Did Jesus Intend This?

I just finished teaching a class called "Exploring the Church." A good portion of the class, we looked at church history. In case you've never studied it, the church has a pretty mixed history. Certainly, there have been some very good things. Teachings about Jesus' spread very quickly all throughout the world as a result of the dedicated people of the church. The church cared for people others wouldn't during the big epidemics in the Roman Empire. The church worked to solidify doctrine, defend the faith and lay the foundation for Christians all throughout the ages.

But there is much in church history that makes me ask the question, "What does this have to do with Jesus?" The more I study Jesus, the more things in church history look to be directly contradictory to Jesus' teachings.

Even maybe the most influential (and controversial) event in church history gives us pause. Constantine, who had designs on ruling the entire empire had a dream (or vision) the night before a very important and decisive battle. In the dream he saw Christ, who told him "In this sign, conquer." He had each of his men mark their shield with the sign of Christ. As you may expect, he won the battle despite the fact that he was outnumbered two to one. While Constantine had been a pagan up to that point, he "converted" to Christianity.

While the church had been persecuted up to that point, Constantine eventually granted favor to Christians and we all know Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. While I'm sure if we were Christians at that time, we would definitely have celebrated the fact that we were no longer persecuted, but looking at what happens in the following years, I have to wonder if that was what Jesus really intended?

Did He intend for the church to grow through force? Did he intend for Christians to take back the "holy land" by the sword in the Crusades? Did he intend for Christianity to become the law? Did he intend the Inquisition and the riches and power of the Pope? I look at much of church history and compare it to what I read in the Gospels and wonder where Jesus is. Whatever happened to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you?" Whatever happened to "you know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them...but not so with you...whoever wants to be the greatest must become the least?"

I think we would do well as a church to look at our history and then renew our focus on Jesus. I think if we did, some of the things we focus on today would go by the wayside. If we did, would we rely on politics to forward our "agenda?" If we really returned to living out Jesus' teachings, would western Christians be known mostly for what they're against? If we did, would we spend more or less time in the church building?

Personally, I've begun to ask myself these questions over the last couple of years. Just like the church, I see glimpses of Jesus' teachings in my own life, but I think Jesus would like to see more than just glimpses. I suspect that if we were all to ask these questions and look to Scripture for our answer, our lives would begin to look much different. Maybe we would look a little more like Jesus intended.