We made it to debrief in Pangkur, Malaysia and it's been a great time! As I sit in a nice hotel (for our standards[1]), 12 hours ahead of most of y’all in the States, I have been pondering “Reformation Day” and specifically pondering on the Reformers declaration of “Semper Reformanda”.
The whole phrase being, “The church is reformed and always [in need of] being reformed according to the Word of God.”
[This post might be a little technical]
I agree with this statement wholeheartedly, and I have several thoughts:
- Did we go back far enough in just questioning the Papal authority and other issues in the “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences,” known today as The 95 Theses? To this, I give a resounding NO! The reformation should have went back to the 4th Century with the conquest of Constantine and the introduction of Christendom.
- With the election season in full swing, we desperately need reform in the church's love to wield the sword of power. The reform much needed is a reform of the church's allegiance to Constantinianism, which would mean abandoning it. I can’t take full credit for this, for in a great post 2 years ago, Brian Zahnd covered this aspect in his article “A Bolder Reformation” which is a must read!
- The second question I had was in regards to “according to the Word of God.” The church is in desperate need of reform in our approach to Scripture. We need to be able to ask hard questions regarding our approach and presuppositions that we bring to the biblical texts and we need to learn how to ask the right questions. We need to take into account the historical context, which differ from book to book and includes: the time and culture of the author and his readers, that is, the geographical, topographical, and political factors that are relevant to the author's setting; and the occasion of the book, letter, psalm, prophetic oracle, or other genre.[2] We also need to take into account the literary form (genre) of the text.
- Just like the original reformers were questioning the tradition of their day; we need to continue seeking to understand the Word of God in order for the church to be properly reformed. At risk of this post being quotes from others, here is an excerpt from James Shelley in his thoughts on “Letters to a Future Church” that is an important step in the right direction.
Your faith depends on your presuppositions about the Bible. The implications of this realization are all encompassing. Any statement that begins with, “The Bible says …” is actually a statement about what the speaker believes. This is equally true whether you are Rob Bell or John MacArthur. You are all working from the same source material here. The chant of Joel Osteen, waving the Bible above his head and pledging allegiance to the words therein, is ultimately no different from an exegesis of Jesus’ compassion by Shane Claiborne, in that both are rooted in individual interpretations and assumptions about what the Bible is, generated by their prior presuppositions, ideals, experiences and connections. When you argue about Scripture, you are arguing your biases. If Mark Driscoll and Marcus Borg sat down to discuss their differences, underneath all the banter is nothing but two different presuppositions about the Bible. Who is “right” and who is “wrong” is ultimately a question of who has the “correct” interpretation about the bible. But since both parties judge their own interpretations about the Bible by their own presuppositions of the Bible, both are ultimately appealing first and foremost to their own presuppositions.
Dear Church, at some point you must recognize and name your camps and denominations for what they truly are: self-affirming cloisters of people who are happily comfortable with their self-validating presuppositions about Scripture. Your next reformation comes when you abandon your arguments about what the Bible says, and invest your energy into investigating what the Bible is. Stop arguing about how to “apply the Word of God” and start formulating truly informed thoughts about church history, the nature of the canon, and the doctrine of inspiration. Even if there were something concrete about these convictions explicit in the pages of Scripture itself, you would still have to account for your personal belief in those words. You must unearth and examine all these unchecked assumptions. You must delve deep into the matrix of your own assumptions about textual authority. Herein will be the most painful and honest declaration of Christianity yet, for only when you seek to honestly address the beliefs you most desperately cherish can you genuinely declare your faith to be honest—honest to your own heart, mind and soul, and to God.
I can’t think of a better way of ending this post than the prayer posted in Brian’s article
“Lord, send a new reformation.
A bolder reformation.
A reformation that is neither state sponsored nor state endorsed.
A reformation that is heaven sponsored and heaven endorsed.
A reformation where you are no longer a propriety deity of the state—
But the Living God who brings about his purposes through the kingdom of Jesus.
Lord, give us courage.
Courage for a bolder reformation.
Courage to endure misunderstanding, misrepresentation, and worse.
The kind of courage Peter and Paul had when they “invaded” the Roman Empire—
Making the gospel announcement: “There is another king: Jesus!”
Lord, give us apostolic vision and apostolic courage;
That a new and bolder re-formation might occur in our day.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.”
Phew! I believe I've successfully broken every "World Race blogging tip" in this post, especially regarding the length. Thank you for sticking it out and I love you dearly!
In other news, my final support deadline is at the New Year. It'll be sneaking up on us! I need to raise $4,040 so please pray and spread the word. The Lord is doing incredible things in the nations and in shaping his Son and I trust He's doing radical things in your life as well.
Grace & Peace,
Michael
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[1] We have hot water, A/C, AND Wifi.
[2] Gordon Fee, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
