Restoration Movement Q&A 2

Answers from Robert Lowery

Does the Restoration Movement Matter? Answers from Robert Lowery.

Robert Lowery is professor of New Testament and dean at Lincoln (Illinois) Christian Seminary.

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Do you feel as strongly about being a part of the Restoration Movement today as you did fifteen years ago?  What, if anything, has changed?

I remain committed to the principles of the Restoration Movement, yet I am not impressed with our efforts to articulate clearly and implement boldly those principles today. I have heard some say: “We have arrived! We do exactly what the earliest Christians did, no more and no less, and thus we have restored New Testament Christianity because we have restored the New Testament church.” I fear that at various points our understanding of a New Testament church is no more than an agreement with our preexisting thinking about the church!

I believe that many have failed to realize both the essence of the plea and the power of our traditions. In attempting to be the church and do church according to John 17:20-23, we have often fallen into a self-preserving traditionalism. We lock ourselves into language and behavior out of sync with God”s will and with the times in which we live, seeking to protect the status quo at any cost. We often make the trivial significant and the significant trivial.

 

 

Is your commitment to the Restoration Movement primarily doctrinal or familial, or both?

My commitment is primarily for doctrinal, but also for familial, reasons. Fifty years ago””July 13, 1958, to be precise””I was baptized into Christ. The biblical truths I was taught and saw modeled by countless elders, deacons, and their spouses, along with preaching and youth ministers, and the friendships that have endured over the decades have made me be accountable to my heritage in formal and informal ways.

 

 

If you moved into a new town and there was a strong and growing Evangelical church, and a weak and declining Christian church, which would you likely attend?

I don’t like this vague, loaded question.  The term “evangelical” is a slippery one.  I do not identify myself as being an evangelical-Christian or a Christian church-Christian.  I guess I am an unhyphenated Christian.  When moving into another town, I would prefer to become part of the Christian church and help move it in a direction that would be faithful in desiring to be an answer to Christ’s prayer in John 17.  If after a period of time, however, I concluded that this was not going to happen, then, yes, I would consider becoming a part of a congregation that was not listed in the Directory of Ministry or did not participate in the North American Christian Convention or the National Missionary Convention, so long as the doctrinal practices of that congregation squared with what I understood Scripture to teach.

Years ago while my family and I were living in Aberdeen, Scotland, we worshipped with a church associated with our movement that was incredibly sectarian.  We were viewed with suspicion by many to the point of not being able to do any kind of ministry whatsoever.  Shortly before we returned home, I became acquainted with a congregation of believers who would held to core beliefs concerning Christ, Scripture, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and making disciples.  To this day, I regret that I did not know about the congregation earlier so that I could have served with those brothers and sisters.

 

 

Do you believe the Restoration Movement is just as valid in a postmodern environment as it was in the environment of the modern age? Why or why not?

Of course!  Why?  Because our paradigm for understanding the biblical doctrine of the church has been John 17:20-23.  Yet too often we are known more for our understanding of Acts 2:38 than the prayer of Jesus.  What a shame!  On the basis of this portion of the so-called High Priestly Prayer of Jesus, we have committed ourselves to being an answer to this prayer by being a church that is truth-focused (17:20), unity- or community-focused (17:21,23), and evangelism-focused (17:21,23).   I think countless people have forgotten the essence of the Restoration Plea.  Some have misread or misapplied the cherished teachings of our forefathers.  Still others have fought and continue to fight battles over issues that do not matter much to God, if they matter at all, and surely do not matter to those who are outside of God’s grace.  More than ever we must allow this prayer to shape our vision and values.

Even though our movement arose in the era of the Enlightenment, the plea was originally rooted in Scripture, our emphasis on the authority of Christ through Scripture as the basis for a recognizable expression of Christian unity so that the world may believe that the Father sent the Son does not change from era to era, be it pre-modern, modern, or postmodern.  Philosophies change from generation to generation but the prayer Jesus prayed is a prayer for yesterday and today and will carry us into the age to come.

 

 

How important are the ordinances of baptism and the Lord”s Supper?  Do you think your view on these two issues is more conservative than your parents (and/or your children), less conservative, or about the same?

Incredibly important!  As my baptism initiated my relationship with God, so the weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper deepens my relationship with God and my brothers and sisters.  I cannot imagine a moment where I would teach that either of these teachings should be minimized or set aside.

 

 

To you, what is the most compelling element of the Restoration Movement?

The compelling element is that in his prayer recorded in John 17 Christ provides the vision–to bring glory to God in all that we do by carrying out the mission given to disciple the nations–and the values–to be a people committed to Scripture and an observable Christian unity that will lead people to marvel at the unifying power of God.

I love my heritage’s commitment to the authoritative Word of God.  I love my heritage’s commitment to world evangelism.  I love the lack of any denominational principles that might restrict the full exercise of Christian unity, and I find it intolerable to belong to a Christian community that would not receive all whom Christ has received.