A distinct characteristic of Christ is His humility and commitment to serve others. We just celebrated Palm Sunday which commemorates the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and all hailed him as king. It was a pivotal moment when He was recognized as the King of Israel and how He chose to be in that moment was not coincidental. He could have rode in on a stallion or in a chariot but He chose a young donkey. Jesus went to great lengths to communicate that He came to humbly serve.
In Matthew 20 he gives the disciples a lesson in leadership:
25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
As Jesus-followers our mandate is one of service. This is the mark of the true disciples of Jesus. It is in this context that I wish to discuss the church and its progression through history. Many people say that the church has lost its place of influence in society I do not believe that that is a complete picture of the church. I believe that the church has been advancing steadily from the day of Pentecost until now. I believe that Jesus has been building and maturing His church indomitably throughout the ages. I believe the church is getting better and better.
My difference of opinion stems from my view of how the church is called to influence culture. I believe like Christ, we are called to serve. Christ did not come to form a political kingdom or institute laws to force all to bow to His way. It is in this context that I assess the church and I believe that a good way to assess the heart of the church is to look at what Christians do when they are the major influence in society. The true heart of Christians comes to the fore when they have political power and social clout at their disposal. At the end of the age, this is where we are heading; to reign and rule with Christ and the issue will be the same as it was in Matthew 20; will we lord it over others or serve them?
To illustrate why I believe that the church is getting better, let’s take a brief walk through the history of the church. The early church was a persecuted minority under Roman rule. In fact, the word Christian (little-Christ) was not a compliment in those days, it was a put down that entitled you to persecution and even death. Many of the early disciples were executed for preaching the gospel. Then, in 313 AD, Constantine became the first Christian Roman Emperor and Christianity became the official religion in 380 AD. The Roman Catholic Church became a force to be reckoned with and the real heart of Christianity was unveiled.
By 1184 AD the church had taken it upon itself to suppress all who did not agree with its way of thinking. The Medieval inquisitions began. Heresy was a crime against the state and heretics were imprisoned and in the worst cases, burned at the stake. It seems that Christians had quickly forgotten what it was like to be persecuted for your beliefs.
At the same time war was being waged against the Muslims to take the Holy Land. The Crusades as these ‘holy wars’ (Jihad?) were called lasted from 1096-1272. The church used military might to extend its influence. Christians killing in the name of Christ; the ultimate oxymoron. Like a toddler on a throne, the church used its unbridled influence to make the world bow to its will by violence.
Fast forward to the 15th century, the “Age of Discovery”, when European nations began to colonize new territories. These white settlers saw it as their responsibility to bring civilization, commercialisation and Christianity (the three Cs) to the savages living in the new world. At this stage the church has matured from imprisoning or killing people for not believing in Christ. Instead, painting themselves as bearers of the light, missionaries rode the tide of colonisation and systematically indoctrinated the newly invaded territories. The heart of the church was characterised by a spirit of superiority that made them duty bound to deliver the natives of Africa and the Americas from their barbaric living. At the same time, the church if not actively, at least passively, supported the slave trade, the systematic eradication of native cultures and the dehumanization of non-European, non-Christian peoples.
In the 16th century there is a huge split in the church that marks the end of a homogenous Christian church. “The Reformation”, initiated in 1517 by the German Catholic monk, Martin Luther, sets off a splintering of the church that has resulted in an estimated 30,000+ Christian denominations in existence today. This is another marker of an immature church – the inability to hold differences of opinion without breaking relationship.
A huge jump forward is made in the late 17th century when the Catholic Church formally condemns the slave trade. Eventually, due in no small part to the work of evangelical, William Wilberforce, slavery is abolished in England in 1833. In 1863 after a bitter civil war, Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation ends slavery in America. However, that is just the beginning of what was a hard fought battle for civil rights and freedoms for the former African slaves. The most notable proponent in this battle is Martin Luther King Jr – a Baptist minister who led non-violent protests in the 20th century to win equality for African American people. It cost him his life in 1968.
Today the church is effectively severed from state affairs and has a much humbler posture. We feed the poor, advocate for the refugee and promote respect for the human dignity of all men. The message of the gospel is preached worldwide (even in places where it is illegal to do so) and converts are completely voluntary. I also see signs that the divisions in the Body of Christ are being bridged. We are bridging our theological divides with a renewed spirit of love and maturity.
We as a corporate body are closer to the Christ-model than ever before in history and those who long for the days when Christianity was forced upon the public are in fact harbouring the vestiges of immaturity that I hope we have permanently left behind. Of course, there is still a way to go. There is a thriving business within the church where Christ is used for self-enrichment and promotion. There are still many who believe that Christian morals should be enshrined in law. And there are many more who try to use fear or social power to shame and condemn people into Christian ideals but that is not the way of Christ. God holds the human will as sacrosanct in that He does not force anyone to follow Him and He is not interested in that kind of kingdom.
The kingdom of God is a voluntary surrender to a worthy King. A King so kind and loving and merciful and pure that all who truly see Him cannot help but bow before Him. Our job is to unveil THAT King! To unveil the Christ who while having the complete power to bend all space and time to His will, allowed Himself to be mocked, beaten and killed so that we could have eternal life! When the Church can possess complete power and yet use not one ounce of that power to bend another’s will by even the slightest margin, but only to love and serve and entreat, then we would have arrived at the fullness of Christ!
Joyfully,
Copyright 2018, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.