Reformation in 2025

The Destructive Visionary Dreamer vs. The Plodding Principled Pragmatist

We need a reformation. As individuals, families, churches, and a broader society, we need to be reformed—reshaped—by the truth of God.

And reformation, of course, requires reformers.

I’m a pastor, and I’m committed to localism. My focus, therefore, is the reformation of the local church. I want to briefly contrast two approaches to reformation:

• The destructive visionary dreamer

• The plodding principled pragmatist

These two approaches, for better or worse, can be applied to whatever domain God has placed you in as an agent of reformation.

Reformation should always start with the individual. Reform yourself. Grow in godliness and practical competence. That should be your goal and starting place. However, individual reformation must, at some point, spill over into other domains—such as the church and, eventually, broader society.

I’d like to see many pastors raised up to fight this battle from the pulpit. Like it or not, wide-scale reformation tends to start from the top down, not the bottom up. However, this reformation will also require non-ministers—men in the pews—taking action. Brethren like you.

To do this, you must have the right frame of mind. Tactics and strategy matter, but they flow from your mindset, your beliefs. What, then, is the right frame?

The reformer is neither a compromiser nor a revolutionary.

• The compromiser has a can of paint. He whitewashes problems.

• The revolutionary has a can of gasoline. He burns everything to the ground.

• The reformer has a toolbox. He understands that culture is always a fixer-upper.

Reformers are pragmatic but principled. They recognize that both personal and corporate change is incremental—a form of sanctification. Reformers don’t create from nothing; they reform what exists. This is key.

Here are three things necessary if we are to see real-world reformation, not just debates in online forums or meetings like this one:

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1. Accept Imperfection in Churches

Reformation begins with the acknowledgment that, like individuals, there are no perfect churches. All churches require further sanctification. As Chapter 25 of the Westminster Confession of Faith explains:

"This catholic Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. And particular Churches, which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the Gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them."

And:

"The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated, as to become no Churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth, to worship God according to His will."

Some churches are so corrupt they cannot be joined. They are not merely impure; they are in active and willful revolt against the clear teaching of Scripture—churches with women pastors, that preach a false Marxist gospel, condone same-sex attraction, endorse egalitarianism, or permit divorce for nearly any reason. Joining such churches would make you a compromiser, a white-washer.

But you still need a church. And you’ll have to deal with imperfection and make small concessions. All institutions composed of sinners have impurities.

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2. Avoid Being a “Visionary Dreamer”

The visionary dreamer lives in his head, crafting a church that exists only in his imagination. When real churches fail to meet his vision, he despises them. His ambitious, idealistic dream is rooted in fiction, not reality. Therefore, it can never be realized.

C.H. Spurgeon once said, “He who does little dreams much.” That’s true. I’d add that those who dream much accomplish little. Visionary dreamers usually start with a burst of energy, filled with grand speeches about what could be—better morals, closer community, or a renewed focus on some neglected doctrine. They might attract a crowd for a while. But God, in His faithfulness, has a way of grounding dreamers in reality. The ashes of such projects are found everywhere.

I’ve met many embittered, whiny visionary dreamers who despise the church, thinking themselves lone voices in the wilderness. Maybe you’re a Jeremiah or John the Baptist. But probably, you’re just a self-righteous fool lacking discretion and shrewdness. Reformation requires both.

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3. Be a Principled Pragmatist

You can learn much from studying Reformation-era Geneva, particularly its handling of sexuality and family. I recommend Sex, Marriage, and Family Life in John Calvin's Geneva.

Consider this insight from the Consistory records, which document elder meetings Calvin attended. It’s long but worth it (emphasis mine):

What makes the Consistory (something like an elders board) record particularly valuable for our project is that John Calvin sat as a judge on the Consistory. He rarely missed the weekly meetings of the Consistory, and he sometimes dominated its proceedings, particularly in complex cases that required advanced legal training. The Consistory provided Calvin with a laboratory to test and refine many of the theological ideas in his Institutes, commentaries, sermons, and statutes. It was one thing for Calvin to insist that marriages should be publicly celebrated with parental consent. It was quite another to decide whether a secretly married couple with a brand new child should be separated and their child thereby illegitimated and become a public ward. It was one thing to thunder loudly from the pulpit that adulterers of all sorts should be stoned. It was quite another to decide whether an engaged couple caught in heavy foreplay in their own bedroom should be sent to the gallows. It was one thing to declare anathema on inter religious marriages. It was quite another thing to deal with hundreds of desperate new immigrants who poured into Geneva with spouses of carious confessions on their arms. It was one thing for Calvin to say that married couples must live together at all costs, save in cases of adultery or desertion. It was quite another to insist on such reconciliation when a battered wife, already bent and lame from her husband’s repeated savageries, stood before him with newly blackened eyes.

It was on the Consistory bench that Calvin was forced to integrate theory and practice, theology and law, principle and precept, rule and equity. Some of these Consistory cases forced him to rethink and refine his prior theological positions on sex, marriage, and family. Other cases sent him scurrying back to his Bible and his books in search of new edification. Still other cases drew him back to the rules and procedures of the Roman civil law and Roman Catholic canon law. The Consistory experience certainly made some parts of Calvin’s reformation messier, more volatile, more difficult to follow or appreciate at points. But it also made his reformation more realistic, rigorous, and resilient. In the end, Consistory work ensured that Calvin’s new teaching on sex, marriage, and family were both principled and pragmatic, not only formed through new biblical exegesis but also reformed through practical experience.”

Reformation requires integrating theory and practice, theology and law, principles and precepts. As Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Reality humbles us. Reformation requires plodding. Real change takes time.

Be a principled pragmatist. All theology is practical. All practice is theological. Reform what exists, and do so with wisdom, humility, and resolve.