with either of my Pastors on every subject. Sometimes they preach on topics that absolutely make me squirm. Sometimes I disagree with what they say or how they say it. But I am then challenged to go back to the sermon text and see for myself, "what does Scripture say on this topic?" Usually I discover that Pastor was right or even if I still disagree with him that his view is Scripturally acceptable (within the constraints of Christian liberty (http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=NIV&passage=romans+14).) Christians will not agree on everything!

I would have reason to be very concerned if my Pastors started preaching bizarre things that are outside the realm of Christian teaching (for example if they would teach that Jesus was not really born of a virgin or that we have to earn brownie points to get into heaven.)

Lutherans have a handy guide to point us to where we need to be in Scripture. It's called the Book of Concord (http://www.bookofconcord.org/)- it is a summary of what confessional Lutheran Christians believe and how we interpret Scripture. I would be justified in finding another church if the Gospel weren't being preached and lived in my church, but otherwise I am under authority.

The Great Commission doesn't say anything about my comfort, about warm fuzzies, or about whether or not I like the Pastor or anyone else in my church. It says "make disciples for Christ." Often we make friends while doing so, :teeth: but that isn't our primary objective. Jesus says "take up your cross and follow Me" but he didn't mean, "take up your cross and go to the church across the road when Pastor makes you squirm." This is the failing of many churches IMO and not just independent churches (though I do think it would be far more prevalent due to the lack of a tradition or hierarchy.)