Outside Looking In: Stepping into the Restoration Movement
Founder & Chief Theorist
A Better Theory
After several hours across multiple days of setting up the CDF Capital booth and Provision Village in the Kansas City Convention Center, I was able to take a step back: looking at the sprawling hardwood-emulating floor, the chairs ready for conversation, and the five halo signs hanging above the conference hall representing amazing organizations, I truly appreciated the impact of the ministry I am a part of.
If you have been to the last two NACCs, it is not hard to miss our space. It is prominent, highly visual, and in the way. As overpowering as the space can be to the convention floor, the significance of how we use it is overshadowed by the significance of the history, the future, and the purpose of CDF Capital.
Not a Christian Church Guy
To start, let me be clear: I am not a Christian church guy. I did not grow up in a Restoration Movement church. I did not attend a Christian college. In fact I did not come to Christ and get baptized until I was in my mid-20s. I am an outsider. I was raised in a home that devalued church and valued individualism. I did not spend my childhood in Sunday school, learning about who God is and what Jesus did for us. I did not step into a church unless I had to.
On November 6, 1999, I made a decision to follow Christ and surrendered my life to him. Since then I have embarked on a journey to understand Him and His Word and to follow as closely as I can the calling and purpose God has for my life. The church I was baptized in is part of a mainline denomination; through that church I found my way into ordination, working for the denomination, and eventually going to seminary.
"The power of the Restoration Movement is the draw, call, and appeal to unity."
Along this journey I have had the privilege of serving in both ministries and churches, all of various sizes, various traditions, and with various responsibilities. As I have worked with leaders, churches, and ministries across the country and served them, there has been one thing that is common across the board—Christ. Styles may vary, opinions on specific theological points may differ from place to place, but the simple fact that we have a Savior named Jesus Christ and the world needs Him has never once been in question.
That is why I am here. It is awesome (and I do not mean that in the ’80s sort of way) for me to be part of a movement and to serve a group of churches who want nothing more than to stand united for the cause of Christ. I served on the executive staff of a megachurch (it is a thing) in California whose singular purpose was to see people come to Christ. Through that experience, the galvanizing thread of Christ became so important for me. I did not just want to serve in a church—I wanted to serve His church.
Image above: Dusty Rubeck leads CDF Capital team prayer before NACC 2017.
A Movement Removing Barriers
What I have found at CDF Capital is a ministry that has existed for the past 64 years to simply help churches (and ministries) grow. It is an organization that puts Christ first—the unifying ministry and universally available gospel of a God who became man to allow someone like me to experience salvation.
"All we do to support churches is not about advancing our ministry, but advancing yours."
It is all the more special that CDF Capital serves a movement whose cause is to remove barriers between churches, to focus on that ministry, and to be about Christ. There may be issues and disagreements on how to do it, but the power of the Restoration Movement is the draw, call, and appeal to unity. As an outsider who has experienced the plurality of theology and division in the American church, unity sounds and feels really good.
As I stood at the crossroads of the convention hall this past summer, looking at all of the ministries that support Restoration Movement churches, looking at the ministers and families representing the thousands of churches, I experienced the real purpose behind our efforts. All we do to support churches is not about advancing our ministry, but advancing yours. It is about providing an environment that allows people to connect, in unity, around what we all believe in and the ministry we are all called to.
