“In every church, in every institution, there is something which sooner or later works against the very purpose for which it came into existence.” (C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, 94).
If Lewis is right, we would do well to ask ourselves afresh why the church came into existence, how the current church should reflect that origin, and what kinds of things are working against the original purpose. Those of us who stand in a Restorationist tradition must understand the nature of restoration (recovery) efforts. Michael Weed has observed that such movements become predominantly shaped by what they are reacting against. That shape often continues long after the factors that motivated the original reaction are gone. Thus it is that Restorationist movements stagnate, considering themselves successful because the factors against which they originally stood have been eliminated. Along the way, Restoration can become irrelevant because its inherent nature is more reactionary than proactionary. In common terms, more known for what it is against than for what it is for.
The church committed to restoration and recovery must continually keep in mind the original. An oft-used illustration serves well here: those who work to identify counterfeit money do not study the multiple counterfeit possibilities–they study and come to know everything they can about authentic bills.
If the contemporary church’s culture or DNA has derailed, it may be because the church has lost sight of the original plan and purpose of God in establishing the church. A quick New Testament refresher course would go a long way toward correcting any tendencies to turn inward in exclusivity or to diminish the church’s commitment to proclaiming the message of Jesus far and wide through evangelism and missions.
The church is not here to react to the world or to human misunderstandings, but to respond faithfully to God’s love expressed in Christ. That faithful response, guided by God’s word concerning his intent and the purpose of the church, will go a long way toward helping us become what God is calling his people to be.