The Need for Restoration not Reformation

I recently was reading through a periodical called The Spiritual Sword, the title of the issue was "What Is Happening To Us?" When I looked through the pages I was shocked. The first article dealt with the topic of immersion baptism being apart of salvation, I was amazed at what i found. The highlighted quote was by Gary Holloway from Lipscomb University in which he stated "Currently there is some controversy among Churches of Christ regarding immersion. Many of us cannot deny that there are many devout Christians who are unimmersed." The author would late go on to tell about a sermon given by Mike Williams in 2006 titled "Baptism and Christian Unity," in which he would say that baptism is more or less an unimportant issue. He concluded by stating "And so, we have decided we will not be contentious, and we will be encompassing, and embracing all who choose to come here and walk with us." I was shocked that a Christian University, would say such a thing. Thankfully, the Spiritual Sword did not go on to support any of these ideas but would refute each claim which was made by those who were seeking to reform or change the Church of Christ.

Don't get me wrong I'm all for the idea of allowing people into the church, but not at the cost of violating basic Biblical doctrines such as baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I ended up reading the majority of the Spiritual Sword and realized that the Church which Jesus establish had reached a crossroad. I've realized that there are those who are setting out to reform the church of Christ, attempting to make it more appealing to the popular culture while ignoring scripture. So how can the problem be solved? By restoring the foundational beliefs which the Biblical writers wrote about. Restoration is what is needed, not reformation. Basing doctrinal beliefs on what the culture thinks is exactly why there are so many quarrels within the church today. But if we all take a step back, put presuppositions aside and take the Bible at face value, can the split that is taking place be fixed ?I'm a firm believer it can be, even though there are those who will never adopt N.T. Christianity, but I believe the majority of those in error can be won back.

If this is to happen then the brotherhood cannot simply ignore the change agents within the church, we have to reason and talk with them, not in a militant manner but with love, compassion and the desire to know God's will as the forefront. There is nothing wrong with debating issues in an open forum, if the principles which were mentioned earlier are in use then the Bible will answer the questions of right and wrong and we should not be afraid of that. The church needs restoration not reformation.

IMPACT