The reason Martin Luther was of any use 500 years ago, and the reason he is still celebrated today, is because he questioned everything. It was all on the table, and under the scrutiny of Scripture, because Luther understood that Scripture is a judge (He 4:12), and a mirror (Ja 1:19-25), and a cleanser (Ep 5:25-27), and God's Word (2 Ti 3:16). He believed that God had actually spoken to His people, that Scripture is replete with instructions as well as corrections (2 Ti 3:16-17).
Here's the point - Luther didn't pastor doing whatever he damn well pleased. He pastored laying every detail of his life and church life in the crucible of God's refining fire called The Bible. Shepherds are to deliberately and consistently judge all things about themselves and their work against what God is saying in His Word. The reality appears to be that many professing Protestant pastors are leading their churches to ignore God, as they themselves do.
Pastors assume; assume the songs of their congregations are acceptable to God; assume their prayers are acceptable to God; assume the order of service, that is, the components of the church gathering, are worthy of God's blessing; assume their preaching (often taking weeks to teach a handful of verses) is the way God wants it; assume church structure is right and that leaders are actually qualified for their ministries; assume their practice of the sacraments is as it should be; assume their take on the Lord's Day is just fine, possibly because it's not terribly important; etc.
What I am sure of is that we do not live in a day when, generally speaking, Protestant Pastors are given to evaluation, reflection, analysis, thoughtfulness, and reform. We live in a day when pastors often take their work lightly, and carry on as if the Head of the Church has not left full and detailed instructions for His bride. It's quite astonishing really, to speak with so many pastors over the years who have never seriously measured their ways of thinking and their ministry practices against the very Word of God. And since there are three New Covenant letters written especially to church leaders, the dilemma is all the more perplexing. GOD HAS SPOKEN! But are we eager to hear Him, and trust Him, and submit to Him? Luther did, and that has everything to do with why any of us have the gospel today.
Why is there no sweeping pastoral effort to conscientiously connect their congregations to the Church of history, and to the suffering Church of today? The Bible teaches both, but who takes that seriously when their congregation gathers? The New Covenant Church understood their relationship to the Church of the ages, beginning in Eden, and referenced it regularly. They also embraced their duty to relieve the suffering of persecuted saints. I've never met with a church doing either. And what about our children? Why are they treated as pagans within our congregations? That is not the way the Bible saints treated them, nor the way the Reformers understood their relationship to Christ. And why are untrained and theologically unsound lay elders given equal voice with trained and more gifted vocational pastors? That's foolish, and I would argue impossible to justify biblically.
This is your work dear brothers - to know what God says and what God means by what He says and then leading God's people to conform by reforming. If that's not what you're into, repent, or resign, because you're a part of the problem, and in a precarious position to answer for yourself on the last day (Ja 3:1).
Am I being negative? I think I'm being accurate. And what's wrong with being negative if negative describes the reality? God help us. The truth is way too many pastors wearing the label of Protestant don't know enough Bible to get themselves into trouble, their seminary diplomas notwithstanding. Read Luther. Read about Luther. Learn how God's Word is put together. Grasp Law and Gospel, and Covenant. Study the pastoral letters. Pray and think and debate. Sharpen thyself, and help thy sheep, which are first God's fold. Work and suffer and pray again. Make some enemies. Do something requiring courage. Take your skirt off and put on man pants. Stop trying to please everyone. Get secure in Christ. Love God and God's people. And/Or as Paul says to Timothy (and you), "Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you." (1 Ti 4:16, emphasis added). Now that is a recipe for reform.
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