Reformation Errors

Calvin got missions dead wrong. Is there still a lingering influence?

This past weekend was Pentecost Sunday and The Day of Prayer for the Unreached. In preparation for this day in which we remember the beginning of the missionary age (which we often inaccurately label “the church age,” in my view), I have been reading Pentecost and Missions by Harry R. Boer. The overall arc of the book is a conversation about the early church’s attitude toward Jesus’ command to disciple the nations.

Boer recounts Calvin’s view of missionary work in contrast to how we see it today. I tend to more or less a Reformed Baptist and thus have warm and cheery thoughts about Calvin. But Boer reminded me that the Protestant Reformation was not a missionary reformation in large part because of Calvin.

Calvin’s view of Jesus’ command to disciple the nations was in error (I know, saying that “Calvin was in error” is risky business - but I take that risk). It would be centuries later that a Particular Baptist named William Carey would ignite the revolution in missions that came from Protestantism.

Boer cites Calvin:

…for the Lord created the apostles, that they might spread the gospel throughout the whole world, and he did not assign to each of them certain limits or parishes, but would have them, wherever they went, to discharge the office of ambassadors among all nations and languages. In this respect there is a difference between them and pastors, who are, in a manner, tied to their particular churches. For the pastor has not a commission to preach the gospel over the whole world, but to take care of the Church that has been committed to his charge.

- John Calvin's Commentary on Corinthians - Volume 1, commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:28

Now, before you think Calvin was an anomaly, Luther made a similar statement:

That the apostles entered strange houses and preached was because they had a command and were for this purpose appointed, called and sent, namely that they should preach everywhere, as Christ had said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” After that, however, no one again received such a general apostolic command, but every bishop or pastor has his own particular parish.

- D. Martin Luther’s Werke, kritische Gesammtausgabe, Weimar, 1897, Vol. 31, pp 210-211.

(Both of these citations come from page 19 of Boer’s book)

Zwingli, Melanchthon, Bugenhagen, and other early reformers all carried this same view. The apostles were given the missionary work. When they died, the Great Commission (a term which developed later) ceased. Calvin is inferring that the apostles completed the Great Commission in their day. There are a couple of Pauline verses that talk about having preached in “all of ____” and so forth which some have cited as evidence of this. Pastors are to care for the flock in front of them. They should not involve themselves further afield. It is also true that the primary Great Commission verses (Matt 28:18-20, Mar 16:15, Luke 24:44-49, John 20:21 and Acts 1:8) are all spoken to the apostles, not the broader church.

Yet, there are multiple problems with this view. Among them are:

• The behavior of the early church, at least for 300 years, which was highly focused on evangelism, discipleship, and church planting.

• The inclusion of biblical characters, like Timothy, who were not themselves apostles but took part in the early mission.

• The most specific command to missionary work is Matthew 28:19-20 which itself says that all of Jesus’ commands are for all believers (including this one). Think about it: would we ever argue that only the apostles should perform baptism? That is also embedded in this same command.

• Jesus’ prayer in John 17 seems pretty clear: John 17:20-21 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

• The fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant means that Christ should be preached to everybody.

I could go on. There are other arguments and passages which contribute to today’s view of mission. I think we can give the Reformers a bit of a break as they were fighting a different fight in their day, mostly against the Catholic Church and the state. But, on the issue of discipling the nations, the early Reformers got it dead wrong.

In addition, a pastor-centric view of ministry permeates a lot of Reformation era writing. There is very little room for missionaries in any early Reformation writing that I could find (if you know of a good source on this, please share it). I think it is fair to conclude that in the first few centuries following the Reformation, almost all held the position that the Great Commission was an apostolic commission. The pastor was responsible for the church. Expansion cross-culturally was not a significant part of their worldview and it did not happen to any significant degree.

This has got me thinking about today’s missions environment. We no longer hold to Calvin’s view that the Great Commission ended with the death of the apostles. Presbyterians (the torch bearers of Reformed theology), as a whole, have been pretty fantastic at missions. It is true that they got a very late start (Bob Blincoe writes about this in this article) but there are many stellar Presbyterian missions efforts. I do not think one can make the case that the early Reformation writing on this topic has suppressed Presbyterian missions in the modern era. I also noted earlier that Carey was a Particular Baptist. There were among the most Calvinistic of Baptists.

What about the pastor-centric influence of the Reformers? Is this influence still at work today? My observation is that how Reformed minded missionaries work tends toward what I would call a “pastoral model.” I am referring to a view of missions which emphasizes heavy doses of preaching and teaching. The missionary role is aligned with the same authoritarian role that a pastor might hold in a local church. The missionary operates like a pastor, preaching and teaching, baptizing and is essentially at the center of ministry activity.

Those that use less structured forms of church (like those who are practicing any form of church planting movement methodology) are the contrast. The more Reformed groups do not see this as simply a different way of working but often consider them to be in abject error.

Is this a hangover from the Reformation? I think it might be.

For me personally, I go with Paul on this question of forms of missions. I am rejoicing because Christ is proclaimed regardless (Philippians 1:18).