Praise and Worship and Today's Church

[1] In order to indict “narrow minded” and “intolerant” Christians it is common to point to eras in Church history where the Church persecuted individuals or chased after bizarre pursuits such as the Crusades. This is especially evident in the Church of the Middle Ages. However, as we will discover later in this book, that entire religious system was more pagan than Christian. And the paganizing of that church was a direct result of the conscious and formulated attempt to relate to the surrounding Roman culture! The supposed injustices regarding the Indian wars that occurred during the westward expansion of the United States is often cited as an indictment against Christianity. However, a journalist named John Louis O’Sullivan rather than the Church penned the phrase “Manifest Destiny,” which became the rationale for America’s Westward growth. And there has been no evidence offered that the Church sought to mistreat American Indians.  

The truth is that biblical Christians have consistently brought virtue into society. For example in Europe the influence of the Reformation was instrumental in breaking down the oppressive feudal system that kept so many serfs in the bondage of poverty. In America the First Great Awakening was founded upon a return to biblical teachings and was very consequential with regard to bringing America into an awareness of the inalienable rights of people. The Second Great Awakening that arose in the years before the Civil War also turned the church’s heart back to the Word of God. Consequently, it was the Evangelical Church in the Northern states that first opened the discussion on the evils of slavery. Lincoln was a northern Evangelical and quoted the Bible throughout his entire adult life in order to malign that despicable institution. In contrast it was the backslidden Church in the Southern States that improperly quoted Scriptures such as “Servants, obey in all things your masters” (Col 22a) to rationalize the propagation of the institution of slavery in the name of relating to their culture.  

And so, as we see in the Medieval Church and the Southern Church before the Civil War, it is when Christians attempt to relate to society that they get into mischief. Biblical Christians generally stand out not only as the ones who benefit society, but also the ones who have been the object of the most intense persecution in world history. In our New Age of tolerance, the persecution of Christians is generally left out. You can look high and low in our society today without finding a memorial to the many Christians throughout the centuries who have died for their faith. Yet in spite of the fact that the media is silent with regard to the persecution of Christians, when you look at Western History you will find that there is no faith that has come under more persecution than the Christian faith.  

In ancient Rome you found widespread persecution of Christians. And like today, tolerance in the Roman Empire had to do with tolerance towards any faith other than Christianity. Therefore biblical Christians today should be very wary of doctrines of so-called tolerance promoted in America that prescribe tolerance towards every belief system other than their own. 

Hitler's rationalization for persecution in Nazi Germany was firmly based on humanistic Social Darwinism as the concept of survival of the fittest was applied to society. From this you wound up with the "superior Arian race" who felt that they had the right to exterminate those they felt were inferior. And Hitler feared the Jews and the faithful few in the Church who were critical of him. It is true that the vast majority of the Church in Germany, in their efforts to conform to society, failed to speak out against the sin that surrounded them. Nonetheless there were countless dissenting Christians, such as Corrie Ten Boom, who were sent to concentration camps. And there was the Lutheran Detrich Bonhaufer who left America during the war to return to Germany to speak out against Hitler’s atrocities. Two months before the end of WWII he was executed as a martyr at the age of 39. 

The Inquisition of the Middle Ages was all about torturing and killing Christian dissenters. Many died for their faith. Then you have the Armenian genocide, which was one of the most gruesome persecutions of Christians in history. The Muslims during the expansion of the Ottoman Empire persecuted countless Christians. Even in our contemporary society you see that Christians throughout the world are suffering under tremendous persecution. In Northern Africa they are being sold into slavery. In China they are likewise feeling the sting of atheistic hatred. In America's schools and in the workplace Christians are being persecuted for their faith. And so we see that those Christians who have remained intolerant to non-truth are the very ones who have fallen under the sword of oppression.