You’ll recall–scholar that you are–that the Lord denounced in Revelation 2:6 and 2:15 an obscure tradition called Nicolaitanism. Think about this: It was the only thing Jesus ever went on record as hating! An awful thing, apparently. Only trouble is, um . . . just what was it?

As far as we know, the Nicolaitans themselves never wrote a single line defending their practices and doctrines. Small wonder. They’re hard to defend. The only comments we have on Nicolaitans from the Church Fathers are a handful of generalities slamming them as heretics and licentious ne’er-do-wells.

Actually, this description fits perfectly with what you’d expect from the world’s first pew potatoes. The essence of their error was not so much heresy as malpractice: Setting up a priestly class to rule over the masses (not the 8 a.m. Sunday Catholic masses, the us masses).

How do we know this? Through the meaning of the word itself–the only explanation that God saw fit to provide us clever postmoderns. Nicos in Greek means "conquer" or "control." Laos just refers to the laity, the people of God. That’s pretty straightforward.

Huge irony here: Nicolaitanism started as a top-down move by bishops to bring more order and stability to wild church services by putting one guy in charge. But today what we have is an upside-down, grass roots Nicolaitanism, where the laity vote to choose a professional church director to rule over them. This can quickly lead to an irresponsible, morally dull congregation of spectators who are more than willing to kick back and let the designated Holy Man (reverend = "he who is to be revered") be and do everything that the laity should be and do.

• Promises you Jesus but gives you programs–plus just enough of a lift to get you through the next week, at which point you’ll need another fix.

• Promises you five-fold leadership to bring you to maturity like unto the stature of the fulness of Christ–but gives you one-fold leadership that leaves you at a pubescent plateau two years after conversion.

• Promises you eternal life but gives you, in the end, eternal boredom. Am I sounding a teensy bit abrasive here? Or caustic? Like I really hated this heresy? Well, just remember Who else hated it first! Graciousness and harmony are a hollow farce when millions of lives are being lost yearly. (Yes, yearly, deary. If you’d like a 15-point list of the vast damage done by Nicolaitanism through the centuries to you and your ancestors, just send me a self-addressed stamped envelope at Open Church Ministries, Box 38519, Colorado Springs, CO 80937. It’ll make your hair stand on end.)

Now, on to the Positive Side of Things

As a reader of Restore! you are plainly one of the most sophisticated elite who walk the earth today, no question. So I assume you know how to pick the best church in town. But just to make sure you’ve chosen a true Restoration fellowship, here’s a checklist of the benefits you should be getting right now. They’re your birthright as a member of the family of God. Ask yourself if you are experiencing . . .

1. Freedom. You’ve been released for service and fellowship in a context free of the traditional limitations, such as low expectations, low status, and mickeymouse role-playing. You’re not held back by the four spirits that tend to rule over most traditional congregations: control, religiosity, fear, and pride.

2. Solutions. You’re part of a team that’s highly committed to you. With their encouragement and help, you’ve been able to get rid of many of your biggest long-term problems–even those you had always thought were a permanent part of your personality.

3. Empowerment. You’ve been enfranchised, enabled, and strengthened to do things you never thought possible. You have more prayer support now than you’ve ever had. And you have the full blessing of the church leadership to operate with minimal intervention and oversight.

4. Support and Starch. You’ve gained a circle of friends who are closer and more committed to you than any you’ve ever known. They give you more encouragement than you’ve ever had before. And as true friends, they hold you to a higher standard of excellence. They don’t let you get away with a pattern of sinful behavior for very long! (But you don’t have any abusive "shepherding movement" stuff going on.)

5. Ownership. You truly belong. You’ve become very valuable to the whole church. And as one result, your self-image has soared. You’re even starting to see yourself as God sees you!

6. Bounce-Back. You’ve learned to repent, make corrections in your life, and set higher goals than ever before.

7. Rapid Progress. You have an ever-clearer track to run on. Seldom does anyone hold you back. Your spiritual growth isn’t choked off by confusion or bureaucracy.

8. Camaraderie and Fun. The oversight and input into your spiritual life comes from those who truly know you, know your heart, and know what you’re working on. Along with the struggles, you have great times of fun with your fellow members.

9. Winning. You’ve begun to live a new lifestyle. It’s not on a treadmill. It’s marked by progress and victory (but not triumphalism). If you have a tendency toward cynicism, it’s fading. You’re learning to be, in the word from Revelation, an overcomer.

10. Impact. You’re part of a team effort that will eventually transform many of the churches in your town. And from time to time, you’re also involved in efforts to reform and transform society.

All this is just an outline of the benefits you receive regularly in a truly restored church, one that’s structured to allow the power of God to flow through–without the usual impediments of role restrictions, institutional channels, pastor-centered dynamics, and program-based designs. Now let’s look at the congregation itself. Here are . . .

The Ten Marks of a True Restoration Ekklesia

In case you hadn’t noticed, many U.S. churches are improving.

• The university, where the professor becomes the preacher, the lectern is a pulpit, and the students are parishioners. Trouble is, they can sit and take notes for forty years, but they’ll never graduate, never get a degree, and never become professors themselves.

• The corporation, where a board of directors runs everything from the top down, where permission to do things is granted or denied by the CEO, where finances are the overriding factor behind policies, and where the institution itself competes with other churches for market share.

• Hollywood, with its stage, its performances, its entertainers, its costumed singers, its applauding audiences, etc. All the church needs is popcorn.

But under a microscope, all metaphors show flaws. So let’s shift gears to ordinary language . . .

What does a Restoration church look like? What are the tell-tale signs of true New Testament church today? What marks distinguish a Restoration church from a Nicolaitan church with a facelift?

After surveying the ecclesiastical landscape and seeking the mind of God in Scripture, I find ten marks. You haven’t got an authentic, New Testament church unless you have these basics:

1. Freedom for God

Freedom for the Holy Spirit to lead as He wills instead of subordinating Himself to our customs and traditions. There must be built-in precautions against institutionalization, and direct leading instead of priestly. (See the Lord’s exasperated statements in Ezekiel 34:10, 11, 15, 23, 24.)

2. Freedom for us

People must have a track to run on:

A. Authorization/release to grow in maturity and gifting

B. Repeated encouragement to step onto that track and run

C. Structures that make regular use of gifts

D. Full expression in group worship and sharing

E. Flow-through channels that allow growing gifts to serve a growing circle of people. No professional barriers to flowing into pastor/missionary work.

3. Repentance

Repudiation of ecclesiastical errors of the past and a repentance that allows Scriptural types of group function–not tradition-bound, not pastor-centered. You have to use the mobile ministry and pastor-teachers in ways that don’t smother the saints.

4. A new breed of Christian

Restoration churches are built upon a new kind of disciple: self-feeding, responsible, and determined to contribute/participate/function. They will have more than "lay" status. (Remember the old gag? The preachers preach, the teachers teach, and the laymen lay around.)

5. Conversions/growth

Reproducible growth in numbers. This must include a good number of conversions.

6. Communal righteousness

A spiritual purity that springs from the whole group (instead of one single pastor) and is maintained by the group (not just one pastor or shepherd figure).

7. Sense of belonging/ownership

An openness that allows a sense of being on the inside, not outside. A felt share in responsibility for the success of meetings. (Members must keep asking themselves throughout the week, "What can I bring the saints next Sunday?")

8. Leadership development

Dynamics that constantly produce leaders from within the group, creating apostles, elders, and all other gifts as fast as they’re needed.

9. Cooperation

Kingdom attitudes vs. empire attitudes. This shows up as respect for other ministries, eagerness to work together, team orientation, relational styles, decentralized authority, and a constant concern for the individual (asking, "What I can do for him?" rather than "What he can do for me and my ministry?").

10. Healing of society

A ministry with impact well beyond church circles. If you’re obedient and responsive to God, He’ll be able to use you as a channel of blessing to the whole world.