Lessons of History

The following is a list of lessons gleaned from the history of the Church, especially of those groups through the centuries which chose not to conform to the established Church of their day. This list is by no means exhaustive, but represents those things which stood out to me as relevant to us in our day.

1.  Over time, even the revelation of God can settle into a human system, and the former work of God will stand in opposition to the new working of God. In the New Testament (NT) we see this with Israel’s relationship to the Gentile believers. Paul’s greatest opposition came from those with whom God had previously made His covenant. Likewise throughout history and still today, movements which began in vitality, freedom, and the dynamism of the Spirit soon calcify into established traditions which will fight for self-preservation above all else.

2.  Fallen human nature always seeks to centralize authority, build hierarchies, and formalize rituals. Notice how even those groups that form in reaction to hierarchy and formalism soon revert to the very methods they originally denounced, perhaps with only an altered vocabulary. Even Peter and the other believers in Jerusalem easily fell into deferring to the will of James and those who capitalized on his influence.

3.  When leadership develops, it must be a fluid thing. There was no rigid structure of leadership in the NT church, and individual leadership appears to have waxed and waned according to the needs of each moment. For example, the servants (literally “waiters”) of Acts 7 were chosen to meet a specific need which arose in the experience of the church. Even the vocabulary of the “appointing” of elders in Acts 13 suggests a simple recognition of those already functioning in helpful roles. The life of the church has proven over time to be spontaneous and organic. When the organization of men intrudes, it becomes sterile and no longer brings life.

4.  Wherever the Spirit is not “free” to move people, He “moves” somewhere else. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor 3). Conversely, when there is no freedom, you can be sure that the Spirit is only nominally present in that place, and He is not truly active. When a group of people ceases to welcome the dynamic movement of the Spirit, He will raise up another people to take up where they left off (Rom 11). Witness the Lord’s intensity in this regard as you consider how, whenever “free churches” are stamped out in one place, several more pop up somewhere else.

5.  When the Church’s view of Christ diminishes, it reverts to finding solutions to problems on the same level as those problems, rather than lifting its eyes to where they belong. For example, combating heresy with creeds only draws lines in the dirt. Statements of doctrine don’t give life. On the other hand, a living experience of Christ has a stabilizing effect on the teaching of the church. When the church’s view of Christ diminishes, even the scriptures themselves can become a substitute for the centrality of Christ.

6.  When your gospel begins to sound a lot like your own culture, you can be sure that the centrality and magnitude of Christ has been lost. William R. Inge said, “Those who wed themselves to the spirit of the age find themselves widows in the next.” Consider the many different mindsets adopted by the church over the centuries: Pagan magic, Greek philosophy, nationalism, imperialism, scholasticism, the “Enlightenment,” federalism (covenant theology), liberalism, cynicism, and now materialism. In the absence of living revelation concerning Christ, the vacuum is filled with the surrounding culture.

7.  When Christian groups align themselves militarily with political causes, they sign their own death warrants. Groups in history like the Taborites and the Paulicans learned too late that those who live by the sword die by the sword. Jesus said His Kingdom is not of this world. It would be wise to accept what He said and cease expecting the world to someday align itself with our views. Nations will have their wars and individual Christians within them must decide their level of commitment to their own governments, but the church’s battle is in another sphere. Along those lines . . .

8.  State mandate is no way to expand the Church. Because human laws and the things of the Spirit operate in totally different spheres, the uniting of Church and State is the ultimate “unequally yoked” arrangement. It just doesn’t work. Spirit cannot be moved by force.

9.  Those bent on the defamation of other individuals or groups thereby signify the weakness of their own condition. Groups and individuals whose focus is negative and reactionary are parasitic by nature. Until the objects of their antagonism speak or act, they have nothing to say or do. At one point, many Jews were willing to follow Paul from one city to the next in order to preach against him (Iconium to Lystra, Thessalonica to Berea). Such groups cannot sustain vitality based on the condemnation of others.

10.  When a group insists that all members think alike, the result is division and stagnation. You require that the Body of Christ be divided over a fallible human theology. But human theology will always consist of our human thoughts about God, and therefore they remain our own creations. The Body of Christ in healthy expression will exhibit a refreshing diversity of thought on the non-essential issues of life.

11.  Free access to Scriptures is closely associated with the loss of a clergy/laity distinction and with freedom from elaborate ritual. Conversely, free access to the scriptures must somehow be denied in order to protect clericalism and ritualism. Whenever in history the scriptures have been made accessible to the masses, a rigid distinction between clergy and laity dissolves, as well as any strong distinction between the sacred and the everyday. Over the centuries, pontifical and episcopal churches striving for self-preservation had no choice but to ban the translation of the scriptures and kill those who had the capability to provide it.

12.  Itinerant ministry is also closely associated with churches throughout history which have met outside the walls of the organized church. In the absence of local leadership, the more fluid and occasional itinerant minister meets the needs of those groups who refuse to formalize themselves.

13.  The worse the religious system gets, the greater the exodus of Christians led by their instinct to leave. On the other hand, as the system is reformed, fewer seek to go that way. In medieval times (especially between 1200 and 1500, during the days of scholasticism and the inquisition), Christians met outside the organized church in record numbers. Contrast that with today, where the organized church has changed to resemble the “free church,” and the number of those compelled to leave has dwindled to a number smaller than in any time in history. (Question: Is that an improvement? It’s an honest question. I really don’t know the answer. Tell me what you think.)

14.  Never think that you’ve arrived. There is always more to learn.

15.  Don’t believe everything you read in the history books. Often the only surviving historical documents are those written against those under consideration. For example, prior to 1886, all we knew of Priscillian of Spain was that he was a heretic. However, once his writings were unearthed and reconsidered, he was found to represent a theological framework which would have felt quite at home in post-reformation evangelical circles. The victors get to write the history books.

16.  A litmus test of any movement is whether or not it can survive the death of its founder, maintaining both its spiritual vitality and its simplicity. Time and tribulation will tell whether its founder built with gold or with straw.

17.  Tremendous spiritual insight and power can nevertheless be accompanied by greatly unbroken character flaws within even the most spiritually gifted men. For illustrations of this, read into the lives of the early organizers of the Plymouth Brethren (especially the “Exclusive Brethren”) and of the Local Church Movement.

18.  If an entire group of people chooses to truly pursue the Lord together, their journey will entail the cross. Read the history of those groups bold enough to stand outside of the religious system. Whenever their simple testimony grew significant enough to notice, they were wiped out. For this reason, the number of those seeking to meet around the Lord Jesus in simplicity, free from the devices and traditions of men, will always be relatively small.