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?

Where Has All the DNA Gone?

After several like-minded families moved into a growing suburban area, they decided to start a church. It wasn’t long before the church started to overflow with activity. Families were coming from miles around to worship. Children were being brought to confirmation and youth programs from over 10 miles away. The church members knew they had to do something.

Is this the profile of a modern mega-church? Is this the description of the latest booming ministry attraction in a sprawling suburban neighborhood?

No. This story began in 1837. The church is Zion in Bensenville, Illinois. In the first two decades of existence, the church planted six new congregations. I attended one of those daughter churches (last century, not two centuries ago!). Over its first hundred years, Zion also gave birth to a grade school, a high school, and a university (we now know it as Concordia, Chicago).

Nineteen families, numbering 42 people in all, were sent to start one of the new church plants (where I got my start in the Lutheran church). These families reached out to the community-—many spoke German, but they weren’t all Lutheran-—and went on to plant seven—yes, SEVEN—congregations. Once the congregation grew to 125 people, the planting began. A community of Christ, for Christ, was formed.

This is the DNA of our church.

What has changed? I don’t want to idealize the past, but changes have taken place. Are the following assessments accurate about yesterday and today?

Yesterday: We were convinced about the utmost importance of the Gospel
Today: We shy away from pushing religion

Yesterday: We were locked onto a Biblical worldview
Today: We compartmentalize church life, social life, etc.

Yesterday: We were self-motivated and resourced
Today: We look for others to do the work and to provide

Yesterday: We had a tenacious work ethic
Today: We are distracted and fatigued

Yesterday: We viewed life as a frontier
Today: We look at life from the perspective of fear

Yesterday: We were content to meet needs in small ways
Today: We worrying about growth and “bigness”

Yesterday: The church was about community cohesiveness
Today: The church is a consumer stop-over

Yesterday: We were Word centered
Today: We are financial plan centered

Yesterday: We demonstrated extreme sacrifice
Today: We shy away from discomfort

Yesterday: We were unafraid of small numbers
Today: We would rather hide in a crowd

I understand that Holy Cross, Warda was another powerful mission planting community. Who can comment on how many churches this powerhouse congregation started? What can we learn?