Today marks 500 years for the radical reformation called Anabaptism. Since reading the book, the Upside-Down Kingdom by Donald Kraybill in Seminary, I’ve had this deep respect and a growing love for the Anabaptist movement. This initial interest is coming to fruition as I ponder the implications and actions of those connected to this movement. Fast forward about 27 years later, I am still thinking about the ideas and theological insights from Kraybill and subsequent texts. Today, Mennonites and others associated with the Anabaptist movement are commemorating the moment recognized to be pivotal to this move of the Spirit. According to Mennonite Action, today is the day to “commemorate the 500th anniversary of a group of radicals who defied the Zürich city council by baptizing each other as adults on the night of January 21, 1525, which in many ways sparked the Radical Reformation and Anabaptist-Mennonite movement.” While baptizing adults is often pointed to as the key instigator of the movement, for me, this is of minor intrigue. What stands out about this in particular is, “By baptizing one another, the radical reformers said no to a church that was tied to the state and yes to a church that was led by the Spirit” (Mennonite Action). What draws me to Anabaptism is an emphasis on disrupting Church-State ties and creating community around Jesus and his teachings. This is certainly not what we see in many Christian circles today where the politics of the State are embedded in the practice of the Church. I am encouraged as I learn from the Anabaptist about what it means to recognize our primary citizenship is found in the kingdom of God rather than in earthly political spheres.
Ronald Sider, in Good News, Good Works (1993), provides a helpful comparison on distinct values of Church movements highlighting the “lopsidedness” that is found within these different expressions of Christianity. One resonating distinction is found with radical Anabaptism:
- Focus is on being the corporate body of believers
- More emphasis on being persons-in-community
- Gospel is Good News of the Kingdom
- Salvation is both personal and social
- Verbal proclamation is a means of evangelism, but so is the “loving fellowship of the church”
- Provides a visible model of redeemed (although not perfect) personal, economic, and social relationships.
I’ll end with this quote from Menno Simons, who said,
“True evangelical faith is of such a nature it cannot lie dormant, but spreads itself out in all kinds of righteousness and fruits of love; it dies to flesh and blood; it destroys all lusts and forbidden desires; it seeks, serves and fears God in its inmost soul (3); it clothes the naked; it feeds the hungry; it comforts the sorrowful; it shelters the destitute; it aids and consoles the sad; it does good to those who do it harm; it serves those that harm it; it prays for those who persecute it; it teaches, admonishes and judges us with the Word of the Lord; it seeks those who are lost; it binds up what is wounded; it heals the sick; it saves what is strong; it becomes all things to all people. The persecution, suffering and anguish that come to it for the sake of the Lord’s truth have become a glorious joy and comfort to it.”
Interested in reading more?
Looking for additional reading on Anabaptism? I recommend these books:
Development and Justice 