We are studying church history in the adult class I am teaching. It has been an amazing journey to walk through the pages of history regarding the church. I love history even though I am no historian. But there are a few things that have impressed me as we have studied through the years.
 
First, man has done some awful things in the name of religion. Religion has been justification for carnal men to assert their own power and brutalize people. All "religious" men are not necessarily godly and spiritually minded.  When man hungers for power, he will stop at nothing to attain it. And anyone that threatens that power will reap the vengeance of the man who wants it.  Such carnality is so distasteful. It has led to many being turned off of religion. God has become the “whipping boy” for justifying man’s endless grasp for power. If man can make the issue seem to be about God and preserving righteousness, then he can excuse himself for his brutality.
 
Second, the reformation was not about returning to God’s revelation but about reforming something man had created. All the moves toward reformation were about trying to correct the abuses of apostasy. The reforms saw through the selling of indulgences, the immorality of the clergy and the power grab of kings and the papacy. But they did not see the error of their centralization. Central control was always a part of every attempt to reform. But with the centralization came control and power. Thus, repeated corruption. That still has not changed.

 

Third, when man left the word of God as his guide and began to follow the decrees of man-made creeds, his departure took him further and further away from God’s word.  The adjustments were to the creeds, not an attempt to try to reconcile with God’s word. Men were always trying to adjust what men said, not trying to abide by what God said. Again, the reformation was not about returning to God’s truth but correcting abuses and errors man created.  When men measure themselves by what man has created the pattern always changes. But, when men go back to the original standard he will measure himself by what God and His objective truth have revealed.

 

So, here is the question, how could these well-meaning men get things so wrong?  They were smart. They saw the errors. They saw the abuses. How could they be wrong? How can well-meaning people be wrong? What makes others right? It begins and ends with whether or not we are reasoning from God’s word or from man has said...and resaid and resaid, thus taking us further away from what God has said. We must go back to the original standard of measure to cut accurately.

 

Man wants the power and control but every attempt to gain it leads further away from God.  God is God. Man is not God. God’s word is truth. Man’s word is fallible.  God’s word is unchangeable. Man’s word is and does change dependent on his whim.
 
Rickie