This week, while many celebrate Halloween, Protestants reflect on a much more significant holiday: the start of the Reformation. In commemorating the Reformation, we don’t merely look back at an event that took place 500 years ago, but consider the spirit of reformation that we pray remains in us as followers of Jesus Christ. Ecclesia semper reformanda est: “The church must always be reformed.” It is the unofficial motto of the Protestant church.
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his document, the 95 Theses, to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg. For that reason, October 31st is still celebrated as Reformation Day by Protestants. The 95 Theses were Luther’s attempt to exhort the Roman Catholic Church to submit itself to the teachings of Scripture and realign its practices with God’s revealed truth.
While the Latin phrase ecclesia semper reformanda est did not originate with Luther, its spirit certainly did. As those who carry on the Reformation's legacy, let us consider how the ongoing renovation of the church should and shouldn’t continue. Some carry the torch of reformation forward in a misguided manner. And some believe that the Reformation lies behind us, with no ongoing need for transformation. Both are mistaken.
What isn’t semper reformanda?
What isn’t semper reformanda? It isn’t a determination to reform the church or the church’s teachings to the cultural whims of the day. Some frame the ongoing reformation of the church as a call to reform its beliefs to align with our ever-evolving cultural ethics. This is problematic.
Some within this camp smuggle in an extra-biblical understanding of revelation, in which the Holy Spirit continues to reform the church through further revelation. They suggest that the New Testament reshapes the trajectory of history, but does not provide the destination. The teachings of Christ and Paul hint at what God will eventually do, but does not fully realize his ultimate purposes. Our theology of gender, for instance, ought to be shaped not by the teachings of the New Testament, but rather by the trajectory of the New Testament. This is not orthodox Christianity and is certainly not the purpose or spirit of semper reformanda. Christians are people of the book, who submit themselves to the revelation of God which is authoritatively given in the Bible.
What is semper reformanda?
What is semper reformanda? It is at least two things. First, it is a declaration that we will always reform ourselves in accordance with the truths of Scripture. We recognize that, as significant as the teaching and doctrine of those who have come before us is, every generation must re-submit itself to the authority of the Word of God. Every generation faces new cultural controversies and questions that must be addressed in light of Scripture's guidance. We turn to the Bible to consider questions of gender, of immigration, of war, and of racial reconciliation. We conform ourselves not to the whims of the day, but to the commands of God.
Second, semper reformanda is a declaration that our hearts are always in need of reformation. We are those who believe that all of us are fallen. We are sinful and in need of sanctification. As Jeremiah says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9). Is right doctrine important? Certainly. But correct doctrine doesn’t guarantee true faith or transform my heart. I can look back with gratitude and respect at the theology clarified by the Reformers, but I need a fresh work in my heart every day. We might agree that proper doctrine was secured through the efforts of the reformers, but I need a fresh work in my heart.
A few months ago we preached through 1 Peter. With penetrating clarity, Peter commands those living under the totalitarian reign of Nero to “Honor the emperor” (1 Pet 2:17d). The passage shook certain hearers. “How can we obey this president when he has done that!” Ironically, a different group of people would have been shaken by that message two years ago. The problem isn’t the doctrine or the text's clarity. The problem is our hearts. We conform ourselves to what we are attracted to. And our hearts reform doctrine that we are most uncomfortable with. This is not semper reformanda.
Semper reformanda ought to remain our cry. We are always in need of reform. But semper reformanda is not an invitation to rewrite the doctrine of the church in our image. It is the recognition that on our own, we will make the Bible look like us. We will twist God’s teachings to fit with our proclivities. Every generation, every culture, every individual must return to the Bible and submit to its teaching and recognize that we have never fully arrived. I need reformation. We need reformation.
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