From Rome to Reform, and Back Again? Menno Simons and the Church We’ve Lost

Today in Church History:

On January 30, 1536, Menno Simons, a Dutch Catholic priest, renounced Roman Catholicism after years of wrestling with Scripture. What began as a theological curiosity became a spiritual crisis. The more Menno read the Bible, especially the words of Jesus and the practices of the early church, the more he realized that what he had been calling “church” no longer resembled the New Testament at all. Menno did not leave because he wanted something new. He left because he wanted something ancient.

After aligning with the Anabaptists and receiving believers’ baptism, Menno would spend the rest of his life shepherding persecuted Christians, calling the church back to repentance, obedience, and a lived faith grounded in Christ's teachings.

What woke Menno Simons up

Menno’s breaking point was not first about corruption; it was about authority. As a priest, he had been taught to trust tradition, sacrament, and institution. But Scripture told a different story. Jesus commanded His disciples to make disciples, to teach them to obey everything He commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). The early church devoted itself not to buildings or hierarchy, but to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, prayer, and the breaking of bread (Acts 2:42-47).

Menno realized that:

• Faith could not be inherited

• Baptism followed repentance and belief, not birth

• The church was meant to be a community of regenerate believers

• Jesus, not the state or the institution, was Head of the church (Colossians 1:18)

What troubled him most was that Christianity had become cultural, coercive, and institutionalized, rather than obedient and Spirit-led.

The Radical Reformation and its warning

The Anabaptists were not trying to be extreme. They were trying to be biblical. They rejected infant baptism because Scripture never taught it. They rejected state-controlled religion because Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). They rejected Christianity as a social identity and called people to repentance, discipleship, and holy living (Luke 9:23). For this, they were hunted, imprisoned, drowned, and executed. Yet history carries a sobering lesson. Even movements born out of radical reform can drift. Over time, what began as a call to simple, biblical Christianity can harden into new traditions, new power structures, and new institutions. The Protestant movement, which rightly rejected Rome’s authority, often rebuilt Rome-like systems under different names, with competing denominations and endless divisions. Different labels but the same patterns.

Why the modern church feels so confusing

Many sincere believers feel deeply unsettled today not because they’ve lost faith in Christ, but because what they are experiencing no longer resembles the church they read about in Scripture.

Roman Catholicism does not resemble the New Testament church. Eastern Orthodoxy does not resemble the New Testament church. Sadly, Protestantism is fragmented, institutionalized, and increasingly business-driven, which is far removed from the New Testament church. What many encounter instead is a corporate model of church. People are treated less like family and more like employees. Metrics matter more than maturity, and attendance, giving, and output quietly become measures of faithfulness. This structure often gives rise to control and spiritual abuse. When money, power, and reputation drive the system, shepherding is replaced by management. Many stay not because they are being discipled, but because they are entangled through identity, finances, fear of losing community, or fear of being labeled unfaithful. This is not new. This is how Rome functioned.

While Protestantism rightly rejected Rome’s theology, it often recreated Rome’s structure different name, same system. Authority is centralized, people are dependent, and questioning is discouraged.

The result is confusion and exhaustion. People are told to attend, give, serve, and conform! Do not question the authority!

Scripture, however, has never changed. The church is a body, not a business (1 Corinthians 12). A family, not a franchised employment agency. (Ephesians 2:19). A people on the GREAT commission, not a weekly event (1 Peter 2:9; Acts 2:42-47). When the church drifts from this pattern, people don’t leave because they don’t love Jesus. They leave because they love Jesus so much, just as Menno Simons did. Many are discovering that faithfulness to Christ sometimes requires stepping away from impressive systems to return to simple obedience. It's a costly decision, but one born not of rebellion but of repentance. Paul Washer says, "Every generation needs a reformation back to God's Word." This is the very heart behind Menno Simons: a faithful decision to lose all he knew for the God he loved.

Menno Simons reminds us that reform is not something we did once in the 1500s. It is something the church must continually return to. Scripture calls us to test all things and hold fast to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Jesus Himself warned that traditions can nullify the Word of God if left unchecked (Mark 7:8-13). The apostles urged believers to remain anchored to what they had received from Christ, not to drift with culture or comfort (Acts 20:27-30). Some believers today are rediscovering this not out of bitterness, but out of hunger for authentic, biblical Christianity. They are stepping away from systems that look impressive but feel hollow, and returning to life together in homes, prayer, Scripture, communion, discipleship, and mission. That is not division. It is devotion to Christ, to His Word, and to His people. We must be ready to be slandered, lied about, and persecuted, just as anyone who left Rome went through. But Jesus warned this would be the case. Look to brave saints like Menno Simons and so many like him throughout church history for the strength to keep walking in truth and love. God be for you, who can be against you?