Has it all been said about Luther and the Reformation?
I put off writing a blog post from this last Saturday (supposedly my normal posting day) until today due the fact that October 31, 2017 is the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. I decided I would wait until ‘Reformation Day’ to give my thoughts on Luther and the beginnings of The Protestant Reformation. So what is there left to say?? Has not everyone everywhere (those who care about this topic at all) said whatever needs to be said??
I guess to some extent that is true. A plethora of books, articles, sermons, videos, and commentaries have been produced to talk about all aspects of Luther, his life, and his significance. So what is it I could say that would be ‘different’?
I want to encourage you (and me) to periodically refocus our lives
Of all the great things that one can discuss about the Reformation, the one that is important to me is the idea of self-evaluation. Consistently and periodically all of us should take a step back from our busy lives and see if what we are doing is matching with what we are believing. We often get so busy with our hectic lives that we sometimes stray off the path, but because we are still on a nature hike we think we are doing OK. I think of all the contributions to Christendom that can be credited to Martin Luther the single thing I applaud him for is taking a stand (no matter what the cost) to show people the church needed to refocus its priorities. Luther was so singularly dedicated to biblical truth that he was willing to be not only an outcast but an enemy of the majority of Europe, if he knew he was OK with God. In essence he told himself he would rather be accepted by God and rejected by everyone else than vice versa. The church needed to examine what it did and why it did those things to see if they had wandered off the path. Martin Luther was one (really among many) to stand before multitudes and declare that he was right and the church was wrong. He encouraged them to refocus their faith in order to be good and faithful servants.
Are we in need of a person (or cultural) reformation??
I believe all followers of Jesus Christ need a ‘periodic personal reformation.’ We have difficulties sometimes ‘going through the motions’ and living our faith the way we have always done them, when what we need it to have a serious talk with ourselves to see if we are living biblically. We also need to have the courage to accept our inconsistencies and change what needs to be changed no matter the personal discomfort. As Luther did we need to take an honest look at ourselves and say to whomever will listen, ‘things need to change and I am willing to change them, no matter what’ (OK, I know that’s not a direct quote from him but I was attempting to pretend I know what he thought).
So What’s the point?
Here’s the point – Martin Luther compared his final authority on theology (the Bible) to his next highest authority (the Church) and decided the two did not match up. Either the Church needed to change or the Bible needed to change. The answer was a no-brainer – he decided the Church needed to change, but they refused so he changed himself, thus sticking with his ultimate authority: God and His Word. I wonder if we need to change our understanding of God, Jesus, outreach, giving, and living by faith to better match what the Bible says??? Hmmmmmm, could be!
Let me know what you think.
Comment and tell me a story of how you evaluated your faith journey and changed it to be more pleasing to God.
Thoughts For His Kingdom 