Reformation Rumblings

Not long ago, I heard Felicity Dale, co-author of “The Rabbit and the Elephant,” make this comment: “During the Reformation God put the Bible into the hands of ordinary people. Today, God is putting the church into the hands of ordinary people.”

The content of the comment struck me as thought provoking. But the fact that she brought up the Reformation also struck me as very interesting. I’m hearing a lot of talk about the Reformation these days.

As a Lutheran, I observe that we tend to claim the Reformation as “our thing.” Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress,” “Here I stand, I can do no other,”--we celebrate, remember, and treasure the Reformation.

More and more, however, I am hearing Reformation talk from broader Christian circles. They’re making it more “their thing” too.

Why? What’s happening?

Let’s answer the question by looking at five key phenomena happening then and now:

1. Technological Innovation: 75 years after the invention of the printing press, the dissemination of information was at a new level. Today, immediate digital communication is in the palm of people’s hands. Something new is happening and the church is wondering how this might impact the mission of God.

2. Institutional Fatigue: As the Roman Catholic Church battled corruption and financial desperation for in-house projects, today’s mainline denominations continue to hurt financially and disintegrate theologically. The church is wondering what this might mean for a post-denominational and post-congregational mindset.

3. Personal Conviction: Luther was gripped by the Gospel. The message of salvation by grace through faith drove him to be a voice for God’s true Word. Today, many are being gripped by mission, the sentness of God’s people into a lost world. New voices are being raised to advocate outreach action and sentness versus inreach complacency and isolation.

4. A New Location: Rome was the epicenter of the church during the pre-Reformation era. Germany was on the fringe of where “it was happening.” But change happened from outside the institutional safe-zone. Today, Asia, Africa, and South America are demonstrating rapid movements of Kingdom expansion while the church in the west is, at best, trying to figure out the key to church multiplication and, at worst, distracted by its own inward thinking.

5. Transitional Times: The Reformation was a messy time of new communication modes, new ways of life, new thoughts, and re-developing theology. We live in a similar time--in-between conventional and new methods of communication, in-between the old analog and new digital, in-between store and online shopping, in-between church the way it was and church reinvented. It’s a messy time of transition, and we don’t know how it will end up.

The times are very similar to Reformation times. Do we realize it? Are we engaging in asking questions, lifting up our prayers to the Head of the Church, and listening for His guidance? Are we willing to be courageous as the ways of man are cast aside and the ways of God break through into our lives?

During these Reformation days, are we willing to be a part of it or will we resist it to preserve our comfort levels and control?

Accidental Pharisee, Part 2

As we become weary with a culture that drifts farther away from Christ's ways, our own souls can become sour. At a recent conference, Larry Osborne gave a talk about becoming an “Accidental Pharisee,” stumbling into a critical and bitter life that becomes angry at unbelievers instead of showing compassion.

In part one of this article, I mentioned the trap of arrogance. Osborne highlighted five additional pitfalls for Kingdom workers:

1. You trust in your own righteousness, your work performance, your knowledge of doctrine, and your “give-it-all” attitude as you grow bitter at people who don’t perform like you. You may even take credit for God’s successes. The answer? Remember who you really are: a broken sinner who has received the precious gift of God’s grace in Jesus. This levels the playing field in a big way.

2. You raise the bar that Jesus came to lower. It’s so easy to become frustrated when people don’t take the church as seriously as you do. In fact, you can become downright angry, coercive, and rude. You may even start to despise “carnal Christians,” nominal believers on the fringes who don’t perform for the church. The answer? Jesus didn’t come to enhance our spiritual performance. He went to the cross to lower the bar! His yoke is easy and burden is light. It’s time to reflect that grace to the world and to bless the world, not curse it.

3. You demand from others what you fail to do yourself. This is the curse of hypocrisy. We can’t pretend to be what we aren't and teach people to do what we don't. The answer? Not perfection. Not expertise in every area of life. The answer is simple authenticity, acknowledging that you are a fellow struggler sitting at the feet of your Savior.

4. You idolize the past. This will cripple your ministry. The Pharisees loved everything the way it was. But God put us here right now. He wants us to live right now. The answer? Give God thanks for the past, but ask Him to give you wisdom and grace for this time and this generation.

5. You put sacrifice and rules above mercy. The Pharisees turned the gift of the Sabbath into a set of regulations. As we become more passionate about God’s gifts, we may also get more black and white about living out the Gospel. The answer? Remember what God requires: To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Mercy, not sacrifice. The Bible is not a rulebook. It is written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, we may have life in His name.

As the culture becomes less church-like and as you get more passionate about God’s work, be careful that you don’t wake up as an accidental Pharisee. If you find yourself getting angry about Kingdom work, you may need a good dose of the Living Word--leading you to repentance and the refreshing grace of God for us sinners.

Walking Sacraments

Dr. Jack Preus gave an excellent presentation at the 2011 Professional Church Workers’ Conference in Houston. His talk about incarnational witness caused me to recall Luther’s entertaining the idea that confession and absolution could very well be a sacrament. The command from Jesus is there. The promise of forgiveness of sins is there. Luther wondered what might the visible means be. Perhaps the pastor. Luther ventured into the sacramental, incarnational work of Jesus through people!

God established His incarnational, sacramental presence immediately as He interacted with His precious creation. He walked with Adam in the Garden of Eden. After the Fall He continued to be present with His people. The burning bush, the pillars of fire and cloud, the smoke in both tabernacle and temple. This was God--present for the purpose of salvation.

Add to that sacramental presence the person of the prophet--his word and action. See the incarnational, sacramental presence of God reach a high point in the Word made flesh who made His dwelling among us, Jesus Himself. Note that instead of leaving us with no incarnational presence, Jesus instituted and gave the gift of the Lord’s Supper.

God is always present for the purpose of His salvation. Look at baptism. See the living Word of God.

And look at people--believers in Christ. Luther was on the right track. We are “walking sacraments.” We’ve been commanded to go. We’ve been “instituted” to forgive the sins of others. We’re visible and tangible. Believers are God’s sacramental, incarnational presence in the world.

Instead of merely sitting in church waiting for God to show up in the world, we’re called to get out into the world as walking sacraments, as the incarnational “showing up” of God where He is needed most. When God’s redeemed people show up, He shows up. His real presence is made manifest through us to bless the world, to give the world the hope it needs, and to send more “walking sacraments” to people who desperately need to see that God is truly with us!