I sank deeper into our couch as I read one news headline after another on my phone. Articles about upcoming elections, global conflicts, and natural disasters sent me into an anxious spiral. I wondered how the church could remain faithful to Christ in such a confusing, corrupt, and hopeless age.
My children interrupted my doomscrolling with a stack of books and pleading looks in their eyes. We’d just checked out books from the library about Reformation Day and the reformers.
I put away my phone, and my children curled up on the couch next to me. Cracking open the first picture book, I read about Martin Luther. In a world of political and religious tension, Christ helped him stand up for truth and endure persecution. I read about the young Queen Jeanne of Navarre, who courageously used her reign to spread the gospel despite her family’s opposition. I read about William Tyndale, who gave his life to make the Bible available in English to all people.
The more I read, the more hope and courage replaced my fear and anxiety. I’ve long loved learning about church history and reading biographies of faith heroes. Stories of past faithful Christians can buoy our present faithfulness and strengthen our hope for the future.
Present Encouragement from Past Christians
Our generation may face unique struggles, but believers in every age and culture have had to fight sin, defend the truth, and endure persecution. Even in these tense and tumultuous days, we can hold fast to the security, confidence, and hope we have in Christ by remembering his faithfulness to uphold his people throughout church history.
Church History Demonstrates God’s Sovereign Reign
Watching news anchors expound on global politics and crises, it’s tempting to believe that world leaders ultimately determine the future of our country and even of the church. However, Proverbs 21:1 reminds us, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.”
We see God’s sovereignty over kings demonstrated throughout biblical and church history, especially in how God uses secular leaders to bring forth his blessing and his judgment. God allowed German nobility (even those with self-serving motives) to protect Luther and spread his teachings. God used King Henry VIII’s sinful desire for divorce to separate England from Roman Catholicism, which opened the door for the Reformation to spread. When political leaders—often Christian ones—persecuted Anabaptists, God worked through their martyrdom and preserved their pursuit for religious freedom that influenced many modern churches.
Our generation may face unique struggles, but believers in every age and culture have had to fight sin, defend the truth, and endure persecution.
Even ungodly leaders who did evil couldn’t overthrow God’s providential plan to grow his church. We can take heart when evil powers reign, because God is still enthroned in heaven, enacting his will for our good and his glory.
Church History Reminds Us of Our True Citizenship
The reformers didn’t get everything right. After escaping persecution, Lutherans persecuted the Anabaptists for their stance on religious freedom. When Tyndale’s Bible translation was finally accepted, only merchants and aristocrats were allowed to read it. Reformers often used their newfound power to enact violence against Roman Catholics.
We can learn from both the faithfulness and the mistakes of past Christians. What if Lutherans had appreciated the Anabaptists’ emphasis on discipleship? What if Anabaptists had learned from Lutherans’ boldness in the secular world? How much more would they have been characterized by Christ’s love if they’d worked together?
Paul appealed to the Corinthian church to prioritize their identity in Christ over their adherence to a certain leader so that there would “be no divisions among [them]” and they’d “be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10).
We can find strength in our current culture by joining with believers who are united with us in Christ, even while they disagree with or differ from us.
Church History Instills Hope for Future Generations
Parents often echo the fear, “What kind of world will our children live in?” Christian parents can see the culture’s current trajectory and fret that future generations will experience hardship and persecution they won’t be able to endure.
While recent research shows church attendance and religious affiliation is decreasing in America, a broader view of church history encourages believers that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against” Christ’s church (Matt. 16:18). Our current age and culture may bring unique difficulties that past generations didn’t face. But Christ has always worked in his people to help them endure persecution, remain holy, and rectify heresies.
God raised up Luther to correct the false teaching of indulgences. God called John Calvin to remind his people about his sovereignty amid mighty world leaders. God empowered the Anabaptists to demonstrate the importance of personal commitment to Christ. The same God who sustained these reformers as they fought against the culture’s grain will uphold his people today until he brings us home to glory.
Our Western world may be more hostile toward Christianity in the future, but we don’t have to fear because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).
Look to Christ in All of History
The Reformation was a turning point not only in the church’s history but also in the world’s. Five hundred years from now, believers may look back at the past few decades as a similar turning point for the Western world and the church. But in doing so, they’ll see God’s hand protecting and purifying his people as he reigned sovereignly over leaders and culture.
The same God who sustained the reformers as they fought against the culture’s grain will uphold his people today until he brings us home to glory.
By looking back on our rich church history, we can have confidence, security, and hope today and in the future. “We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (12:1)—from every generation and culture—reminding us of God’s sovereignty, our eternal citizenship, and our unshakable future.
When fear and anxiety tempt us to forget our Christian identity, God’s power, and the hope of heaven, let’s turn off the news and open the pages of church history. Then we can “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (vv. 1–2).