Daily Inspiration: Meet Zach W. Lambert

A major turning point in my life happened the summer before my senior year of high school. One night out on Lake Travis with some friends, I overdosed on a combination of cough medicine and alcohol. Needless to say, I was shaken up.

After that experience, I began to struggle through some existential questions. Things like:

– Why am I here?
– What is the purpose of life?
– Is God real?

Even though I’d been kicked out of the church and found most of the Christianity I’d been exposed to archaic and oppressive, I decided to start trying to find these answers by reading the Bible. Thank God I started with the story of Jesus found in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I had always known about the beginning and end of Jesus’ life (Christmas and Easter), but I had no idea about the rest of it.

I couldn’t believe how much he loved to hang out with and help the people on the margins! How he didn’t care about getting in trouble for sharing a meal with tax collectors and prostitutes (the folks I most identified with) and how he just loved people so radically. I fell in love with the love of Jesus.

During that time, I reconnected with a girl I’d gone to middle school with (Amy) to get some advice on how to be a Christian after everything I’d put myself through. We met for dinner and she treated me exactly like the Jesus I read about treated people. And just like I fell in love with his love, I began to fall in love with hers as well.

There is so much more to the rest of the story, but the short version is this:

– We got married when we were 21.
– Went to graduate school (seminary for me and speech pathology for her) when we were 22.
– Had our first child when we were 25.
– And planted our church, Restore Austin, in 2016.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This journey has been far from a smooth road. Like I mentioned before, Jesus was constantly in trouble for hanging out with the “wrong” kind of people and inviting everyone to experience love. Our mission at Restore is the same. We are a place where anyone has a seat at the table and everyone can experience the extravagant love of Jesus.

Over the last 6+ years of pastoring Restore, we’ve gotten in trouble for the exact same things. We’ve been called an apostate church, we’ve lost a bunch of funding, we’ve been kicked out of a denomination, a number of church networks, and even an office space, and I’ve been told I’m “going to hell” more times than I can count.

But every time something like that happens, God shows up and reminds us how important this work really is. We’ve been able to be a part of helping so many people have their faith in Jesus and the church restored. As hard as it’s sometimes been, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Our church, Restore Austin, is a place where you can be yourself, ask questions, and won’t be pressured to conform to any stereotype. We don’t have everything figured out, but we are on a journey of restoration through Jesus who loves people without prejudice or qualification. No matter who you are, what you’ve done, or where you are on your spiritual journey, you are welcome at Restore.

Restore is committed and guided by four core values:

Grace: Because God has shown immeasurable grace to us, we lead with grace in every relationship and circumstance at Restore.

Authenticity: Being fake does no one any good and real is better than perfect. Restore will always be a safe place where people can ask questions, doubt, and be open about what they are going through without fear of judgment.

Diversity: God has made all of us differently, but he has made all of us valuable. We believe that the church works best when we embrace and empower the differences around us. Restore is fully inclusive, meaning that no matter your age, race, gender, socioeconomic status or sexual orientation, you can participate fully in the life of our church family.

Partnerships: We lock arms with the community to help bring restoration to people and neighborhoods in our city and around the world. This means mobilizing volunteers and funding to support justice-centered, non-profit organizations who are already doing an amazing job helping people in need.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I see a major shift happening in the landscape of the American church, especially in evangelicalism. Instead of being a place of safety, support, and hope for all people, much of the evangelical church has become a partisan social club known more for abuse, homophobia, sexism, racism, classism, ableism, and every other oppressive “ism” than the love of Jesus.

This is causing people, especially millennials and generation z, to leave the church in droves. But we must realize that the vast majority of people walking away from Christianity in America are not rejecting the person and work of Jesus. They are rejecting faulty biblical interpretations that lead to bigotry, oppression, and marginalization.

This rejection isn’t unchristian. It is actually Christlike. Jesus was quick to leave behind any “religion” that didn’t espouse love and justice for all people. For that reason, we believe churches should be committed to radical inclusion, holistic justice, and sacrificial love. Our hope is that more and more churches will return to centering the way of Jesus in the coming years.

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