The Five Solas - Prologue
About a year ago I wrote that among other things CRC is a group of churches that stand on an promote the historic five solas of the reformation. I return now to take a little bit more in depth look at each of the solas and why we believe they are still important and relevant for God’s church today.
The five solas were five principles that the reformers stood on concerning what we believe about salvation and why we believe it. These solas were formed against the backdrop of an oppressive Roman Catholic church and is a response to how it viewed God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. For some these solas are as old, worn out and irrelevant as the horse and buggy’s the reformers used to travel around 16th century Europe. Many might question why in the world would a group of educated, 21st century black men want to hold to and promote a group of human assumptions constructed by a bunch of dead European white guys who did not know, care about or even consider our people and situation. And even apart from that isn’t it absurd to believe that the 21st century black church has anything remotely in common with the 16th century European church? Shouldn’t the fact that most 21st century white evangelicals don’t know or care about the ’sacred five solas’ tell us something?
Maybe, maybe not. But since these are good questions let me pose some answers to them before we tackle the solas themselves.
Why should we promote the solas?
We should do so because even though the 16th century European church was different from us in culture, time, context and ethnicity they were still apart of God’s church. Were the reformers or the church that sprung from their efforts perfect? No. But that doesn’t discount the reality that God used them in a unique way to bring about needed reformation in His church. To discount their efforts just because they were European, served about 500 years ago and struggled against a different enemy is shortsighted and unwise. Furthermore it is racist in that it moves us to dismiss an authentic work of God just because the instruments He chose to use were of different from us in color and ethnicity. How do we feel when some whites dismiss the Civil Rights Movement on the grounds that its leaders were black men who themselves weren’t perfect? How many of us would tell people from other cultures that there is nothing they can learn from the Civil Rights Movement because it was a black led movement that focused on issues relevant to 20th century black people?
We should do so because even though times, cultures and technology changes people do not. The leaders of the 16th century Roman Catholic church were very much like the religious leaders of Jesus’ time. Many (not all) were greedy, hypocritical, self-righteous, unjust and oppressive. Like their first century counterparts they were willing to use God to maintain a stranglehold of power they had no intention of giving up. For both the church was a business to be used to enrich their lives at the expense of people created to worship, know and delight in the living God. And lo and behold the situation hasn’t changed much. As the 16th Roman Catholic leaders modeled the first century Jewish leaders so many 21st century leaders style their ‘ministry’ after the Roman Catholic church. We have people in pulpits living immoral lives and daring anyone to challenge them on it. Others see the church as their personal business and the people of God as their own private ATM machines. Like their religious ancestors these people would shut up the kingdom of God from any who wish to enter it and demand a heavy toll from those who desire to travel the highway of holiness.
Finally, we should promote the five solas because they traffic in the issue of salvation which is something the well fed, healthy, comfortable, prosperous and politically free 21st century American church seems to have forgotten. One wonders if the reason we think these things are out of date and irrelevant is due to our belief that the primary issue and problem for black people is not how to obtain a right relationship with God. As long as we’re convinced that the substance of salvation lies in overcoming racism, becoming free from all forms of pain and living the American dream then the solas and others issues that speak to salvation we be marginalized and viewed as irrelevant nonsense propagated by the dominant culture to keep our eyes off the prize.
CRC is convinced that the most important issue facing any person, people, culture or ethnicity is where we stand before a holy God and the means by which we stand before Him. Consequently we invite you to examine these five principles that speak to the very heart of our common humanity and join the chorus of voices who study, preach, proclaim and live for God’s glory alone.
For Christ, His Church and The Truth
Pastor Lance