A Quick History Lesson

George Shaw, an Irish playwright, once said, “We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.” Perhaps this could be better stated, “We learn from history that we have learned nothing from history,” for I believe history does indeed have much to teach us. The real question is, “Have we been listening?”

As we look throughout the history of the church, there are countless lessons that have been taught, and I believe these are lessons from which we must learn today. Numerous times, the Christian movement became something it was never meant to be. In the year 313 in Rome, Emperor Constantine declared all of the Roman Empire as Christian. While this may have appeared to be a victory for the kingdom, the overall results were devastating as the church essentially became the government and began functioning as governments do. Money began making decisions, leading to lies and scandals. The church became a business, leading to competition. Around the mid-16th century, we also see King Henry in England separating the Church of England from Catholicism. What may have appeared to be a necessary split began with selfish intentions and caused so much turmoil between believers that is still very much present today, believers fighting believers. The church never recovered. Time after time, we hear of the church making the same mistake, attempting to become something it wasn’t meant to be. Time after time, this led to a change in the very nature of the church, a change in the nature of the kingdom on Earth.

In 2 Corinthians 5:16-19, we are told that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and that we too have been given the ministry of reconciliation. We have been given a great task to draw others into an intimate relationship with God and each other. In reality, as we read the Gospels, this was the ultimate goal of Jesus’ ministry, and it ought to be our goal as well, carrying the message of reconciliation to sinners. In the many times that the church became this national power placing itself in the spotlight, attempting to become more than simply “yeast in dough,” “sheep among wolves,” “wheat among weeds,” it seems that this ministry was lost, and the church subtly changed.

I am greatly troubled today as I look at the Christian movement in our own country. It has been said that America is a Christian nation. We also frequently hear that particular political beliefs are the Christian way; they are the way, the truth, and the life, at least more so than the other. Christianity has begun holding hands and forming relationships with particular movements, and Christians across the nation are focusing more on popular issues of the day and less on the mission that has been laid out before us, the ministry of reconciliation. Just as has happened numerous times in the past, it appears that the kingdom has subtly changed in nature.

You see, the kingdom of God is not an earthly nation with borders, political ideology and issues. We, as the new Israel, have no boundaries, and we are not meant to stand for just one side of society’s ideals. We live borderless, among our enemy. Our role is like that of paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines to infiltrate enemy positions, not the common foot soldier that storms the beaches. We live as a kingdom not of the world but one that opposes the world. If the only thing people can say about modern Christians is that they stand for family values and oppose certain issues, then we have failed in our mission. We live not to make the kingdom of God in our image, but realizing that we are made in his. While the idea of an earthly Christian nation may sound appealing now, let us not forget our history.

With this, we must ask ourselves: what choice are we going to make? Are we going to forget our purpose; are we going to lose focus on our mission and simply focus on a few one-sided issues of the day as has happened countless times before? It has been said, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Will we learn today?

-Matt