Movements & Margins

We who call ourselves Evangelical Christians owe a great debt to Martin Luther. Luther, a Catholic monk who learned that the just shall live by faith rather than by religious behavior, led a Reformation. His impact demonstrates how movements often happen. Rarely if ever do spiritually renewing movements come from the center of a tradition; rather, most of the time movements start at the margins and bring life to the center. In Luther’s case a radical break had to occur because of the flawed soteriology (among other issues) of Catholicism. Luther began the communion that bears his name and the Lutheran church was born.

Before long, after a century or so, the Lutheran church became mired in institutionalism. Along came a young Lutheran priest named Philip Spener, who saw priests enjoying the benefits of being clergy without the concomitant passion for the gospel. He wrote a book called Pia Desideria in 1675 calling for a renewal, a Great Commission Resurgence if you will, in the Lutheran church.

Spener did not have a lot of demographic data to show him the need for a renewal in his time. His pastoral wisdom and insights from others observing the same thing was enough. Those in the center of Lutheranism did not jump on the idea of resurgence he called for in his book. In summary he called for these points of renewal:

1. A greater commitment to spread the Word of God (we might call this becoming more gospel-centered).
2. A renewed emphasis on the priesthood of all believers.
3. A greater focus given to the development of individual spiritual life.
4. Establishing truth not through disputes but through repentance and a holy life.
5. Candidates for the ministry should be genuine Christians, who have had spiritual training.
6. Sermons should not demonstrate the preacher’s erudition, but attempt to teach and edify.

READ MORE