• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Christianity and Culture Christian on Christian crime

Christian on Christian crime

Posted on October 8, 2017 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment


Crime
Copyright: 72soul / 123RF Stock Photo

In his multi-volume work on church history, Philip Schaff wrote this:

Besides being assailed from without by the followers of false religions, the church suffers also from intestine wars and violence. Witness the religious wars in France, Holland, and England, the Thirty Years’ War in Germany, all of which grew out of the Protestant Reformation and the Papal Reaction; the crusade against the Albigenses and Waldenses, the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, the massacre of the Huguenots, the dragonnades of Louis XIV., the crushing out of the Reformation in Bohemia, Belgium, and Southern Europe; but also, on the Protestant side, the persecution of Anabaptists, the burning of Servetus in Geneva, the penal laws of the reign of Elizabeth against Catholic and Puritan Dissenters, the hanging of witches and Quakers in New England. More Christian blood has been shed by Christians than by heathens and Mohammedans. (emphasis added)

The last line really hit me. “More Christian blood has been shed by Christians . . .” is a terrible legacy and something that we need to face honestly.

Granted, this was written in the late 1800’s, before the totalitarian states in Europe, Asia and the Middle East have attempted eradication of Christian belief. So perhaps the last statement in the quote above is no longer technically true.

But this highlights one of the secrets of the church that we should be open and honest about. That secret is that membership in the church does not immediately fix all of our problems.

Let’s set aside the issue that not everyone who claims to be a Christian is actually in relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Jesus himself told us that many who claim relationship with him will be turned away in the end (Matthew 7:21-23). We might offer the excuse that much of the Christian on Christian crime was perpetrated by those who were not true believers.

But, to face this issue in a serious manner requires that we look at our own behavior and acknowledge our own failures, even if those failures to not actually end in the death of another believer.

Our failures include so called “discernment ministries” that destroy the reputations of pastors and leaders without any attempt at reconciliation and restoration. Our failures include turning non-essential Christian doctrines into spiritual litmus tests for orthodoxy and pronouncing anathema upon those who disagree. Our failures include any and every attempt to appear more holy than we really are. Our failures include a long list of ways that we do not live up to what we claim to believe.

We may not have literally shed the blood of other Christians, but as Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount, it is the intent, not the result that makes us guilty. Stopping short of murder does not relieve us of the sin of inappropriate anger (see Matthew 5:21-26).

A proper reading of Scripture reveals that we (collectively and individually) have much to repent for. It turns out that we are not better than the culture around us. Our mess stinks just as much as everyone else’s.

But this highlights the beauty of the Gospel. We are accepted because of the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ, not on the basis of our own obedience.

We are failures, but God loves failures.

So rather than revel in (and gossip about) the failures of others, it seems that we should be honest about our own. We might then have an opportunity to point to Jesus as the one who accepts us as we are.


Filed Under: Christianity and Culture

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

No Other Gods . . .

The drive to worship is deep in the heart of humanity. For evidence of this we need to look no further than any stadium in which an NFL game is being played. The energy behind the worship of the professional football team in the city near which I live is impressive. On game day during […]

Chick-fil-A

How Chick-fil-A baffled the PR pundits

A recent USAToday article expressed surprise about the lack of impact the boycott of Chick-fil-A produced. I offer some thoughts on why the boycott failed.

Stripping away the illusion

There is something in men and women that desires control over our circumstances. We don’t want to be manipulated, we want freedom to forge our own destiny. Christians understand that this desire can be traced all the way back to the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve made a conscious choice to rebel. In […]

Touching the leper

Touching the leper

We need to emulate both Jesus and the leper in this story. We emulate the leper by coming to Jesus as the only means of curing our spiritual disease. We emulate Jesus by being the conduit for Jesus to show his love to others who are in desperate need of it.

Building

5 Tests to assess disciple making in the Church

The church is called to make disciples. How can we assess how well we are doing in this endeavor? Here are 5 tests to aid in assessment. Read on and provide comment as to what else can be done to assess discipleship.

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
February 2023
SMTWTFS
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728 
« Jan    

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2023 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in