Practically speaking a
Restorationist mindset means frustration with the state of things and many
difficulties in relating with other Christians. It becomes all the more
confusing because you will encounter many Evangelicals who believe they too are
Restorationists.
They believe they are following
'just the Bible' and they too want the Church to be like it was in the first
centuries. And then more often than not, they'll talk about 'our guys' over in
Vietnam or Afghanistan and how we need to stand by Nixon, Reagan, Bush, or
whomever. They'll also tell you about how America was founded as a Christian
nation etc..
The pronouns become confused
and it becomes clear they really have no idea what they're talking about...not
just about America...but with regard to Restorationism. In fact for them the
founding of America is almost a Restorationist concept!
Generally speaking a
Restorationist mindset has led to a myriad of practical difference that makes
'getting on' with your average Christian American Evangelical rather difficult.
For the rest of this series I would like to touch on some of those differences.