95 Theses for Today
Yesterday was the anniversary of the day that Luther nailed his theses on indulgences to the church door in Wittenberg, inviting scholarly debate. I re-read them as a reminder of what his arguments were. Vikinglord, my sister and I also watched the recent Luther film this weekend; Vikinglord's been studying the Reformation for his AP Euro History class and wanted to watch the movie.
It struck me as I watched the movie's scenes where Tetzel is selling indulgences, that much of the church today is selling indulgences - albeit of a different sort - with just as much slickness as Tetzel did 500 years ago: plant a seed of faith and watch it return to you; just have faith and God will reward you with a good life, with success, with happiness; just have a good attitude, be positive and God will bless you.
The church today isn't all that concerned with the afterlife; the church today is concerned with life now. Not many today are worried about the trials and sufferings of purgatory, and trying to buy their way out of it. Today's people are worried about the trials and sufferings of this life, and trying to buy their way out of it.
In Luther's time it was the pope trying to raise money to build a big church. In our time it is televangelists and megachurch popes trying to build up a big church empire.
Both prey on poor souls, turning their eyes away from the good news of the Gospel toward false hopes of salvation, prosperity, happiness, etc.
It was disgusting then. It's disgusting now.
Labels: Church Growth, Church History
