Why We Need Reformation
In Chapter 2 we saw something about reformation – that of bringing us back to our foundation in our Christian faith. But the question might be asked: Why do we need reformation?
In this chapter I would like to answer this question by asking other questions.
The first set of questions is dealing with our personal lives, starting with: Is our life in tune with what we profess to believe? Let’s take our faith in what we profess to believe. George Barna made waves by citing statistics showing that only 9% of all born again adults and just 7% of Protestants possess a biblical worldview.
What is a Biblical worldview? It includes a belief in absolute moral truth as defined by Scripture, as well as the acceptance of six core biblical beliefs:
*The accuracy of biblical teaching
*The sinless nature of Jesus
*The literal existence of Satan
*The omnipotence and omniscience of God
*Salvation by grace alone
*The personal responsibility to evangelize
Only 9% of all born-again adults and 7% of Protestants believe these six core beliefs, according to researcher Frank Barna.
“The low percentage of Christians who have a biblical worldview is a direct reflection of the fact that half of our primary religious teachers and leaders do not have a biblical worldview.” (Barna quote)
In most of our homes in the West you will find a Bible or two and many will know some of its content, but very few know how to integrate its teaching into a coherent life style and being able to respond to the challenges and opportunities that come our way. Like Frank Barna said: “We’re often more concerned with survival amidst chaos than with experiencing truth and significance.” However, those that do operate from a Biblical worldview will have widely different views on morality and the choices they make daily.
Reformation will bring a Biblical worldview back into our daily lives.
The second set of questions that we need to ask ourselves is: Are our ministries in tune with the Word of God? Before we answer this question let me ask some other questions about “ministry:”
- Our ministry – is it competition or completion? Do we find ourselves “competing” with other ministries rather than trying to see how we can “complete” them?
- Our ministry – is it “focused” or “fragmented?” We know that the opposite of focus is fragmentation. Do we see our purpose in the light of God’s Word and are we focused on that?
- Our ministry – is it a “relinquishing” or a “resisting” ministry? So often we (the professionals) hang onto the work and do not know how to relinquish to those that have been prepared for the task. We see this with Jesus when He ascended back to heaven and gave the task to His 12 disciples.
- Our ministry – is it “reconciliation” or “alienation?” In 2 Corinthians 5:18 we see that we have been given the message of reconciliation, but when we see the disunity in the church we wonder what happened to the message of reconciliation.
- Our ministry – is it the “letter of the law” or the “Spirit of life?” Is it rules and regulations or is it laying down Biblical principles to govern ourselves by?
- Our ministry – is it a “movement of God” or is it a “monument of man?” Many movements and even denominations that start out as a movement of God become more of a monument of man after one or two generations
These are questions that I ask myself when I read the Word of God and then look at the ministries that are taking place today. Reformation will bring us back to a Biblical ministry. You can go to www.menwithfaith.com and on the “teaching” page read more on this in my book: MINISTRY OF THE 21ST CENTURY where these questions are asked and answered.
We will take up the third question regarding our culture in our next chapter.