Radical Restoration: A Call for Pure and Simple Christianity

by F. Lagard Smith

Here's a volume that has pushed hot buttons all over the churches of Christ. The very premise—What would it be like if we radically restored first-century faith and practice in our own time and culture?—is flawed: "We already are restored!" we scream as we stop our ears, pick up stones, and rush and rush at him with one accord.

Lagard says that it's a time to ask tough questions. The back of the book lists these:
- Churches of Christ... Truly non-denominational?
- Elders... Teaching shepherds, or board of directors?
- Pulpit Ministers... Evangelists, or one-man bands?
- Youth Ministries... God's gift to teens, or opt-out for parents?
- Lord's Supper... Memorial meal, or miniaturized substitute?
- Gathered worship... Mutual participants, or a spectator audience?
- Christian lifestyle...Sold out for Christ, or bought out by culture?

And Lagard sets out to tackle each of those issues, not concerned with whose toes he might step on. In every instance, he strives for Biblical precedent for the point he makes and his commitment is clearly a desire to return to the most fundamental form of Christianity that we read about in the pages of scripture.

There are two extremes that one can take when reading this book, each of which is equally wrong. The first is to immediately dismiss everything Lagard says, because it's different than what you've always heard and offends you to listen to. This is precisely the line of thought that led so many to reject the Christ when He rejected an early throne. If you read it, consider it against the scripture, and, after an honest evaluation, disagree with everything he said, that's one thing. But if you never give him an honest hearing, you've improperly read this book.

Likewise, it's very easy to read his convincing arguments and jump headlong into his theory without giving careful thought to it. After all, one side of any argument is convincing when it stands by itself. Again, read these words, carefully consider them against scripture, and then decide if his arguments are as convincing as you at first thought they were. If you are still as convinced, that's one thing. But if you get swept away by the tide of his mellifluous argumentation, you've improperly read this book.

I found this book to be a very profitable read. It challenged me to think of things in ways that I've never thought of them before, and to look at the church of Christ through a different lens. And if you read it correctly, you will also find this to be a profitable read.

The Editors do not advocate everything taught by the authors of the books we review. Like us, these authors are fallible humans and those who choose to read these books should measure them by the bible, the one true standard.