The Church Without a Navel
By Richard L. Jones
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Being the father of three girls is quite an educational experience. There's just no substitute for it.
The birth of each girl is still fresh in my mind. Months before they entered into this world we were busy making preparations for their coming. We picked out names and began to buy all of the necessary "little things."
During their nine month sojourn in the dark recesses of my wife's body, these three young germs of life were dependent upon her for food, oxygen and the other life-sustaining processes. Their lives were united with hers by a slender thread--an umbilical cord.
Soon after they were born that once vital cord shriveled up and fell off, no longer needed. When it disappeared it left a reminder behind. We call it a navel, or more commonly a "belly button." Every one of us has a navel. It reminds us of the time when we were dependent upon our mothers for life. It is God's gentle reminder of that time.
I am not writing a study on people's navels. Instead I want to write about churches' navels. Although we recognize that no human is alive today without a navel, there are some people who believe that there exists a church without a navel.
Let me say at this point that every church in existence today has a navel. By that I mean that every church has a historical background, a heritage from which it cannot divorce itself. When I first began my ministry I had a chart entitled "The Church of Christ." Many of you have seen this same chart or at least one like it. It was printed in two colors and was supposed to show where each church had its beginnings. On the left side of the chart was the date 30 A.D. the date marking the beginning of the church. From that point a line is drawn toward the right hand side of the page, but it only travels for a fraction of an inch and then plunges rapidly to a point at the bottom of the page. This represents the apostate church, commonly called the Roman Catholic Church. The line continues across the bottom of the page for a short space and then divides in two. The new line just above the one at the bottom of the page represented the Eastern Orthodox Church. A little further across the page we see the Lutheran Church emerge from the Roman Catholic Church. More and more churches appear on the chart and then an amazing thing happens. All the while these churches have been appearing there has been a broken line running across the top of the page. This line represents the "true church." Suddenly the true church appears. The broken line becomes solid. It has no connections with any other churches on the chart. It comes out of nowhere with no historical roots. This is what I call a church without a navel. Is it possible for this to happen? Can there be a church with no navel, no historical background? I used to think so. Many still do.
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The early church had a heredity which it could not easily forget. It had its roots in the soil of Judaism and for a time it was considered to be a sect of Judaism. When the Gentiles swept into Christ's community they also brought their cultural heritage with them.
The Roman Catholic Church has a navel. It traces its history back to Rome and to the gradual emergence of the Roman bishop to a place of primacy.
The churches of the Reformation trace their histories back through the Roman Catholic Church.
The Restoration Movement, on the other hand, has had a stubborn unwillingness to admit that the "Church of Christ" has any connection with the Presbyterian Church, the Baptist Church or the Methodist Church. History shows otherwise.
Thomas Campbell wrote the "Declaration and Address" while still a member of the Presbyterian clergy. The Restoration Movement goes back to Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Abner Jones, Barton W. Stone and other men of the early 1800's. It does not go back directly to Pentecost! These people who formed the Restoration Movement came from Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and other churches. People did not become a part of the Restoration Movement in order to "join the right church." They were tired of sectarian scuffles and were seeking the freedom and unity which this new religious movement offered.
The reason the Restoration Movement lost momentum and finally divided into different camps was due to the fact that it had crystallized in heart and attitude. It had become grimly orthodox and expert at heresy-hunting. Sermons on the great truths of scripture were replaced by sermons on "the right church" and "the right system." Anyone who disagreed with the party line was immediately under suspicion.
I am proud of my heritage. My ancestry goes back to Ireland and to England. My roots go back to the soil of Pennsylvania's green rolling hills. My appearance, intelligence and temperament are all influenced by my heredity.
I am also proud of my religious heritage. I owe a great deal to the Jewish people. It was through them that my Messiah came. They are responsible for giving me the Bible. I owe much to the early Christians who counted their faith even more precious than their own lives. I am also grateful to Martin Luther who sought to correct the errors within the church of his day. He gave the Bible back to the people and brought a renewed emphasis upon the grace of God. I also should mention those who came to this land in search of freedom from religious tyranny.
My own spiritual history goes back to the Presbyterian Church where I first heard about Jesus Christ in my pre-school years. I first realized my need of the Savior through the preaching of a Baptist minister. I learned to sing in the choir while attending a Methodist church. I was a Christian long before I heard of the Restoration Movement.
This is no time to attempt plastic surgery on the church's navel. Every Christian has a spiritual heritage that goes all the way back to a righteous God and a righteous Abel. Let each of us offer a prayer of thanks to the Father of mercies because we belong to a church with a navel.