“CHURCH” – COLD, CRUEL AND WITHOUT COMPASSION – SO UN-CHRIST LIKE 

What did God intend when He initiated the Church? God wanted His Church to be a body of believers, who are His disciples, living for Him, a life of salt and light, in this ever darkening world, while ceaselessly proclaiming His good news, through their words and deeds – I Peter 2:9-10; 2 Corinthians 5;17-21; Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20.

When we look at Church history, from Constantine’s conversion till about last century, we see a Church, which was far from what it was originally envisioned by the LORD Jesus Christ. From Germany, on the eastern end, to the “White” North America, as the western end, people were mercilessly executed by the church, because the “church” was convinced that, what they were doing was the right thing, and therefore sentenced people to their death, despite the command explicitly demanding otherwise – “Thou shalt not kill” – Exodus 20:13. These are “Bible believing christians” holding power over people, much like a despot does over his hapless subjects.

What a contrast to the Christ, whom we claim is our Redeemer, Master, LORD and God. Yet, we are so different from the LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth. What a pity to see such cold-blooded murders happening all within a “legal” framework, in the name of God of the Bible. Much like how the religious crowds of Jesus’ times believed and behaved…thinking and believing, they are following the righteous path laid out by God, except God was not party to their crimes, rather the opponent and the One who patiently bore the brunt of their religious cruelty.
– On 01 June 1660 precisely 365 years, to date, Mary Dyer, Quaker, is hanged in Boston for preaching Quaker doctrine.
– A year later on 01 June 1661 366 years to date, James Guthrie, a Covenanter, is hanged in Edinburgh. On the scaffold he says, “I do believe that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief,” and urged his listeners to seek Christ’s free grace.

These killings, nay cold blooded murders, are a recurring theme in the church history. They are not some one off incident, that can be ignored by considering it as an aberration. In fact, Church lost its priorities, and thereby its purity, immediately after Rome took over, the power and the governance of the Church.
– “Dissension arose among the people [Christians of Rome]; their disagreement being not about any article of faith or heresy, but simply as to who should be bishop. Hence frequent conflicts arose, insomuch that many lives were sacrificed in this contention.” – Socrates Scholasticus, c. AD 440 (The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus, Bk. IV, ch. 29)
– “…situation changed drastically with the advent of Constantine and the peace of the church. Now one could be both a good Roman and a good Christian. Following the lead of the emperor, the Romanized classes flocked to the church. Others from the same social strata who had been converted earlier saw this as a positive development, for their earlier decision was now corroborated by that of other important people. But Christians from the lower classes tended to see the new developments as a process of corruption of the church. What these Christians had always hated in the Roman empire was now becoming part of the church. Soon the powerful—those who controlled politics and the economy—would also control the church.” – Justo Gonzalez (The Story of Christianity. Vol. 1. Ch. 16)
– “[Author is referring to Constantine’s reign after the Great Persecution ended.] Delivered from physical danger at the hands of the State, the Church was soon torn by theological dissension within; the almost inevitable outcome of its changed character. Having assimilated Hellenic philosophy and ethics and social forms, the Church also assumed a new frame of mind that shifted the emphasis from conduct to belief. The total contrast can be seen by comparing the Sermon on the Mount, which came at the beginning, and the Nicene Creed, which finalized the initial stage of the theological process of elaboration. The former is a sermon on ethics; the latter is a dogmatic, metaphysical credo, unrelated to conduct, in which contentious ideas and surmises with no provenance in Jesus’ teaching became improbable dogmas.” – Tom Lee, [The Conversion of Constantine, Part 17.2]

The same is seen to be continuing even in 1600s, as we see the historical records. To be honest, it is still continuing, in some form or the other, even today, in the western Church. Dogmas of the church, and not their faith in the redeeming sacrifice of the LORD Jesus Christ, that determines, whether one is a member of the church or not. If someone crosses the line of the dogma of the church, and dares to hold a differing position, then it initiates a process of rectification. When someone wants to hold on to their position, in spite of the efforts from the established church, then, that person will be excommunicated from the church. Thankfully, the present day church is not killing people, which it did for a long long time, from Constantine to up untill the very recent past.

The underlying principle is what I think, governs and guides such an um-Christ like conduct, is well illustrated by the following true incident.
– “I know a Christian lawyer from New York who steals money from others legally. I challenged him on it once, and he said that he is not doing anything illegal, which was technically true. He had the law of the United States on his side, and he had figured out a way to legally swindle people. Nothing he was doing was breaking any of our nation’s laws. But there is a big difference between not breaking the laws of our nation, and treating people with love, respect, and dignity. God’s laws are higher than man’s laws, and even though a person may be following man’s laws perfectly, this does not mean they are following God’s laws. So be careful when you justify your actions because you are not breaking any laws.” – Jeremy Myers

Church in India, thankfully does not excommunicate anyone, let alone kill anyone for differing from the established church. The church leadership leaves it to the individual and the LORD. Someone would try to talk and counsel the concerned person, but it would not go any further than that. The Church in India has its own share of problems and struggles for sure – some very very serious. However, it never killed people, officially or otherwise, in regards to someone who chose to take a different stand from the church. I am personally grateful to God for such a blessing bestowed upon us, here; but in tears, over many things, that are terribly bad and wrong.

In the following verses, we see Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem, which is the heart cry of God, and a reflection of the state of spiritual affairs of the people of God, as a result of INTENTIONAL CHOICES made, down through the ages, even today.
– “37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” – Matthew 23:37

May the LORD be gracious towards us, and help us to open our eyes, which are closed with pride, arrogance and blind religion, which is so very un-Christ like, and anti-Christ like. When we behave in such a manner, we become the agents of evil forces, rather than, the ambassadors of Christ, to which we are called. Even so, the LORD help us.