I have been reading a book about church history by Ivor Fletcher. Today, I want to address the topic of persecution.
There are two basic concepts that struck me as I read this book. One was the idea that obeying God is hard. I would ask us to question relatively speaking in our modern context, how hard is it to obey God? The other question that was brought to mind was, how will we, in all the churches of God, use markers of identity to distinguish among ourselves. Will the ways we distinguish or compare among ourselves really matter?
When we think about Church of God history, I think our habit is to think in decades. If youâve been in a Church a long time, you can look back over your lifetime. In Matthew 6:18, Christ said that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church. It is a fascinating study to note that the Church of God is more or less visible over millennia. There are times when itâs very difficult to find but there is always a trail of people that live and believe the way we do.
Consider our forbearers. What was their experience during the course of a very broad period? I would like to just focus on about 600 AD to1600 AD. More or less the Dark Ages and Middle Ages, still a broad piece of history.
The Roman Empire fell at about 500 AD and the dark ages continued through about 1000 AD. It was a grim time for a lot of reasons, but it was particularly difficult for those that tried to remain faithful to the teachings of Christ and the apostles. The Catholic Church at that time was a dominant and fiercesome enemy of anybody who strayed from Catholic dogma. Especially those they regarded as Judaizers. Those who would keep the Sabbath and its associated teachings. That persecution continued into the 1600âs. The Protestant reformation which really took hold in the 16th century brought a degree of relief for those who were Sabbath observing Christians. The persecution started to wane, at least the forms of persecution became less violent.
Through this period there were definite communities of people who were driven to the periphery of society and whatever they would record about themselves was often destroyed. What we have for history is usually written by people who hated them or were hunting them. That makes for a skewed and challenging understanding of what was happening. We do know that they sacrificed to keep authentic ways. It meant a great deal to them to be together. They were committed to God, and they were committed to each other.
They were named by others under lots of different labels. Things like Paulicians, Puritans, Waldenses, Vaudois. Lots of different labels usually associated with a leader or minister or perhaps a geography in which they were found. They, themselves, however typically referred to themselves as the Church of God.
They were located all across Europe. Quite a spread, from Spain through southern France into the Italian Alps, along the Rhine and all the way into Armenia and Albania. Their point of origin is important to think about.
The Catholic Church claims to be the universal or mother church and that all Christian denominations have flowed from them. These people are evidence that is not true. They always kept a separate track. They did not take their faith through the Roman Catholic Church. They took it directly or they certainly claimed to take it directly from the 1st century Church and their faith was not corrupted by syncretism and the Babylonian mysticism. These people were not primarily Protestant or Catholic or a reform movement coming out of other existing dominations; they were always separate from them.
Their beliefs are really fun to read about. They never had an official organization. There was no formal clergy or particular creed. A writer from the early 19th century described them as being animated by the same religious and moral principles. They preached about the Kingdom of God. They stressed obedience to the commandments. They baptized adults by immersion. They received the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. They observed the Sabbath. They kept the Passover on the 14th of Nissan, and they kept Unleavened Bread. They rejected the trinity, purgatory, chanting of prayers, and the worship of imagery. They describe God as a family which the faithful would be able to join upon Christâs return.
We have to acknowledge, of course, that their story like all of ours is dynamic and that their doctrine ebbed and flowed. Their zeal ebbed and flowed. They had periods of revival and apostasy. They had periods when they endured persecution or when they compromised. They suffered a lot. Sometimes, God elected to give them miraculous protection. There were some very terrible things that happened to them as well.
It is interesting that some of the worst things that happened to them, happened when they trended away from some of their fundamental beliefs and perhaps God removed His protective hand. Generally, they were faithful, and they endured constant persecution through this period because of the alliance of church and state and the force that that brought to bear. They tried to coerce submission out of these people to their principles, beliefs and interests.
In the 7th century, the Greek Empress Theodora, who was said that she distinguished herself amongst those that pursued these people, when she sent inquisitors to Asia Minor in search of the Paulicians. They killed 100,000 or more of these people. They were fined, imprisoned and executed. Frequently, they were burned at the stake. In the course of these persecutions, many were brought before courts, leaders, magistrates, and even the Pope. Thatâs an interesting byproduct of this persecution.
One group in Oxford, of about 30 people, were branded, whipped, and then driven out of the city and left to die in the cold from exposure. They fled to remote areas which is akin to the story we know told in Revelation about the woman fleeing into the wilderness, pursued by the serpent. Perhaps, a type of what we know will come in the future again. They were rounded up. They were beaten, raped, and sold into slavery. They were sometimes trapped in their hiding places and burned to death in those hiding places. Some of the things that were done to them were just so gruesome that itâs not worth talking about.
Why am I repeating this portion of history? I would suggest that this review of history should be something that is encouraging to us ultimately. It does illuminate the context in which we live and opens up some tough questions that we should ask ourselves about how we are living individually and about how we are treating each other.
The idea that I raised at the beginning is, is Godâs way really that hard. We have it pretty good. Right? We have freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and that is an anomaly in much of human history that we have the flexibility to meet in peace and safety and teach and learn about and speak of Godâs way of life.
Satan hates Godâs truth and he is very actively pursuing all of those who would try to follow it. His tactics are a little different now than perhaps they were then. We donât have this kind of direct persecution against those that keep Godâs way of life. Satanâs tactics now are more along the line of subterfuge, temptation, deceit, disillusionment, distraction. These are very, very effective techniques.
I would rather be dealing with those than what the people in 1000 AD were dealing with. To a degree, I think it has made us a little bit sloppy. A little bit lazy and petty in what we think of as important and what we raise as priorities in our minds.
What others have endured begs the question. What is my breaking point? What inconvenience would move me to compromise with Godâs way of life? Missing out on a social event? Losing a job? Getting egged by protestors? Going to prison? What experience would move you to give up on what God has asked of you? There is nobody pursuing me to hang or burn me. Try to say to the past martyrs of God, it was very difficult for me, I had to miss out on several football games! Or, People treated me differently at work.
At the end of the day, we will all account to God, and we donât know how He judges. Itâs not our place. I would suggest itâs not a matter of academic doctrinal perfection. Itâs not a matter of the general ledger of sins and good deeds, itâs about our hearts. Itâs about what we are doing with what God has given us. God demands all of us, everything we have to give. Others before us have given their all. We should make great care that we donât ask God to ask us twice (Galatians 6:3-5).
The real Church of God is not a club of right people. Itâs whoever God works with and however God chooses to work with them, and it is a gritty, earthy, messy thing. Reading the Church of Godâs history, going back a while, when we didnât have tidy organizations and services, really affirms that.
We need to keep in mind what really does matter. âThough I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothingâ (1 Corinthians 13:1â3).
All humans still have a lot of self-righteousness in whatever church. Whether that be over doctrine or spiritual understanding, or works, fruits that weâve produced. We use all of this to sort of class ourselves. However, Paul said, in 2 Corinthians10:12, âFor we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.â
One minister in France around 1100 AD, Peter of Bruys said, âChurches are vainly built, since the Church consists not in a mass of coherent stones but in the unity of the congregated faithfulâ.
This helps me to feel more confident in what God is doing. To look at the history of the Church. To stand back and see the big picture. We can see the context of today and how the Church is doing and we can look at ourselves and what weâre doing. Where do we fit in that continuum? Many before us have endured greater trials and sacrificed more than we have. We donât know what might be next for us, but we know what we ought to be doing.
God is working out a plan and our job is to keep the faith. To give ourselves entirely to perfect obedience, without excuse and to take care of each other, for knowledge without love profits nothing. Itâs not that hard for us to obey God and many of the distinctions that we use to separate ourselves wonât matter at the end of the day.
Staff