Luther and Zwingli, who spoke of the priesthood of believers and advocated new reforms, could not make a full break from the institutional concepts of “the church.” They still spoke of “the church” when discussing the “institutional church” and believed it was the church built by Jesus Christ. They thought of the church as their predecessors, who had only become corrupt. Rather than seeing the corruption as a natural fruit and consequence of the “institutional concept” whose power had reached it full capacity, they believed it just needed reformed. There are those among us today, Catholic and Protestant, who feel the same way. For them, there is nothing wrong with the institutional concept of the church as long as you have devoted spiritual shepherds, conscientious teachers, and practice the same forms of worship in prayers, songs, and the Lord’s Supper or “Mass” if your roots are closely attached to Catholicism.
Once the reformation spirit arose, a flood of “new” teaching was introduced. For example, Luther taught that the Mass represented one sacrifice instead of the medieval thought of a new one each time. He also allowed the congregation to participate in this communion. The congregation could also sing, but only at certain times. Another change occurred when the Mass was performed in the people’s language. Though many positive changes were made in the right direction that catered to the people, the distinction between laity and clergy was still intact. The gap between theory and practice was not bridged, completely. They recognized the biblical teaching of the “priesthood of believers” but could not abdicate a specialized priesthood that they themselves occupied over the people. This is to be expected because their personal work and livelihood required this distinction to be made.
Further, Luther clearly states that his intention was never to end the liturgy completely, but to “purify” it.[1] Reforming the Catholic Church meant that he still retained many of its forms and practices. One significant change in the history of Protestants was Luther’s point of emphasis on the preached word. He made preaching the center of attention instead of the Eucharist, as did Ulrich Zwingli. To this day, the pulpit is a raised platform and takes center stage for many Protestant churches.
Other reformers made changes, also. Calvin, for example, did away with pipe organs and choirs in favor of Acappella. It was not until the nineteenth century that reformed churches began using instrumental music and choirs, with the exception of the English Puritans.
Of course, true reformation takes place as each individual commits their lives to king Jesus. Today, the lives of God’s people are present by living patterns of holiness. This is the correct view of the biblical church (ekklesia) because the church is the people. It is not an institution that was built or established on a certain date. Even though some forms were changed and correct theory preached in the reformation era, no vital change can occur as long as the foundation was built on the institutional church. The division between the church and the people is clearer to see in Catholicism but Protestants have inherited this idea, too.[2] They do not fall far from the tree. When the Reformers wrote about the church being people, they still retained the establishment of order and rule by the clergy. This church was the organization believed to be established by Christ and defended by the fathers. The difference in Protestant treatment of the church is that they moved the people from outside the organization to inside the organization. Therefore, they were allowed to participate more. Today, churches are still in this mold. The pattern, inherited from our fathers, has not been broken.
In conclusion, the change that took place after the apostles was the creation of a governing body which was called “the church,” distinguishing itself from the people. The church took on a new meaning as it had developed into an institution separate from the people as a means of blessing the people through the sacraments and liturgical public services, approving doctrines and controlling the influence of heresies. In exchange for such service and protection, the people would support the church monetarily. The reformers inherited the same church concept, thinking they could keep the shell of the church institution while ridding it of all the corruption. What they did not realize is that what they inherited was not the ekklesia (called out) body of Christ but an institution of human origin.
[1] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, LIII, 20.
[2] Today’s “church” has a corporate identity similar to what we would see in our corporate business world.