Hiding From God In Church – Part 2

The early church, I fear, was not much better than we are. Granted they did not have many of the institutional battles to fight that we have–like what color the bathroom tiles should be–because they did not own any buildings and were not that large anyway.

The early church (circa 45-150 A.D.) was hardly more than a sect of Judaism. Early Christians went to temple and then retreated to a member’s home–often close to the local Synagogue–and shared a common meal, prayed, shared the Word of God. From the beginning, though, they were committed to improving relationships–not maintaining the status quo.

In the first place, as days passed, and Christ did not return in glory, believers were compelled to recognize that an unspecified time, much longer than had originally been supposed, would intervene between the first and the second coming of Christ. At the same time, their world situation was changing radically too. In 45 A.D. they were formally recognized as being separate from Judaism in the Herodian persecution. And, by the time of Emperor Constantine three hundred years later, they were accepted by the state and encouraged corporately to own property and to build magnificent cathedrals. And, most historians argue, that this latter development was a mixed blessing. From that time until now the church has spent an inordinate time maintaining an institution.

Comments are closed.