
The Reformers were trapped within geographic Christendom, while their Catholic counterparts were engaged in colonial expansion. Protestant “mission” became missions to Catholics. While Protestants focused on Catholics, Catholic missions flourished.
Pre-Reformation confessions referred to the church as “one holy, apostolic church.” Such is not found in the confessions of the Reformation. Instead, the Reformation confessions reacted to the errors of apostolic succession. By de-emphasizing the “apostolic” nature of the church, the Reformers also diminished the apostolic-sending nature of the church. The church that “reformed” lost touch with the God who sends, and the mission of the church suffered. (Ed Stetzer, Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age, p. 23)
While this quote is a broad over-simplification, for example, the colonial mission of Roman Catholicism was also part o Christendom, it is a thought-provoking critique of the first 200 years of Protestantism.