The Secular vs the Sacred: Brand on the Influence of Luther

This upcoming Sunday we will continue our study of Exodus and will highlight the important issue of how the gospel break's down the secular/sacred divide. In anticipation of that, I want to pass along the following quote from Dr. Chad Owen Brand who gives us a historic and theological perspective in the context of work in his book Flourishing Faith.

In 1517 an Augustinian monk in Saxony (Germany) sparked off a theological debate that grew into the movement we now call the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s major slogan was ‘justification by faith alone,’ but a corollary of that, and a point Luther made w/ almost as much ferocity as he did justification, was the idea that all Christians have a vocation (vocatio in Latin), that all Christians are divinely called. Whether one is a farmer, a banker, a scholar, a priest, or a merchant, Luther believed that all are callings from God and that the calling to a ‘secular’ vocation is just as holy as a calling to a ‘sacred vocation. Indeed, the distinction between sacred and secular becomes very blurred in Luther’s theology. In effect, this notion of vocation did more to elevate the field of ‘business’ than anyone might have thought possible. R. H. Murray in his book, The Political Consequences of the Reformation, offered this comment: ‘The “Saint’s Rest” was in the world to come: in this [world] he was a labor at his calling. Business henceforth became a sacred office in which it was man’s bounden duty to do his utmost ad majorem Dei gloriam [to the greatness of God’s glory].’ Labor glorifies God, and it is in that sense that every calling is a calling from God. In Catholicism the workplace could not have been seen as sacred (at that time), since only the communion of the saints in heaven is sacred. Luther had brought heaven down to earth.

Connected to this is Luther’s doctrinal conviction that all Christians are priests unto God (1 Peter 2:9). Luther did not diminish the important of the role of ‘pastor,’ but instead leveled the playing field, making that calling but one calling in the life of Christian people. All believers are priests, which means that all believers have the responsibility of serving one another in ministry. This preaching did not have the immediate effect of harnessing a vast lay movement toward ministry, but in the generations that followed a movement in Lutheranism called Pietism would seize on these ideas and witness a lay revival movement that empowered people in ‘secular’ employment to use their gifts and calling to serve the church. Luther’s doctrine of the priesthood of all believers would also spill over into later Baptist and Methodist circles, evangelical denominations that emphasized even more than Lutheranism that all are called into God’s service.

Luther’s reform initiative would eventually swallowed up large parts of Western Europe (including England) after his public stand before the emperor and the papacy at the Diet (Congress) of Worms in 1521. There, Luther, in defiance of the established powers in his part of the world proclaimed, ‘Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.’ The Reformation was on, and it would, over time, completely transform the way Europeans thought about church, theology, politics, and work.” (17-18)

Let us not overlook the culture in which Luther lived. Only the priests could partake in the drinking of the transubstantiated blood of Christ (in the wine). The laity were only allowed to partake in the eating of the bread. This set the two classes, the sacred from the secular, apart giving the impression that in the eyes of God, the priests were holier, better, and more righteous. Luther tore that down in his reform.

Today we do something similar. Many feel that unless they are in vocational ministry (as pastor, youth minister, seminary professor, evangelists, etc.) they are not called to ministry. That does not reflect Luther's reform or his theology of the priesthood of believers. The minister, in reality, is a minister of ministers for we are all called. Serve where God has you to His glory.

A great example of this is William Wilberforce. After his conversion to Christianity, Wilberforce struggled with his public service. Can one be a consistent Christian while working in parliament. The hymn writer John Newton (most famous for the hymn "Amazing Grace") encouraged him to stay in Parliament for the very reasons articulated above by Dr. Brand about the theology of Martin Luther.

Wilberforce continued to serve the Lord as a politician and led the fight for the abolition of the slave trade in England.