The plea of the restoration movement to go back to the Bible and restore New Testament Christianity is indeed a noble one. The efforts of courageous men of the past who studied themselves out of the chains of sectarianism and denominationalism should certainly be appreciated by those of us today who attempt to serve God in God's way. We owe a great debt to those of days gone by who have helped us understand more accurately the way of the Lord. But the fact is, we are still a part of that great restoration movement today in that we continue to study and learn exactly what God would have us to do and how to do it.
Certainly we are, and should be, practicing that which we believe to be right in the sight of God. Not only so, we should be able to agree on the truth of God and stand together in defense of that truth. At the same time, we need to beware that we keep a proper attitude toward truth. We should still be "examining the scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). Whenever such examination ceases and individuals begin to consider their practice as the equivalence of truth, they are no longer in "search for the ancient order" and find themselves in the world of sectarianism.
Many in the church today perceive themselves as that body which accepts and obeys God's truth, and as such, consider themselves to be the true church. They reason that only those who do as we do are members of the true church. Consequently, they deduct: "Since the church of Christ is the right church, if the church of Christ is doing it, it must be right." Such a subtle change in attitude is hardly recognizable, but the conclusion is unavoidable: human standards are substituted for divine standards. It is precisely this attitude that has caused brethren across the land to be involved in practices for which there is no Bible authority.
Whenever we place our confidence in the "Church of Christ" to be the "right church" to do the "right thing" we become no different than the denominations around us who are teaching and practicing what their sect has always done or wants to do. Our confidence must be in the Lord and in His Word. Our criterion of determining whether a thing is right must be whether we have a "thus saith the Lord." We cannot stop searching for truth. We cannot be content to allow others, either in the past or the present, to determine our convictions. A thing is right not because some man or church says it is, but because the Lord has authorized it in His Holy Writ.
~In Gospel Power, Anderson, Alabama, 11/2/97.