Blitz of Faith

A blitz in football is when someone assigned to cover a receiver lets that assignment go and instead goes after the quarterback. It's exciting but risky. If a quarterback reads the blitz, he alters his play and throws the football to the uncovered receiver. If he has time. He is being blitzed after all and it is exciting to be sure, but also scary. You see, whether he is able to made the completion to his receiver or not, he is most likely going to take a hit as he releases the ball. It is at this point that he is most vulnerable to injury.

So when one takes the role of speaking of a church's doctrine or teachings of faith, he is taking a big risk. He might be successful, but his is most likely going to take a hit from those who may not feel he has the authority or right to speak for them.

The church of Christ is a restoration movement. It is an effort by believers in Jesus Christ to return to the biblical teaching and practice of the first century church. It is believed that if all believers would drop their creeds and doctrines that have been added for whatever reason, no matter how noble, and simply return to the word of God, that we could be unified as the church that Christ died for and established in the first century.

In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity

In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas (commonly translated as "unity in necessary things; liberty in doubtful things; charity in all things" or more literally as "in necessary things unity; in uncertain things freedom; in all things love")

This was the call of the Restoration Movement.

In essentials unity-->When the Word of God Speaks. It is so. We listen and obey.

In non-essentials liberty-->When the Word of God does not speak, we are at liberty or free to interpret what we should do or should be done in the church without passing judgment on those who see things differently. This is the hard one, however, if we maintain a spirit of love and live in a spiritual relationship with God and one another, seeking to know and have the heart and Spirit of God as our guide, this also can be done.

In all things charity-->I believe this is the bottom line to our faith. we serve a God who is love (1 John 4:8), we are told that the greatest of all commandments is to love God and the second is to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). Love one another deeply from the heart, love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8), without love even my greatest deeds are worthless (1 Corinthians 13). If I love you I will not have to have my way and seek to destroy your relationship with God and others simply because we differ on matters that the Bible is silent about or in places where it is subject to interpretation. The truth is, none of us were there when the New Testament was written and we have no audio or video recordings of their meetings. We can and should study church history and historical context to help us understand the backstory. We should read and analyze the early church fathers and see how they interpreted the gospels and letters that that were circulating among the churches but not yet in canonical form. However, this one thing I must remember: "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand."

If we will resolve to go back to the principles of the Restoration Movement, seeking to look to the Bible as our authority and guide, and will allow freedom where God has not bound and always have love for one another then we will honor God and then we will be numbered among those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life: Then we will truly be members of the church Christ died for.

Over the next several blogs, I will attempt to go into the teachings of the New Testament and record what is foundational for our faith. This is the true word of God, beyond which, all else is opinion and is subject to the discernment of the Spirit. I believe that in these things we can honor God and unify as believers in Him.