It’s 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door
in Wittenberg and kickstarted the Protestant Reformation. Michael Reeves
explains why it matters.
Five hundred years ago, a discovery was made that would change the world,
unleashing happiness wherever it went. Today it is still transforming lives and
cultures.
The secret was this: failing, broken people “are attractive because they
are loved,” said Martin Luther, “they are not loved because they are
attractive.”
That could not be more counter-cultural. It is deep in our blood today
that the more attractive we make ourselves then the more loved and happy we will
be. The Reformation was a story of one man discovering to his delight that with
God, it is the other way round. God does not love people because they have
sorted themselves out: he loves failures, and that love makes them flourish.
