Reformation Reflections

Reformation Reflections

The dragon opened its wings and it seemed as if night had unfolded upon all of the horizons. Darkness blocked the sun and smoke filled the air. Though the shadows, the dragon’s needle-sharp eyes searched until his vision fell upon his target. A lone maiden, beautiful beyond the description of words, helpless and alone, garbed in white with a crown of pure silver, stood before the drake and his fire. With a roar that shook mountains and turned hearts to stone, the dragon fell upon her, his jaws opened wide.

Reformation. In our day, the word “Reformation” has lost most, if not all, of its weight. On new year’s eve various persons may dream or boast of how they are going to “reform” or change their habits and ways for the next year, but three months later these same persons are usually laughing lightheartedly at how their personal reformations never came into fruition. In fact, it seems that modern man is often never truly willing to strive to change his habits or customs until something shocking happens, something that throws everything into focus, something that starts man onto a journey. For Martin Luther it was a lightning bolt on a dark, stormy road; a message, it seemed, of divine judgment. It was his quest to find answers to the questions of God’s wrath and justice that drove him to the Scriptures, where he found a personal Reformation. The greatest Reformation any individual can have is that of regeneration, when the sinner becomes the saint and the hell-bound becomes the δοuλος (Greek), the slave of God. Luther found that Reformation in the text of Romans, and it was so magnificent that he could not keep the truth to his soul alone. He had to share it with the church.

There have been numerous Reformations throughout history. Augustine started one in response to the heretical teachings of Pelagius; Luther started his accidentally when he posted a small critique of the Roman Catholic church and the papacy, a critique that amplified into a torrent of debate and controversy; Knox heralded in new reforms and changes to the church of Scotland; and the Puritans even made a Reformation of sorts when they left the Anglican church and journeyed to the New World. Each Reformation has quickened a church that was lukewarm or awakened the spirits of those trapped in spiritual lethargy. Though heretical Reformations have come and gone in temporary bursts, the Reformations that we call “Protestant” Reformations have been not been merely an altering of doctrine per se, but a Returning to the doctrine that is based off of Scripture. Reformed thought is true Christian thought, and thus a Reformation is not an introduction of new ideas, but a resurgence of the old.

Truth is only fought for by those who hold it dearly. Many Catholic cardinals and higher authorities, convinced though they might have been by Luther’s arguments, would not give in to the truth of Scripture because to do so would be to forfeit their power. Truth is sacrificed by those who hold power to be more important. Luther, however, made it plain that he was not using his “Reformation” to gain standing or prominence: he did not want a cardinal’s hat. Luther loved the truth, and he wanted others to learn that truth. When those who hold truth dearly clash with those who are willing to cast it away, change begins. Sides are taken, lines are drawn. Iron sharpens iron (or in some cases breaks lesser metals) and reformation begins.

I think there is a clear pattern. Spiritual lethargy leads to an undervaluing of the truth, which in turn leads to the propagation and spread of false doctrine and ideas which are digested by many minds without question, which leads to a false Christianity and a false church, which leads to a longing by many for something more, which leads to individual regeneration through Scripture, which leads to the sharing of that truth, which leads to Reformation. Thus, the pattern can be summarized: Lethargy, Indoctrination, Falsehood, Desire for Truth, Finding of Truth, Regeneration, Reformation. Compare this pattern to that of the life of an individual man. The man is born into a world of sin and is totally depraved (death is the worst sleep), he is indoctrinated by his own thoughts and his own desire to rebel against God, he leads a life of falsehood and denial, he finds such a life to be empty and longs for truth, he finds the truth, he loves the truth and embraces it so that his soul is regenerated, and finally he reforms his life by casting away his old sins and habits and replacing them with new righteousness and godliness. Because the church is indeed a “body” of believers, it should not come as a surprise to us that church history shows a similar pattern.

We live in an age where the church is in a lethargy stage. Many people, surprisingly enough, do not know who Martin Luther is, or John Calvin, or Charles Spurgeon, and those who do have been indoctrinated with many negative views towards these persons. I once mentioned to someone that I wanted to go into the ministry after college. This person, who professed to be a Christian and attended church regularly, asked me “so what kind of church do you go to?” I replied, “Presbyterian.” The person looked stunned. “What’s that? What do you call your, ah, pastor or preacher or bishop or whatever?” I could not believe that he had asked this question. The person was so unaware of the affects of the Reformation on the history of the church that he had not heard of Presbyterianism, nor did he know the difference between it and the denomination of Baptists, or Methodists, or Anglicans.

Names like John Knox, William Tyndale, and Augustine are even more obscure to many people today. The reason for this is simple: modern man has not learned about these giants from church history because he does not care to learn. The modern Christian, typically, is not interested in what happened in the past or who these men really were. The church today is so comfortable now with what is happening that they do not want to look back and learn from the Reformers. As a result, those who do not learn their history are definitely “doomed to repeat it”, and the cycle of the pattern mentioned above is continued.

Try as we might, however, the modern theologian cannot on his own create a new Reformation in the church. It is not merely unlikely, it is impossible. Just as an individual is only saved an regenerated by God’s work in his heart, so also the church will not be saved by man’s feeble efforts but by God’s work through great men. Being bold, preaching loudly, writing books, creating ministries, and debating Arminians will not help on their own. Those activities are often appropriate and fine, but they are useless unless God works through them. What will do the greatest work of all is prayer - we must pray that God will work in the church and bring reform. Then we must do our best and let God work through us if He so wills.

One of the sayings of the Reformers, now forgotten by many, was Post Tenebras Lux (Latin). The saying means “After Darkness, Light.” In the beginning, God spoke and there was light. Light did not evolve or some into being by itself or become real through the works of fallible humans. Light came through the voice of God, through His very word. Likewise, the light of truth will only return to prominence in the church today if God makes it happen through His Word, the Scriptures.

Let us hope that the light shall return and shall burn bright for many years to come!

On October 31st, when others are thinking about demons, witches, and ghouls on a holiday that has origins in the Roman Catholic church, turn your thoughts to the Reformation. Turn your thoughts to the day, hundreds of years ago on October 31st, when a monk named Martin Luther nailed 95 theses on the doors of the church in Wittenberg. Thank the Lord that He allowed the light of truth to shine bright in that day and in all the Reformations, and ask Him to bring another Reformation to His church, if He so wills it. Should not the bride be ready for the groom’s return?

As the dragon, wreathed in dark fire and billowing forth mountains of smoke, hurled down towards her, the maiden before him felt no fear. Through the darkness around her she could feel a light, a light that pierced everything else and turned all things to dust, a light that revealed a world that was only a slight, bitter foretaste of a better world to come. In that light the dragon was blinded, and he suddenly recoiled. Yet his retreat was not quick enough to save him from the blade that rang loudly, stabbing into his heart. The maiden was not alone after all, for beside her was a Knight, the ultimate Knight of the Living God, the Knight to whom all lesser knights of God owe allegiance. This Knight, God’s own Son, bore the maiden away. He had returned, as He had promised. He had come back for His bride. No dragon or darkness could stop Him, for His love was the greatest of all loves. Though false brides and maidens had been devoured by the jaws of the dragon, the Knight’s bride had not. She was His. Forever.

Fellow Knights and Maidens of the Living God, let us continue to serve the ultimate Knight of the Living God: Christ. Let us not forget how He reformed and remade our hearts and imparted His righteousness to us. The dragon is coming. Let us stand firm. Let us not shrink from the darkness. Christ, our Knight, is coming to save us. The true church, the church that believes in the teaching of God’s Word, will not fade away but will dwell in the house of the Lord.

Forever.