On January 21, 1525, that’s 500 years ago this week, a small group of Christians secretly gathered in Zurich for a worship service. There they renounced their baptism as infants and were baptized voluntarily as adults. It was a decision based on a theology that baptism was the expression of the transformed life in Jesus and thus could not be valid for infants who had no understanding of salvation. This came to be known “ana-baptism” or “to be baptized again”, and thus the movement called the Anabaptist movement began. For many, this decision led to imprisonment, torture, and even death. But they were willing to bear those consequences based on what they understood as biblical truth. What is not usually spoken about is that many more who had made that decision also decided that they would not retaliate against those who persecuted them. They would run and hide, but they would not fight back. This way of peace led the groups in those early days to flee to remote places, forming their own closed in communities of Amish, Hutterite, Mennonite, and Brethren, shutting themselves off from the world, isolated in their practices. Salt that Jesus meant to be scattered into the world became sealed off in little pockets of curious people stuck in traditions of horses and chariots. And time marched on. Meanwhile, God’s Word grew strong among believers as they examined the practice of infant baptism in the light of Scripture. And while “anabaptists” hid from view, revivals began spreading throughout the evangelical church. Many groups agreed with the interpretation of the anabaptists, and called the second baptism “believer’s baptism,” and in this fresh movement, God brought the cessation of persecution as more and more people turned to Christ and were baptized as adults. This time, people learned to live in peace, preferring to adhere to their own traditions rather than fighting against those who practice differently. Thus, we have our Christian world today. Unfortunately, those who had sealed themselves off are still in their places of isolation.
As I think about what happened 500 years ago, I am struck with two thoughts. First, the Word of God, not the traditions of man, must stand above all things. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for teaching the traditions of man and “making void” the Word of God (Mark 7:8-13). If we choose to invalidate God’s Word in one context, it is invariably easier to invalidate His Word in other contexts that we feel strongly about. Paul warns us, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). The fight has moved beyond baptism to gender, euthanasia, abortion, addiction, marital relationships, child rearing, and political violence. Christians live in a world fragmented against its own traditions, and bound by a thousand lies. Jesus said, “Know the truth, and it will set you free” (John 8:32). The second thought is this – that peace is not the same as isolation. Like the early anabaptists, many of us think that running away from declaring the truth will grant us peace. So we don’t speak about Christ with our friends; we keep ourselves out of conversations that deny the Truth; we hide our belief in Christ so that those around us would not feel “uncomfortable”. We are frightened into silence. We are pursued into isolation. Jesus said in Mark 13:11, “When they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.” For many of us, we have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. But the practice of courage in Christ is what we need as a lesson for today from what we saw 500 years ago. Teach the Word. Live by His Word. Examine every tradition against the clarity of His Word. And then live with the courage of the Spirit. He, and only He, will be your refuge and your strength.
Just Church
At Just Church, our message from lesson 500 years old is: Live by God’s Word and by His Spirit! “The vision of Just Church is to establish a church in just the way Christ called the church to be – true to His Word, loving Him, loving one another, and loving the lost.”
