The Needed Restoration (No. 2)

By Roy Loney

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     In Bible Talk (Vol.6, No.8), Brother Leroy Garrett writes, "A church that does not talk about Christ is not the true church of Christ." I endorse that statement wholeheartedly. Christ is "the head of the church and the saviour of the body." He is the shepherd of the sheep, and is to them the water of life. He is the bread of life, the source of all hope and comfort. He is also the resurrection and the life. If we take Christ out of the church, it becomes an empty shell, and its services become cold, formal ritualism. In view of the relationship of Jesus to the church, is it not strange that so few will talk about Him? Paul preached Christ and him crucified, but we discuss about everything but Christ.

     A brother, in his home, said to me, "I understand you believe we ought to talk more about Christ and less about his doctrine." I affirmed that was my conviction. He fiddled with his pencil, then walked to the other end of the room and started to read a book. The day before he was quite voluble on a technical point of doctrine, but preferred a man made book when I expressed willingness to talk about Jesus. This brother is typical of many in the church. We sing, "More about Jesus would I know; more of His grace to others show; More of his saving fulness see; more of his love who died for me." But our discussions deal with technicalities and we seldom mention the name of Jesus.

     It will not matter a whit if we ascertain the correct usage and understanding of every passage, and give the original meaning of every word, if we leave out the glorious person of our Lord. The church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7) put every false teacher to the test, stood immovable for correct doctrine, and showed zeal in the work of Christ, but they had become mere legalists instead of warm, loving Christians. They needed the same kind of restoration most needed today. In their zeal against apostates, they became apostates by falling away from Christ himself, while keeping his doctrine intact.

     The same thing was true of the Laodiceans. They had grown into a strong church, but their love for the risen and glorified Redeemer was lukewarm. A re-

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turn to personal devotion to him was the only thing which would satisfy Jesus. Doctrinal purity and congregational power avail nothing so long as the hearts of his professed followers remain unspiritual. All this commotion about restoration strikes me as mere gibberish so long as we do nothing to plant Christ in human hearts. To be Christ-minded is a thousand fold better than to be "restoration minded." "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5). My dissatisfaction has grown by leaps and bounds when I consider the unspirituality of some who are so insistent on "restoration." I am persuaded that many youthful followers of the restorationists, in their unguarded zeal for something new, "understand neither what they say nor whereof they affirm."

     Name calling and a show of temper should not be indulged by Christ-minded people. Youthful fledglings with a smattering of academic scholarship pose as the "saviours" of doctrinal purity. In their judgment, if you are not "restoration minded'' you are an ''anti,'' a ''hobbyist," or what have you! Instead of being carried away with the wonderful person of Christ and his redemptive love for man, they are carried away with the brilliance of their own scholarly deductions. They forget that Jesus put personal love for God and spiritual devotion to him, at the very top of the list of important things. "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment."

     As long as we never talk about Christ and God, how can we prove our love for them? How can we influence others to give their hearts to God? Character is not changed by teaching on doctrinal purity. Jesus said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. There can be no apostasy, indifference, or worldliness in the church, if the members are personally devoted to Christ. "If ye love me, keep my commandments." "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous.

     If Christ is truly in our hearts he is the chief concern of our lives, and our conversation, teaching and preaching, will center around him. Our whole problem is making our members Christ-conscious. The church must be a Christ-centered church. It must be rooted and grounded in him. Christ is the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega, the only source of salvation, and the door of heaven. Is it not strange that we have so little interest in discussing his glorious person, wonderful character, and divine attributes? Are we so "fed up" with Christ, that we can only talk abstractly of his doctrines, and debate the Greek meaning of words? Before me lies an 8 page document. It may be scholarly, but much of it is pure Greek to me, because I have spent little time learning Greek. After trying to digest this document, I find these closing words: "It is hoped that the technical-level reader will overlook the "verbosity" and 'incompleteness" necessitated by preparing a paper which, in conformity with its purpose, had to be prepared for popular distribution." This is a sample of brotherhood literature. Hours of research went into the preparation of a document that will not do a thing to arouse interest in the Son of God, or beget love and devotion for him.

     Instead of learning dead languages I want to learn more about the living Christ. The common people who have ever been the real backbone of apostolic Christianity care nothing about scholarship, but they do care about Christ. The Greeks once came to Philip, and said, "Sirs, we would see Jesus." Is not that the cry of the world today? What is more desirable than to be spiritually minded? "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." We will never be spiritually minded while our chief discussions are doctrinal.

     The reams being written on fellowship will never accomplish a reformation un-

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less people are first made Christ-conscious, or Christ-minded. There will be no desire to fellowship all the faithful unless we are first taught to love our fellowman. This is the real starting point of scriptural fellowship. Only when we fully understand and appreciate God's love for man, will we love one another as God loves us. "If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." The only motive to obedience is love for God and man. "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

     A certain brother expresses pleasure that I occasionally write on doctrine. But, why should I? That is all our spiritually starved brotherhood is being fed. We have had so much technical doctrine it comes out of our nostrils, and we are nauseated with it like the children of Israel with their quails (Num. 11:20). Might it not be refreshing to the readers if I give them a little variety in their diet which has no nourishment? I am consumed with an intense desire to write a whole book about Jesus Christ our Lord. Brothers and sisters, would you be interested in such a book? Bro. Garrett is right when he says, "A church that does not talk about Christ, is not a true church of Christ." That being true, let all who advocate such a principle be the first to begin talking about the gracious Teacher whose plain sermons impressed the common people (Mark 12:37). Let us give real proof that we are "The true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man." Instead of going back to Jerusalem to find correct teaching on bachelor elders, fellowship, instrumental music, etc., let us go to that little home in Bethany and sit with enraptured Mary at the feet of the compassionate Saviour, to feed our souls on the gracious words that fall from His lips (Luke 10:42). Did not Jesus declare this is "the one thing needful"?

REMARKS BY THE EDITOR

     I love Brother Loney. He has made many sacrifices. He is a living example of the triumph of will over personal handicaps. Few men who are totally deaf would keep going in a field where hearing is one of the first requirements. I have not always admired his judgment, nor agreed with his position, but he is my brother in the Lord, and I have sought to agree with him when possible and be patient and forbearing in areas of disagreement. I shall continue to do that.

     For sometime our brother has been very critical of the manner in which I conduct my paper. He feels I stress doctrinal matters too much and should talk about the attributes of Jesus. The article I am reviewing is the second he has written to prove we should not write about doctrine. At first, I was inclined to print it without comment, but there are certain matters which may be cleared up now, and may help our brother and others to feel more at ease with regard to our purpose.

     There are some encouraging aspects in our brother's article. First, he quotes from Leroy Garrett, whom he would call a restorationist, to prove that "A church that does not talk about Christ is not the true church of Christ." Thus, he shows that restoration-minded brethren realize the importance of Christ-centered living. Secondly, Bro. Loney twice refers to Leroy as a brother, thus showing that brotherhood is not contingent upon perfect agreement, for, like myself, Bro. Loney does not agree with everything Leroy writes. We are encouraged by such signs of spiritual maturity among the brethren.

     I am not opposed to writing about our blessed Lord, or emphasizing His glory, majesty, mercy or grace. But our good brother implies that one cannot devote his time to the doctrine of the Lord and still love the Lord like he ought. He has the distorted view that one must be either "Christ-minded" or "res-

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toration-minded." But these are not opposed to each other. Does one love Jesus any less because he wants to restore His church in its primitive beauty? Our brother says Paul preached "Christ and him crucified." Paul also wrote fourteen epistles filled with doctrinal material. Did Paul cease to love Jesus while writing to Corinth about their problems? We are faced with a grave situation in the religious world, being divided, torn and rent asunder. It will do no good to ignore our real status and become visionaries and idealists. We must face conditions as they are. We must be practical. Other people love Jesus also, as much as we do, but false concepts and human frailties in reasoning keep us apart. We dare not assume that we are the only ones who regard Jesus as a compassionate Saviour. But we may write about the love and mercy of Jesus and not solve our problems. It is not a discussion of the character of Jesus, but the correct application of his doctrine, which is needed.

     Why do we write about doctrinal matters? Because the apostle who preached Christ also said, "Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine" (1 Tim. 4:13). Again, "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee" (1 Tim. 4:16). A man will save himself and his hearers by continuing in the doctrine. Our brother wants us to discontinue! We are not to labor in the word only, but also in the doctrine (1 Tim. 5:17). We take it the first refers to proclaiming the good news, while the second refers to instruction and correction of the converts. It is a positive command to evangelists to "correct the deficiencies" (Titus 1:5). This is to be done by speaking "the things which become sound doctrine" (Titus 2:1).

     Our beloved brother Loney feels that our greatest need is to be "carried away with the wonderful person of Christ, and his redemptive love for man." We concur with every plea he makes for Christ-conscious lives. But we feel that we come closer to our Lord through study of His words -- all of them, not just a part of them. The twenty-one epistles we regard as being from God the same as the four gospel accounts. We see no reason to slight or neglect either. It is true that "this is the love of God that we keep his commandments," but we cannot keep them unless we understand them, and when brethren differ honestly and sincerely as to implementation of the commands, they must discuss them -- and that is doctrinal!

      For several months our good brother has written disparagingly of scholarship. He has mentioned in derogatory fashion "the superior wisdom of Greek and Hebrew scholars." We share neither his views nor his fears of learning. If it had not been for Greek and Hebrew scholars, neither Bro. Loney or I could even read the words of the Lord. I am deeply indebted to scholarship for giving us the Bible in our language. Truth has nothing to fear from investigation. The more brilliant the investigator, the brighter truth shines. Our brother says, "The common people who have ever been the real backbone of apostolic Christianity, care nothing for scholarship." They ought to for if you hand the average one of them a copy of the Bible in original Greek and Hebrew, he could not even read the chapter headings.

     Just as Bro. Loney is in error when he thinks that to be Christ-minded is the antithesis of being restoration-minded, so he is mistaken when he concludes that scholarship is the opposite to humility. Scholarship is the opposite of ignorance. Pride is the opposite of humility. All truly great scholars are humble. It is as possible for a man to glory in his ignorance as for another to take pride in his learning. Both would be wrong. The serious injury which will be done by our brother's writing thus, lies in the fact that it will discourage young men and women from securing advanced education. We need all of the scholarly men and women we can get. I want to encourage every one to go to school, to study and labor, that they may help the rest of us learn more of God's will. Share your findings with those of us who are less fortunate, that we may eliminate the errors in our thinking.

     Our brother mentions the unguarded zeal of some "youthful fledglings with a smattering of academic scholarship," and feels they have slighted or spoken inadvisedly to him. I do not know who these "feathered nestlings" are, but it is not right to charge such conduct against the restoration plea we make. If any young man or woman has been guilty of "name-calling" and "show of temper" they should apologize to Brother Loney. Neither fledglings nor "older birds" will accomplish anything by accusing those who differ of being "antis" or "hobbyists." There is room for all of us to work together for our blessed Saviour, despite our varied views. Let us be patient, longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.

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     We make this proposal to Bro. Loney. We invite him to write freely about the Redeemer, and emphasize what he believes to be our greatest need. We will publish what he writes when we can, will read it carefully for our spiritual edification, and urge all others to do the same. Will our brother allow me the same privilege? Will he grant me the right in my own paper to deal with matters which I feel constitute a great need? If my judgment is wrong, he will not suffer for that. If brother Loney writes about the person and attributes of Jesus, and I write about the doctrine of Jesus, the paper will be better balanced than if all of us wrote the same thing. Let each allow the other the privilege of choosing his own topic. We are not all adapted to writing on the same theme. Like Abraham, I say, "Let there be no strife between me and thee, for we be brethren." Let us get on with our task, and each in his chosen field, work with the other to the glory of God!