Wow, Dave, why did you time jump two thousand years??!!!
Because I can!!
I think by now I’ve made the point that unregenerate humans are capable of despicable wickedness given the opportunity. In the two thousand years since Christ walked upon this earth in physical form, the Church has limped along in the mission it was given. There have been occasional bursts of spiritual enlightenment, but just when you thought the Kingdom of grace and love was about to invade the earth, carnal men would co-opt the faithful and Holy Spirit would have to begin again. When I explain this to people, I often get asked “Why doesn’t God just make people love one another?” My answer is simple; “Because He loves you too much to force you to do His will.” Yes, you have to obey His commands to be His disciple, but it’s still your choice. Yes, He does coerce, lead, and prod people to a place where they have to make a choice, but at that moment of decision, the choice is yours. That is love beyond measure!! Sadly, the church hasn’t always been led by regenerate people. Over the last two thousand years history tells us that many terrible things were done in Jesus’ name, but at the end of the day, it is human beings who are cruel, and wicked.
In my 66 years of life, I’ve heard many arguments against Christianity, and unending lists of crimes committed by so-called Christians. The marginal Christian, or dare I say, false teachers have existed from day one of the faith. Christ came for one purpose, and that was to give life to us while we live upon this vale, and to give us eternal life after we roll up this tent. God has not changed, nor His vision for us living here with grace, and love for one another. Christ’s sacrificial work was for more than a ticket to eternity. He came so that we could be repositories of His Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is the one who teaches us, and leads us into all truth (righteousness). Not long ago, being ‘born again’ was a fad, but very few really were.
Being born again means becoming a new creation that loves as Christ loves, and does as Christ does. Later, when the Charismatic movement happened, it became fashionable to be ‘Spirit filled, and the Church enjoyed a short period of overall acceptance. As with being born again, people quickly came to the knowledge that the indwelling of Holy Spirit is for more than just a feel good feeling.
I believe that the Church’s greatest days are yet to come. I also believe that the founding and creation of the United States was one of the greatest steps toward bringing the kingdom of grace and love to the world. The church has fought spiritual battles with the carnal nature throughout its existence, and it has taken much longer than I know God would have liked. Liberty, and justice are not catchphrases with God! The entire prophetic works of the Old Testament point repeatedly toward God’s hatred of enslavement, and injustice.
Because I am an Evangelical Protestant, I had to learn about the Universal Church (Roman Catholic Church) through reading, and study. That history is arduous, tortured, and at times cruel beyond measure. Generations would move in and out of the true faith, and the evils that were done in the name of Christ were actually the carnal nature at its worst. In the midst of the wickedness, there were always those who were really born again, and whose salvation was without question.
Then, as if some light was turned on, groups of people from every protestant faith began to study and read the scriptures for themselves. As the seventeenth century began, there was an awakening unlike anything before it. The Bible provided the fuel, and Holy Spirit fanned the flames of men’s hearts to experience that liberty which Christ had purchased for them so many hundreds of years before. Whereas in generations past, the gospel was used to build vast fortunes and establish empires, now the gospel was viewed as what it really was; God’s desire to impart individual worth upon all mankind. The creator of the universe, stepped into His creation, and became the created so that we could know how much we meant to him at a personal, and individual level. What is the ‘good news’? You have worth!!!! This UNDERSTANDING would unravel ancient kingdoms, crush age old prejudices, and begin the march to liberty, and justice for all. IT ALL BEGAN IN THE CHURCH. These weren’t secular ideas! From within the seventeenth and eighteenth century awakenings we saw the birth of individual worth. Christians began to cry out against the indignity of enslavement, and the wickedness of murderous empire building. The fires of liberty began in Europe, but erupted into a burning furnace in the colonies. It would take at least three more awakenings before the flames consumed the carnal nature. As the founding fathers began to argue separation from the two great national powers of the day, they discovered spiritual truths that had existed from the time of Moses, and that had found its fulfillment in Christ. We are all created equal, and we can serve one another as equal citizens in this land. To make my point, the prevailing thought in the U.S. is to avoid intervention in the affairs of other nations.
Was our beginning perfect? NO WAY!! It was a beginning! Individual worth became enshrined in our Constitution, and the laws of our nation were created to guarantee individual freedom.’ Freedom to speak openly, and to defend your speech against tyranny was written in words never uttered before. A Declaration of Independence became the foundation for a novel idea called a republic. I believe that our founding fathers set in motion the framework that would guarantee every citizen equal status under the law. I believe they deliberately wrote the Constitution in such a way as to eventually destroy the institution of slavery, and give every citizen of this great nation the privilege of voting for its representatives. I think it probably broke some of their hearts that it took so long, and cost such a high price in human life to see these freedoms at their full bloom. Since the Civil war, our nation has wrestled with the definition of personhood, and citizenship in many personal, and sometimes heartbreaking events. Still, at every juncture, the Constitution has been the document we return to in order to resolve our conflicts. As a nation we are wrestling with the sins of our past, and the carnal nature that is inevitable within a free nation.
I despise the wickedness of slavery, but I can’t undo it. I despise the history of denying women the same rights as men, but I can’t undo it. I despise the cruelty of racial bigotry, and genocide committed upon native Americans, but I can’t undo it. All I know is that at no other time, and in no other country on this earth are so many different people able to be united in continuing this great endeavor called a ‘Republic’! Despite what others may try and say, I know that it is because of Christians, that the idea of individual worth has finally triumphed. Now, the question is, will we allow ourselves to become the tools of our own destruction, or will we embrace grace and love. You see, Christianity is a reflection of the love of God. No other religion is as tolerant, or loving as Christianity. Maybe we will see that revealed if the current trend toward CRT and other progressive ideas gain a foothold. I don’t want to see it happen, but I know that this present vale is not my home, and that should I be persecuted for believing in Christ, I will live forever with Him. No government can take that from me.
For the next few weeks we’ll look at some of the men who helped guide our nation to becoming the republic it is.
