Seek, Heal, Restore

The following statement of faith is not intended to be an exhaustive statement about the infinite God and who God has created us to be. It is understood to be a finite introduction.

 

Notice: the spaces between the characters in God(F,S,S) and with&in are intentionally omitted for theological emphasis. The orthographical error in doing so is acknowledged. The omissions of the spaces render symbolic expressions of the mystery of God as ONE and Jesus making us ONE with&in the Relationship of God(F,S,S). If this seems strange or bothersome, it probably means God is inviting you to see God(F,S,S) in a more conservative manner, meaning truer to God(F,S,S)'s nature, character and identity. 

 

Who We Are

Restore the Way is a Christian community formed to share the experience of living with&in the triune relationship of God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (God-F,S,S)—and to invite all people into that same communion. See John 17:20-23.

 

We believe that our identity and purpose are revealed in Jesus, the fullness of God(F,S,S) incarnate. In Jesus, we experience who God(F,S,S) is and who we are.

 

The Triune God

We believe in one God in three Persons—the Relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—infinite, and perfect in love, holiness, goodness, wisdom, and power.

 

God(F,S,S) is Infinite, and God’s love and mercy are greater than all human sin and brokenness. Our sin is finite, yet toxic; God(F,S,S)’s life, grace, and faithfulness are infinite.

 

The Incarnation, Salvation, and Our Identity

We believe that the eternal Son of God became human in Jesus, the Christ. In Jesus, the fullness of God(F,S,S) is revealed in human form. His incarnation, life, teaching, death, resurrection, and ascension:

 

• Reveal who God is—a God(F,S,S) whose nature was revealed in the incarnation that included the suffering of the cross, a revelation of God(F,S,S)’s nature that is not about retribution, but healing and restoration through victory over sin, death and the grave.

• Reveal who we are—our identity as beloved image-bearers and children of God(F,S,S).

• Are the faithful works of God(F,S,S) on our behalf: salvation rests on God(F,S,S)’s faithfulness in Jesus, not on the strength of our faith or our works. Our faith finds life in our participation in the invitation of God(F,S,S).

 

Jesus did not come to change God(F,S,S)’s mind about us, but to change our minds about God(F,S,S) and to restore us to our identity and communion in Him.

 

Sin and God’s Restoration

We understand sin as “missing the mark” of God(F,S,S)’s design. Sin wounds us, distorts our identity, and alienates us from our awareness of God(F,S,S)’s presence, but it does not change God(F,S,S)’s heart toward us, nor God(F,S,S)’s presence with&in us.

 

We confess that God(F,S,S)’s justice is not about us getting what we deserve, good or bad, as reward or punishment.

God’s justice is God(F,S,S) getting what God desires, which is our healing and restoration. We see God(F,S,S)’s unchanging heart towards us found in:

 

• God(F,S,S)’s restoration, seen throughout Scripture—such as the Parable of the Prodigal Son, where the father’s joy is in the son’s return and restoration, not in repayment or retribution.

• It is also pictured (foreshadowed) in God’s covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:8–17), where God passes through the covenant “sacrifice” (gift) alone while Abraham sleeps—signifying that God(F,S,S) bears all of the suffering and remains faithful even when we are not.

 

Many have been taught to see God as one who must be appeased (a false belief about God propagated in part by the translation “propitiation” in Romans 3:25 – this word should be translated as Mercy Seat). Such a belief about God as conditional love makes God’s covenant a quid pro quo contract. But in Genesis 15, the parable of the prodigal son, and Jesus on the cross, we see unconditional, self-giving love without strings attached.

 

God(F,S,S) says in Genesis 15:8-17 (a foreshadowing of Jesus on the cross) in effect:

• Even if you break your side of the agreement, I Myself will bear the consequences and suffering of your sin (missing the mark).

 

Thus, God in Jesus came to save us from our sins and alienation, not from God’s “justice.”

God’s justice and judgment are expressions of love, compassion, and restoration—not retribution.

 

The Way

The name “Restore the Way” points to:

 

• Restore – God(F,S,S) heals, reconciles, and restores humanity and creation to right relationship with Himself and with one another.

• The Way – The First Century Church was known as “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22). We seek to embody this Way (the life of the Logos) by listening carefully to the Holy Spirit’s guidance in Scripture and to the Church Fathers in their own words, learning how they understood and lived the Way of Christ.

 

Scripture and the Early Church

We believe the Holy Spirit invites us and leads us to what is being communicated in the Holy Scriptures. We believe the Old and New Testaments are the inspired written word of God by which we are invited to experience and encounter the Logos of God(F,S,S), the Living Word of God.

We affirm the Nicene Creed (A.D. 325–381) as a faithful summary of the apostolic faith and listen to the Early Church and Church Fathers as important witnesses to “the Way.”

 

Participation in God’s Life

We believe that through the faithfulness of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives:

 

• We are reconciled and invited to embrace our gift of union with&in the relationship of God(F,S,S).

• We are invited to become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4)—sharing by grace in God’s life and love, not becoming God in essence.

• We learn to live from our God(F,S,S) created identity, as God(F,S,S) has declared our identity in Jesus.

• We learn to see each other as God(F,S,S) sees us!

 

The Church and Its Mission Find Its Purpose and Rest in God(F,S,S)’s Presence

We believe in one sacred apostolic Church, the Body and Bride of Christ. Restore the Way is a local expression of this Church, devoted to:

• Walking in the relationship of the Triune God(F,S,S) through being made ONE with God by the fullness of God in human form (Jesus).

• Sharing the invitation to walk in “the Way” of Jesus and live from our true identity in Him.

• Participation in God(F,S,S)’s restoration—helping people move from “missing the mark” into hearing and experiencing God(F,S,S)’s presence, healing, freedom, communion, and identity in Jesus, the Christ.

• Love of neighbor, care for the poor and oppressed, and the pursuit of healing and restoration, not retributive judgment and condemnation.

 

We affirm that God(F,S,S) is omnipresent and has revealed us as God’s temple (dwelling place). God(F,S,S) does not merely “show up” when we ask; rather, God(F,S,S) never leaves us nor forsakes us. It is our own alienation and woundedness that block us from seeing and experiencing God(F,S,S)’s constant presence.

 

Hope

We believe Jesus, the Christ, will come again in glory to bring all things of this creation to fulfillment. Evil, sin, and death have been defeated and overcome, and God(F,S,S)’s creation and restoration will be completed in this world.

 

The faithful will dwell forever in the unveiled presence of the Triune God(F,S,S), living fully and freely in the identity God(F,S,S) has revealed about us in Jesus, the Christ.

 

Statement of Faith Concerning Marriage, Sexuality, and Sanctity of Life

In addition, as part of its Statement of Faith, the Church affirms and adopts the following Statement of Faith Concerning Marriage, Sexuality, and Sanctity of Life:

 

We believe the Bible teaches that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary sexes together reflect the image and nature of God. (Genesis 1:26-27) Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person. We believe Scripture calls us to speak the truth in love at all times. (Ephesians 4:15) Therefore, we believe we are to avoid any speech that dishonor God’s design of his image-bearers as male and female, including referring to a person by a pronoun that is inconsistent with that person’s biological sex. We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. (Mark 12:28- 31; Luke 6:31) Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture.

 

We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one biological man and one biological woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Genesis 2:18-25) We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a biological man and a biological woman who are married to each other. (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4) We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in, outside of a marriage, between one biological man and one biological woman.

 

We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including without limitation adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, sex with minors, and use of pornography) is a missing of the mark (our identity with&in Jesus). (Matthew15:18-20;1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

 

We believe that God(F,S,S) invites us to receive and embrace the healing and restoration that God(F,S,S) has provided for us from before the foundations of this world to all who are willing to accept who Jesus has revealed them to be. (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

 

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. (Mark 12:28- 31; Luke 6:31) Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with God's character and nature.

 

We believe that God(F,S,S) has created mankind in God(F,S,S)'s image and that physical, human life begins at conception. It is God(F,S,S) who uniquely forms every human being and gives special dignity, personal freedom, and individual accountability among all the works of His creation.  God(F,S,S) created each person’s inmost being, knitting each person together in the womb of that person’s mother. (Psalm 139:13). As God’s individualized and personal creation, each person is fearfully and wonderfully made.   (Psalm 139:14). God has ordained all the days of each person’s life before they came to be. (Psalm 139:16).

 

Based on the Logos (Jesus), the Living Word of  God(F,S,S) and the written word of God(F,S,S), Scripture, we therefore believe that from the moment of conception until natural death, every human life is sacred and has value because every human life has been created by God(F,S,S), in God(F,S,S)'s image and likeness. We believe that from the moment of conception every human life must be recognized, respected, and protected as having the rights of a person and the inviolable right to life. Because human life begins at the moment of conception, it is against our convictions to formally or materially cooperate in the abortion or other termination of unborn human life, including without limitation by surgical abortion or use of drugs, or services that have the intent, design, effect, or risk of terminating unborn human life or preventing its implantation and growth post-fertilization.

We embrace all who have experienced abortion as a mother or a father. We harbor nor communicate no condemnation, but offer our sincere heart towards all that are seeking healing and restoration through God(F,S,S)'s empathy and compassion.

Political Philosophies

We do not require an adoption of a specific political philosophy. We trust that growing in our relationship with God(F,S,S) ultimately leads to healthier perspectives of how we humans execute governance in our human communities at all levels - local or national. Hence, there is grace for us not to hold the same political views. How do we do that? Because we believe what Jesus said makes us ONE is infinitely greater than sin, death, evil and darkness that alienates us from God(F,S,S) and each other. We are impowered by seeing other people, those who choose to be our enemies, as God(F,S,S) sees them, not how they are choosing to see us.

We beleive that humans create enemies amongst ourselves, but that it is a choice that Jesus has freed us to not have to choose. We beleive that God(F,S,S) does not have enemies from God(F,S,S)'s perspective, and that only from the perspective of those who choose God(F,S,S) as an enemy, does the reality of enemy exist. 

We beleive all life is sacred. We beleive that the living of this life is sacred!

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Theological Perspectives

Similar to politics in sensitivity, it is easy to be misunderstood. Things are not always what they seem at first glance. To be theologically concervative should mean to hold as close to the origins of the faith as much as that is reasonably possible. Jesus would have been considered "liberal" with his revelations of God(F,S,S) in light of what the Jews beleived. The reality is that Jesus was being conservatively true to the God(F,S,S)'s nature and character. So, you can see how labeling people as one versus the other cannot be accurate or conservative in regards to what is true.

So, instead of us getting caught up in debating "conservative" verses "liberal" labels. We might better serve ourselves and each other to allow room for grace. This statement is not meant to say we should be "politically correct." Heaven forbide we fall in that trap. There is something much bigger at stake. It is us learning from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit how to see each other as God(F,S,S) sees us. In this sense we can understand the words "conservative" and "liberal" in a different way. Let God(F,S,S) change how we see ourselves and each other in light of what we have come to beleive these words to mean. Let God(F,S,S) lead us to embrace a liberty and freedom to recognize God(F,S,S)'s presence that is with&in us, so that we might value and conserve this treasure and celebrate the infinite presence of God(F,S,S) that continually invites us to see this world differently, as God(F,S,S) sees it, not as 

"Conservative" and "liberal" are two different ways to look at the same coin, to see the two different sides of the same coin. Being conservatively close to God(F,S,S)'s heart is to be impowered to be liberally free to share God(F,S,S)'s love. We cannot give what we do not have. If we are not conservative in this sense, we cannot share God(F,S,S)'s love, because we don't recognize and value its proximity and gifting. We can only receive and experience what is before us. So, to remain conservative to God's presence is to be filled with it so that we can freely and liberally share it with others. To be liberal with (take for granted and be distracted by other things) the proimity, gifting and value of God(F,S,S)'s presence is to not have access to it because we are distracted by the things of this world in a way that we cannot appreciate and value God(F,S,S)'s presence. It is not because God(F,S,S)'s presence leaves us. There is never any separation between us and God(F,S,S), only our own alienation from the indwelling presence of God(F,S,S).

I am making an argument for us to redefine how we understand what it means to be "conservative" or "liberal." In doing so, it does not mean that we no longer hold political perspectives or let go of all things that are finite. It does mean that we eperiencially learn to hold onto something offered to us from God(F,S,S) from before the foundations of this world that is infinte and beautiful. 

The incarnate Jesus is both a reality of the infinite and the finite. We are dual citizines of this broken world and the Kindom of God(F,S,S) that indwells us. Jesus has revealed, is revealing and will continue to reveal to us how to live in both realms. We don't throw away the parts of this finite broken world that we have inherrited, we just learn how to bring to bear more of the infinte, indwelling Kingdom of God(F,S,S)!

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