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sReformed

Christians weare

often

asked by

those outside the

Refonned Faith,

WhatisReformed?

varietyofshottanswersareavailable,

most of which emphasize some

relation

to

the sixteenth century

European Protestant movement and

its

theology. Butwhat do we

think

of

ourselves when

we attribute

the term

Reformed to ourselves and our

churches?

There

is a

temptation

for

some of

us

to

romanticize this

period

of

history

and to think

of it as our ideal,

especially

as

it

manifested

itself

in the

Puritan movement.

The problemwith

this

tendency

to

think

of

the term reformed

as

old and

past tense is

that it can lead

twentieth century

Reforined

Christians

to

a somewhat distorted

view of

the

current

. . goals

of the

church.

We must not

think

of

reformation as

simply a

snap

shot of

some

golden era

of

from sixteenth and seventeenth

century Europe

. The

principles and

theologyoftheProtestantReformation

have remained fairly constant.

However,

the

issues of

the

day

and the

appli

cation

of

th

ese principles and

th

eol

ogy have changed in many

resp

ec

ts.

Scripture alone remains as the

comerstoneof reformation

from

the

sixteenth century until our present

your wives, just as Christ also loved

the

church and gave Himself up for

her.

It

is likely

that

every

Christian

husband has some unique

ways n

whichhe demonstrateshis loveforhis

wife that differs from other Christian

husbands. Yet, each Christian

husband,applyingandadaptingGod's

word

to

meet

the needs

of his

wife,

may fulfill

the biblical requirement of

lovmghiswife.

Moreover,

the same

is

true when it

comes to

other

areas

of

life such as the

chwch, There

are

a

multitude of ways

that a church can

honor Scripture

n

ts

methods of

evangelism,

worship,

music

nd

other

practices

. Flexibility

nd adaptiveness

within the boun-

dariesofScriptureare

essential parts of

ongoingreformation.

, Christianity to be

replicatedby twentieth

century

Chtistiansand

churches. Rather,

reformation must be

Which Way re

e

Looking

Theverynatureof

reformation is that

t

is a nevercending

process. There are

two obvious

reasons

for this fact.

First,

as

sinful men we are

often

wrong

in our

understanding of

Scripture and how it

thought of as being

more

like

a motion picture

still

in

the

process

of being filmed.

While we

may honor, admire and

agree

with

many Reformed Christianswho

lived

in

the last

five centuries, our goal as

Refonned

Christians today

is not a

mere

duplication of

the past. Growth

means change,

and twentieth

century

America

has

.changed

considerably

Randy Bootll

is to be applied.

day. It is

the

only rule of faith and Indeed, there is only one objective

life

for

all

men

in

all times and

in

all

meaning

of

the word

of God,

having

places . Yet the Scriptures are been infallibly transmitted

to men

.

amazingl

yflexibleand

adaptive when However,

while the transmission of

it comes

to

their application

to the

Bible is

clear,

its reception by

ourselves

, our

families,

our churches

fallen,

and even redeemed men is not

and our culture. The Bible is

never

always

so

clear.

As

Christians

we

out of dat

e. For

example,

Ephesians

grow in our understanding of the

5 25 instructs us, Husbands, love

objective

truth of Scripture and we

January,

1992

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8/12/2019 1992 Issue 1 - Reformed or Reforming: Which Way Are We Looking? - Counsel of Chalcedon

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come to see

areas

of wrong practice or

sinful conduct.

As

a result,

we

must

continually reform

(i.e.,

conform

to

Scriptural standards).

,Unless we, are perfect in our

understanding and

conduct the

'process

o{

reformation must never

Cease

eitherpersOnallyorcprporately.

Second, Reformationis anever-ending

process becaUse the world around us

is in a constant stateof

day to reach their generationwith the

gospel. Lectures, preaching,

public

debates, the universities andpersonru

wimess were all

means

of

v

erbally

communicatingwith theirworld. The

use of the printing press and massive

distribution of tracts, booksand

Bibles

were

t so

effective

means

of

spreading

the word. Great works of art came

forth,

and

even congregationit singing

computers,

telephoneS,

faxes, mail

and rapid transportation. We shoUld

encourage the

use of these l o n g

with

the development of new ideas

atrd

technolOgies. As

Reformed

ChristiarlS

we

should

be leading the way in the

development

ofbiblicalcontemporary

art and music which

will

peitneate

our culture with the

kIt

and light of

the gospel.

change - only GO

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perimeter then we may safely

move

out,

knowing the limitations

of

our

change. We

must evaluate the

lisks,

take proper precautions

to

insure

adherence to God's

word,

and

then

move

out with confident expectation

of

God's blessings. Otherwise,

we

shall remain home-bound in

fear

of

the future.

f

reformation is to continue (Le.,

life) in ourday, then wemuststandon

the shoulders

of the

generations of

reformers that have gone before us

andreachhigher. Ourgenerationisto

Our worldchanges at blindingspeed.

The

next

generation

of

reformers is

not a threat to

us,

but

it

should be a

threat to the world of tomorrow.

Luther said If I declare with

loudest

voice

and

clearest

exposition

every portion of God's tmth except

that one littlebit

which

the world and

thedevilareatthatmomentattacking

I am not

confessing

Christ

no

matter

how boldly Imaybe

professing

Christ.

For the soldier to be steady on the

battlefield besides, is mere flight and

disgrace if he flinches at

tllat

single

If I declare with loudest voice nd

clearest exposition

every

portion

of

God's truth except

th t

one little bit

which the world

nd

the

devil re t

th t

moment attacking, I m

not

confessing Christ

no

meltter how oldly

I

m y

be professing Christ. For the

soldier

to

be

ste dy

on the

b ttlefield

besides, is

mere

flight nd disgrace

if

he flinches

t

th t

single point.

artin

uther

be more than

occupational

troops.

We should

be that,

butwe shouldbe

much more; there are still beaches to

be stormed. Thewar is notover. The

generations that

follow

us will face

new

challenges to their

faith

and

new

battles

to be

fought.

We should lift

themupandsupportthem providing

a

firm

foundation for them

to

build

upon. Our task is notto subdue them

but

to

direct them and

encourage

them. The implications of the

Reformed Faith for the world

of

tomorrow

may

not

be

seen by us.

point. Thereforrnationhasnotended.

It

will

continue until the end

of

the

world. Reforrnationis

about the future,

not just the past and we must look

forward

with theexpectation of

seeing

God work in our day as He has in the

past. We must not simply be

Reformed, but Reforming Christians

in a changing world.a

Randy Boodl is one

o

the pastors

of:

Texarkana Reformed Baptist

Chmch in Texarkana AR.

January,

1992 r

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COUNSEL

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