Reformation Day 2006

I was buying bird seed. The nuthatches have been snooping around the empty feeders, so it is time. As I was leaving the establishment, I began saying to the two women there, “Let me be the first to wish you a…..” One of the women chimed in before I could finish with “…a Happy Halloween.” That in itself is not remarkable. However, what is startling is that the woman is a ruling elder in a local main line Presbyterian Church! Wouldn’t you think a church officer in a Reformed church would know the significance of 31 October? And, should not this Reformation Day be preeminent in her mind and heart to Halloween?

Such is the state of the church today. We revolt against historical authority. Luther and his ilk had their lives in their particular world and we have ours. What has he done that has any relevance to 21st century American Christian. We ignore the small fact that the Lord of history placed Luther in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517 for a purpose. And, what he did to reintroduce the Gospel to the church is an inheritance to us and a warning not to depart from the Gospel again. Needless to say we have squandered the inheritance and ignored the warning.

On 31 October, 1517, Martin Luther posted on the door of the Castle Church his Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences which came to be popularly known as the 95 Theses. They were written in Latin but were soon translated into the vernacular and widely distributed. Public controversy ensued that lead to the Reformation. Luther had no idea of what would happen with this little academic exercise. In fact he wrote:

A disputation on the power and efficacy of indulgences: out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore, he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.

Hardly revolutionary language. Today we would say Brother Martin just wants to have a “dialogue”! But, in the providence of God, Luther was used to “upset the world” and bring about changes that would forever affect Western Civilization.

Everyone you know who is a descendant of western culture was impacted by the Reformation. Yet, no one sees to know or care; even those who consider themselves committed Christians. But, that makes it a great teaching opportunity. With Halloween becoming the great autumn holiday for the masses, you can answer “Happy Halloween” with “Happy Reformation Day”. And, this gives you an opportunity to tell folks about the recovery of the Gospel and why that is so important to them. And, you can even say Reformation Day is also a costume day…it is about new garments provided by God to those “brands plucked out of the fire” by Him. (See Zechariah 3 for the wonderful details.)

Let us no longer minimize the Reformation. Be thankful for men like Hus, Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, and others. Their stance for the Truth of the Gospel, at great peril and death for many, made it possible for those of us who are also “brands plucked from the fire” to believe, proclaim and live the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Had it with the contemporary church with its “self-focused” programs? Do you recoil when you walk through an evangelical bookstore? Tired of preaching that is not centered on Christ, His life, death, resurrection and ascension but on what makes folks “feel good”? Be bold, reintroduce the Gospel to your church and challenge the cultural notions of “doing church” and “living a self empowered life.” It is time for us to understand our Gospel inheritance and be ready to pass it on with blessings to those whom we are given to nurture and teach maturity in the faith. All to God’s glory alone…Soli Deo Gloria!

Reading
Two Big Questions

We are approaching a mid-term Congressional election in the USA. Much of what is being said boils down to competing ideas about democracy. There is great concern among civil libertarians about the loss of freedom in this country because of actions taken since 9/11 to make us “safer”. How can we have a democratic society without individual freedom? Others, rail about US foreign policy under Bush 43 being an exportation of our democracy to countries not suited for same.

Historian John Lukacs has written a challenging and thought provoking book entitled Democracy and Populism: Fear and Hatred. In it, Lukacs examines many and varied themes in analyzing where this country is in its democratic maturation. He draws heavily on de Tocqueville in his examination of American style democracy, then, now and exported.

The first volume of de Tocqueville’s work on democracy was entitled [translation from French] About Democracy in America. Near the end of that volume he wrote:
My aim has been to show, by the example of America that laws, and especially customs may allow a democratic people to remain free.
In this one quote we see de Tocqueville’s take that democracy in America was uniquely successful because of the circumstances. And, it is those circumstances that allow freedom within the democratic system.

This makes the exporting of democracy a problematic situation. Promoting freedom through democracy world wide as the centerpiece of foreign policy is really the Americanization of other peoples and nations. Lukacs opines that democratization and Americanization are “not identical; but inseparable”. Is it any wonder much of the world looks at the US as imperialistic, even if that is not the goal?

De Tocqueville and Lukacs both recognize that when America came to be, man was passing from the age of aristocracy to the age of democracy. Today, where there are constitutional monarchies, they exist as a result of popular agreement. It is difficult to challenge the principle of popular sovereignty in the world today. After all, it was sovereign folks who brought down the Iron Curtain. And, when other repressive regimes [North Korea, China, Iran] fall in the future, there rule will not be replaced by aristocrats or monarchs.

But, what arises from the ashes will not necessarily be an Americanized democracy. And, not all freedom within a political system requires the radical individual freedom cherished and exhibited in the USA. So, in reading Lukacs and his interpretation of de Tocqueville, as we evaluate the direction of our government, two questions must be pondered. In countries that do not share the customs, virtues, mores and laws we do, can American style democracy take root? Can the populism that drives change in the world also lead the USA down the path of a police where democratically we exchange freedom for safety?

It is said that all politics is local. That is so, but the future is also decided by the overarching issues that affect what our country is becoming in the world community. As Christians we are further challenged to embrace the role of government consistent with Biblical principles. For too long, the Christian voter in this country has been swayed to vote on individual issues that are renting the moral fabric of this country. Those are very important. But, it is time to look at broader issues that affect the propagation of the Gospel not just at home but throughout the world.

The Church
Cultural or Biblical ?

On 01 May 2006, I worshipped in the Reformed Baptist Church of Padova, Italy. Services are held at the IFED, the only evangelical Bible school in Italy. [More about that in a future post.] Dr. Woodrow Kroll preached on the “ancient landmarks” of the faith. That is, those non-negotiable beliefs that our delineated in Scripture as essential to Christian faith, without which you have no Christian faith and from which all other principles of Christian faith flow.

At the service we celebrated the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Just as in India, we partook from a common cup of wine. We were also advised that the sacrament is celebrated every Sunday. It set me to thinking. Why in the modern American evangelical church do we us grape juice in individual cups with wafers? In instituting the sacrament Jesus broke bread. He passed a common cup with wine for each to partake. Which procedure is closer to the Biblical mandate?

Many would argue it’s cultural. The Italians live in a culture of wine drinking. Here in the West we are concerned with health issues, so we have individual cups of grape juice. While such rationalizations seem plausible, they are superficial explanations. And, that is the problem with the methods of the western contemporary church…they are lacking in theological and Biblical substance. Individual portions of grape juice and individualized wafers point to the individuality celebrated in western Christianity, especially USA style. By partaking from a broken loaf and single cup, there is recognition of unity in the sacrifice of Christ and the unity in those who believe.

In Ephesians, Paul emphasizes the unity of believers through the Holy Spirit, Son and Father and the responsibility of Christian believers to maintain that unity [Eph. 4: 1-6]. And, he emphasizes that the gifts given as diversity within the unity is for the purpose:
To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” [Eph. 4: 12, 13]
Unity and maturity in the faith are not attained by being a Lone Ranger Christian. We have lots of churches and lots of denominations, but disunity and immaturity reigns in the Christian community of the 21st century US. This is the result of cultural instead of Biblical Christianity.

In Paul’s teaching on the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, he says this is what you are doing:
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes again. [1 Cor. 11:26.]
In essence, the sacrament is a proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by all of God’s people. As His redeemed, why should we not want to enter into such proclamation each and every time we gather corporately to worship the God of salvation? In the spirit of the consumerism of the age, the contemporary church has made its choices. It would rather sing 5 praise choruses or have a dramatic presentation than proclaim the Gospel through the sacrament.

It is long overdue for the church to examine what it is doing. Does it reflect the culture or the Scriptures? Is it driven by an individualistic view of Christianity or the unity of the faith commanded in the Bible? The Italian Christians in Padova are surrounded by a culture dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. They have intentionally set out to be a Biblical church, a counter-cultural community shaped by Gospel values. Sadly, that is missing in the western churches. Imagine what would happen if churches in the USA adopted views and practices mediated by Scripture alone? Can you say…R_e_f_o_r_m_a_t_i_o_n?

The Church
CT Book List

Have you seen the Christianity Today book list of the most influential evangelical books of the last 50 years www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/october/23.51.html ?
The article says: “These are the books that have shaped evangelicalism as we see it today—not evangelicalism we wish or hope for.” How true. There is a lack of theological books on the list. Absent are books that challenge your ideas of Christianity, that shape your beliefs or lead you to a depth of understanding that is demanded by Scripture. Instead, there are “practical” how-to books that emphasize experience instead of belief. This feeds the individualistic Christianity of the age perfectly. We want application…how does this Christianity help or facilitate my life? No matter what Christianity really stands for or what it means, forget Who God is or who I am, just cut to the chase and make my life “better”.
So, I think the article is right…what we see is what we got. A shallow Christianity that is individualistic and devoid of theological substance. And, what beliefs we do have are those we choose or decide are good for us, which fits into our lifestyle. My wife likes to say about modern evangelicalism: a mile wide and an inch deep. What results is a pharisaical set of principles that are adopted to insulate you and you family from the evil world or an “easy believism” that anything goes. Neither alternative is Scriptural.
Theological probing that questions what you believe and how you act so that you “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” [Eph. 4: 13, 14] is largely missing on the CT book list. There is no longer unity of faith and belief as determined by the Sovereign God of Scripture but many faiths and beliefs as determined by individual Christians. Could it be that modern American evangelicals really have become “little popes”?

Return

After an absence for various reasons...this blog returns, hopefully with insights that are edifying and golrifying the the great God Whom the true believer serves.