N asks, might we will see a movement in Europe that could transform it like the Reformation did? Is it possible that a movement of Europeans, returning to and rediscovering the Scriptures for themselves, would lead to a dramatic transformation?
I am not an expert on the Reformation period, but N & I both know the transformation thus engendered took centuries, not years or decades. The quicker part of the “transfer” was kingdoms changing religious affiliation, not personal piety. The slower part was Scripture in the heart language. In the initial stages of the Reformation, literacy was quite low, so “people reading Scriptures for themselves” took quite a long time. Might it happen faster today? Is the Reformation the right model to compare it to?
N, and many others, would love to see a widespread movement impact Europe like movements have impacted other places. I am certainly not one to say the Spirit’s wind can’t saturate Europe. That said, one caveat I have: movements have mostly been in places where relational networks are dense, where spiritual need is felt and the miraculous is asked for, and where people are moving from another religion toward Christianity, especially in the context of deep physical or spiritual need.
Europe is a different context. The relational networks in urban environments are not as dense. Many would characterize themselves as suspicious of any suggestion of the miraculous. And most to the point, Europeans for the most part consider themselves to already be Christians, or post-Christian. In other words, they have (culturally or otherwise) decided for Christianity, or decided to move beyond Christianity. The Reformation reformed Christianity, it didn’t Christianize people who actively thought of themselves as “post-Christian.”
Getting people to “return to Scripture” is a different from “investigating it for the first time, in the midst of spiritual need.” The pre-Reformation context, the modern European context, and the context in which most movements works are very different from one another. So, while always leaving room for the Spirit to do what the Spirit will, I suspect an “independent movement” (a la a house church movement, etc) that sweeps all of Europe is perhaps less likely.
But… I think there is an alternative. What if, instead of a widespread movement of individuals, there was a widespread movement of churches becoming more intentional disciple-makers? This would seem to fly in the face of much of what’s thought about movements today, admittedly: but perhaps, for Europe, the more likely thing is a movement-ish thing that reforms churches, denominations, and traditions into actively-practicing, actively-disciple-making entities. I have another colleague whose church in Europe is actively leading Alpha courses that are bringing new people to Jesus every week, and discipling new believers. A large number of them, admittedly, are immigrants. That said, there are denominational churches in many places that have transformed into movement-ish disciple-making entities, and I’ve occasionally linked these in the Roundup. It’s not impossible.
The problem for Europe isn’t that Christianity isn’t widespread, churches aren’t available, or the Gospel is restricted. The problem is that many churches aren’t actively making disciples. Perhaps a movement that transforms existing churches into disciple-making churches is the “European flavor.” It’s not entirely new, but if it happened broadly, it would certainly be remarkable.