Many celebrate October 31 as Reformation Day, which began on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic monk, nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenburg church in response to the corruption that had overtaken the Catholic church.  Though there were other attempts to reform the church, it was Martin Luther’s 95 Theses that triggered the events that led to the Protestant movement, and later to reforms within the Catholic church as well.  Today, the church is going through another reformation.  But, this second reformation only serves to continue, and perhaps complete, what was begun in the first Reformation.

Why the Church Needed Reformed

The first Reformation was triggered by the corruption in the church that had become all too common place. In the middle ages, the church and the pope put themselves in the place of God for the common man.  People were generally uneducated, except for the wealthy, and books and knowledge were not available because they were expensive to reproduce, thus the only copies of the Bible were held by the church, and those were in Latin, not the language of the common man.  As a result, people were at the mercy of the church leaders, so whatever they told the people, no one could challenge.   As usual, the corruption involved money, and the selling of “indulgences” to the common person in order to reduce the temporal suffering of a loved one who had died and was in purgatory.  People would purchase these indulgences from the church rather than give to the poor, seeing them as more valuable, spiritually.  This all brought into question the authority of the pope and the church leaders in general.  The abuse of their power kept them rich, sucking money from the everyday person.

A young, zealous, Martin Luther saw through this corruption, having studied the scriptures and challenged the church practices in light of scripture.  His theses, here summarized, addressed some key issues of the time:

• Identified true repentance from sin for the believer, not sacramental confessions.
• Challenged the Pope’s authority over the souls in purgatory.
• Shown a light on the greed of clergy for teaching the release of souls from purgatory upon payment of indulgences.
• Established giving to the poor as being much more important than giving an indulgence.
• Christians should be taught the commands of God over those of the church.
• The true treasure of the church is the Gospel of Christ.
• The Headship of Christ and the authority of scripture.

The church had become a monstrous organization, full of corruption, centered on money and not the message of Christ.  With common people at their mercy, abuses of all kinds ensued.  But undercurrents of reform began to occur, not only in Germany, but also in Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria as early as the fifteenth century.  A storm was on the horizon, and over the next 130 years, or so, the Reformation spread to many parts of Europe.

Key Contributing Factors

Keep in mind that information did not disseminate very quickly at that time.  Books were hand written, and then manually copied, often the tedious job of monks, especially in regards to the Bible and religious writings in general.  But that began to change with Gutenberg’s printing press in the 15th century.  For the first time, information on the printed page could be reproduced quickly and economically, making it more affordable to be purchased and easily distributed.  By the time of the Reformation, the use of inexpensive “pamphlets” became popular.  These pamphlets were used to disseminate information throughout Europe, allowing for the propagation of ideas that fanned the flame and spread the reformation fires.  As people gained more knowledge, they no longer accepted the way things were.  The authority of the church, and it’s monopoly on knowledge, keeping the populace in the dark, was over.  A new era had begun.

What Came Out of the First Reformation

The most important things that came out of the Reformation, that are still with us today:

• Scripture alone (sola scriptura) as the authority of truth about God.  No longer was clerical authority or church tradition accepted on issues of ecclesiastical practice and doctrine.  All things were subject to scripture.
• Faith alone (sola fide) in the atoning work of Christ on the Cross as the means of salvation, not good works, including the giving of money as an indulgence.
• Grace alone (sola gratia) as the unearned favor of God for salvation for all who have faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice.
• Christ alone (solo Christo) mediates between God and man, and there is salvation through none other.  Furthermore, there is no need for any further mediation on the part of an earthly priesthood, but actually confirms each follower as a priest, and Christ as the High Priest.
• Glory to God Alone (soli Deo gloria) for salvation, since it is his will and work alone that accomplishes the salvation of man from sinner to saint.

These points remain as part of the Protestant church today, and similarly in the Roman Catholic church.  Other issues, such as those surrounding the authority of the Pope, church tradition, and the role and purpose of baptism continue to create schisms between sects.

Why the Church Still Needs Reforming

Although very necessary and great strides were made in the first Reformation, it did not go nearly far enough in returning the Church to its original design.  From early in the second century, not long after the death of the original apostles, clerical authority began to take root, as Ignatius of Antioch asserted in his letter to the Magnesians that Bishops needed to be present for all church functions:

As therefore the Lord did nothing without the Father, being united to Him, neither by Himself nor by the apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and presbyters. Neither endeavour that anything appear reasonable and proper to yourselves apart; but being come together into the same place, let there be one prayer, one supplication, one mind, one hope, in love and in joy undefiled. There is one Jesus Christ, than whom nothing is more excellent. Do ye therefore all run together as into one temple of God, as to one altar, as to one Jesus Christ, who came forth from one Father, and is with and has gone to one.

As therefore the Lord does nothing without the Father, for says He, “I can of mine own self do nothing,” so do ye, neither presbyter, nor deacon, nor layman, do anything without the bishop. Nor let anything appear commendable to you which is destitute of his approval. For every such thing is sinful, and opposed [to the will of] God. Do ye all come together into the same place for prayer. Let there be one common supplication, one mind, one hope, with faith unblameable in Christ Jesus, than which nothing is more excellent.

In the fourth century, when Constantine declared Christianity as the state religion, the institutionalization of the faith became a reality.  Several critical things were lost in that transition:

• The priesthood of all believers was replaced with the clergy as priests, standing in for Christ himself.
• The Body of Christ as the Temple of God was replaced by buildings that became known as the place of God’s dwelling.
• The Church became an institutional organization ran by man, rather than headed by Christ and directed by the Holy Spirit.

When the first Reformation began in 1517 and continued for several decades thereafter, we regained some critical issues, as stated above, but the church was still governed by a clergy hierarchy.  Buildings designed for worship were still the primary meeting places, and were structurally designed to elevate the clergy above the people.  The priesthood of all believers was only partially restored.  People were able to confess their sins and pray directly to God with Christ as their only mediator, but were not encouraged, nor allowed in most cases, to perform any “priestly” duties like baptism or communion.  Although people now had access to the Word of God, and could read and study it for themselves, the clergy still maintained primary interpretation and teaching of the scriptures, often even discouraging lay persons from doing so on their own.  The motives for this varies from an attempt to preserve sound doctrines and prevent heresy to the preservation of long existing power structures.  Whatever the reason, it still exists that there are class layers in the church with designated levels of authority in each.  None of this was taught by the first century apostles, nor by Jesus.  Jesus was clear that the “greatest shall become the least” and “servant of all,” and that our way of leading was not to be as the world’s:

“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mark 10:42-45

The Church as Family

Consistently throughout the New Testament, the paradigm that is used to describe the Kingdom of God is a family.  Jesus speaks of God as his Father, and himself as the Son.  When informed of his family’s visit during one of his teachings, he proclaims that his family are all those who hear and obey his words (Matthew 12:47-49).  He tells his disciples that they are all brothers and that there is one Father, one Teacher, one Instructor (Matthew 23:5-12).  No where does Jesus teach, nor advocate, an organizational structure or hierarchical leadership.  It could be argued that such exists in the Old Testament priesthood, and so it did.  But all that had changed when Jesus’ sacrificial death on the Cross tore the veil of the Temple in two (Matthew 27:50-51), allowing for direct access to the Father, AND the Holy Spirit was poured out onto all believers in Acts 2.  The old system was replaced by a new, and better, one.  Paul understood this, for he often used familial terms to refer to the saints as “brothers and sisters.”  And, he instructed the saints to treat elders as fathers and mothers, and the younger as brothers and sisters.  He referred to himself as a father to the Corinthians and all to whom he brought the Good News of Christ to.  But what about the elders?  Peter makes it clear that they are to lead by example, not ruling or lording their authority over them.  This is much like a parent would do.  Good parents teach and train their children to no longer need them when they are fully grown, and then get out of the way so that these new adults can become productive parents of their own.  This is how life is passed on from generation to generation.  Likewise, the church is meant to follow the same path, that the growth of the Kingdom will occur through ALL of it’s members, who are born into the family of God, born by the Spirit, in dwelt with the Holy Spirit of God, taught and trained by “parents,” and released to go and make more disciples by parenting others who will believe.  Though each person has special gifts given by the Holy Spirit to encourage the other saints, just like each family member has talents that they share with others, all have the ability to reproduce by the power of the Holy Spirit within them (Acts 1:8).  In essence, the Kingdom of God should look and function as family, not an organization or institution!

Like Then, Like Now

One of the triggers to the Reformation, interestingly, was the invention of the printing press that made information available to the common man like never before.  Power in the church had led to greed and corruption, but the printing press began to level the playing field a bit.  Similarly, in our day, the power of the churches has grown among the protestant denominations, that now rival the Roman Catholic church.  Large mega churches have become all too common, where not tens, but thousands gather at one time in multi-million dollar buildings with expensive  theater type sound systems, where everyone sits passively watching the “professionals” put on a gigantic multi-media performance.  There is no consideration for Paul’s directives on what should occur when the saints gather (1 Corinthians 11-14).  Yet, nothing done in the institutional church is built upon scriptural design.  It has all developed over time through adoption of cultural, and even pagan, practices.  This was not directed by God, who, through Paul, gave the church explicit instructions of how to meet as a body, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and direct.  Churches today are not built around the leading of the Holy Spirit, but rather around a personality of a “pastor” who acts more like a CEO of a major corporation giving a pep talk at a stock holder’s meeting than a shepherd.  People are not prepared to function as the priesthood that they are, to no longer need the regular “feeding” from the leadership.  Rather, they are to become perennial passive seat warmers who contribute to the corporation financially.  People are manipulated to give money to the corporation, rather than to the poor, by leaders who use scriptures taken out of context, while over 90-95% of that money taken in goes to the overhead of the organization, not to the poor.

What the printing press did in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the internet and social media have done for the twenty-first century, leveling the playing field.  Never before has everyone been connected to everyone everywhere as now.  No longer do institutions monopolize information, but it is literally at the fingertips of anyone with access to the internet, and can be called up in a matter of seconds.  As people see the corruption that is all too visible in the church corporations, they are waking up to the simplicity of the design put forth in the New Testament, and they are responding by returning to these scriptural designs, back to the basics.  Jesus never defined the church in terms of buildings, staff, programs, or budgets.  Rather, where two or three are gathered in His name, He is in their midst!

The Simplicity of a Walk by Faith

• We are simply to love God (our heavenly Father) with all our hearts, minds, soul, and strength.
• We are to love each other as we love ourselves, serving them, assisting them.
• We are to treat others as we would want to be treated.
• We are to do justice to others, love and show mercy, and walk humbly with God.
• And we are to teach others to do likewise:  to make disciples of all nations, and baptize them and teach them all that Jesus commanded.

We don’t need an organization to love our neighbor, to share their burdens, or to give to the poor.  We don’t need a mega personality to tell us what the Bible says (or means), for we can read it for ourselves, and let it feed and instruct our spirits, and the Holy Spirit promised He would be our teacher.  We don’t need a multi-media presentation to be encouraged, but simply by a brother or a sister who shares from their heart what the Lord is doing in their lives.  We are the priesthood, and Jesus is our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16).   We don’t even need an organization to “send” us to the ends of the earth if the Lord so leads, because we can touch the other side of the globe with a simple text message or internet site.  Or, we can travel as the Lord sends through his people, as he sent Paul and Barnabas to reach Europe and Asia.

Many people cry “heresy” at this point, or worry that lack of organizational structure would cause heresy to abound, however, if organization alone was needed to stop heresy, then there would be no heresy within any church organization.  We know this is not the case, however.  So, although the preservation of truth, and the prevention against heresy goes beyond the scope of this essay, it is sufficient to say here that if God designs it, then we must trust that he will sustain it, and any of man’s super-imposed efforts demonstrates a failure to understand and to trust the Lord’s design and living involvement in his Kingdom as King, or in his Body as Head, or in his family as Father.

Conclusion

The Reformation, though five hundred years ago, began to return the church back to it’s original design, so that it can function as it was originally intended to–through the direct leading of it’s Head, Jesus, through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit within each member. However, it did not go far enough.  The return of the Word of God to the people of God was of major importance, and opened the door for salvation to be made available to all.  But the continued hierarchical structure, and organizational, and even eventual corporate design, has not allowed the church to spread and flourish as intended originally.  God works through individuals whose hearts are fully his, and bigger is rarely better in the eyes of the Lord as shown throughout scripture.

The Reformation of the Church continues today, as more and more people are leaving the suppressive hierarchy, and corrupt corporate structures and awakening to the simplicity of God’s intended design, where even two or three gathered in His name can act on the leading of the indwelling, abiding Holy Spirit, and with that power be messengers of the Good News of the coming Kingdom and vessels of the transforming love and power of the one true living God, as He builds His Kingdom, which the gates of hell will not prevail against!

Categories: Kingdom of God

Tags: house church revolution, reformation, second reformation, the church needs reformed