Behind the Curve

I've been thinking some about why it's so hard to live out faith in a real and tangible way. I was reading through Ephesians 4 and started thinking about verse 14, "Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming."

As I was reading it, it occurred to me that the Church as a whole has always seemed to be behind the curve of social good and change. I think the exception to this was the early church (first 300 years or so). Rodney Stark notes that the church's greatest growth came during the two major epidemics of the Roman Empire in 165 and 250 AD. Durning these epidemics, up to a third of the population of the Roman Empire died.

During these epidemics, while pagans (who had no moral ramifications of their religion) fled to the hills, Christians stuck around and cared for the dying. What historians say is that the very fact that Christians stuck around saved an innumerable amount of lives. During these epidemics, a large number of people did not die from the disease itself, they died of starvation or unsanitary conditions. Such deaths could be prevented just by someone making sure they have their basic needs met.

Christians stuck around and made dent in society. But it seems that since that time, the Church has been much less on the cutting edge and often has to be dragged kicking and screaming through societal changes.

To be fair, often great movements were led by individual Christians living out the teachings of Jesus. Movements for religious freedom (Pilgrims), abolition (William Wilberforce), care for lepers (Mother Teresa), women's sufferage, and American Civil rights (Martin Luther King Jr.) were all led by individuals with Christian convictions. The Church at large always seemed to be fighting them.

Back to Ephesians 4. Could it be that the Church just isn't very mature? It seems as though we are often "tossed back and forth by the waves" of society and that the church reflects and subscribes to culture more than it transforms it. While the church in the first 250-300 years of existence, knew who it was and sought to follow purely the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles, it seems as though the church (after Constantine?) has become preoccupied with other things, namely tradition and power.

Maturity is the ability to live consistently by the truth, even when opposing forces seek to derail. Has the Church lived by the truth of Jesus or have we subscribed more to society?

Lately, there has been a great movement in the church emphasizing love for our neighbors and awareness of global poverty and social issues. It seems the church is starting to take up the cause. But my question is, "shouldn't we have been doing this all along?" I think in many ways, we're trailing the government and even MTV in our awareness and support for the value of life. What took us so long to follow the teaching of Jesus (and even the Old Testament) to love our neighbors and care for the poor and outcast?

It might be that we still have more maturing to do. When Jesus was asked what is most important in the law, he replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself." That seems a pretty simple thing. When they ask Jesus what's the most important thing, he states it pretty plainly. So if we figure out what that means in our church and societal context and stick with that, no matter what movements appear, we're bound to be right on the edge of progress.