by Vance Havner
Whose Friend
Christians toda y m a y not be thrown to the lions o r tied to
L ately there has been a rash of books and films based on the historic clash of the Christians of the Catacombs with the Caesareans of the Colosseum. It was a great chapter when the blood of the mar tyrs was the seed of the church. Men had to choose between Caesar or Christ—for a man can have only one Lord at a time. This empire within an empire, this “ third race” that Toynbee calls “ creatures of an alien underground,” this heavenly common wealth in the world but not of it, this scum of the earth made a theater to this world, this minority group in a pagan land, they had heard the call of Christ and therefore had no use for the cult of Caesar. There was a price to pay and they paid it. Some were thrown to lions. Some were tied to the stake. Their burning bodies be came literally the flaming torches which already they had been in spirit. But 10 persecutions could not stamp out this strange sect. It prospered instead for, like Brer Rabbit “ bom and bred in a briar patch,” the church has thrived on trouble. Though secure in danger, the church is en d an g e red by security and Satan changed his tactics when persecution did not destroy the saints. And what persecution could not accomplish pop ularity almost brought about. Con stantine professed Christianity and made it ¡fashionable to be a church member. Multitudes of unconverted pagans flocked into the churches. Christianity became the state religion. Old heathen feasts became church festivals. The Lord’s Supper became a sacrifice instead of a memorial. Preachers b e c ame priests. Ornate buildings and ostentatious ceremon ies took the place of the simple wor
ship of the catacombs. Instead of Christianity transforming the world, the world dominated Christianity. We have never recovered from that colos sal tragedy. A Twentieth Century Caesar Today church members sit in com fortable theaters and see modern movies of early saints who chose Christ instead of Caesar. They read modem novels about the Catacombs and the Colosseum. And most of them are blissfully unaware that the same story is being repeated in another form today. It is going on right here before our eyes. Christians in Ameri ca are not being thrown to lions or burned on poles. But there are other ways of persecuting the saints. There are clever, dignified, even religious ways of making it hard for the Mas ter’s minority today. Caesar is now dead; yet the choice is the same. It is Caesar or Christ. It is the choice that Pilate faced: “ If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: who soever maketh himself a king speak- eth against Caesar.” By and large the professing church today is a popular church in America. She enjoys the sanction of Caesar. She is filled with baptized pagans. The world fills her offices, directs her programs, pays her bills. She is not at contrast with this age but at compromise with it. By Caesar I do not mean the gov ernment. Jesus said, “ Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s.” Christians have an obligation to gov ernment. Paul makes this clear in his Roman epistle. By Caesar I mean this age, this pagan world set-up, this modern order which is under the god of this age and which the Bible calls the world. With all its wealth, its culture, its magnificence, it is a
tremendous thing to come up against. But the Christian does not belong to it. He has been saved out of it. He is in it but not of it. He is sent into it to win others out of it. His citizenship is in heaven. Noise, Nickels and Noses The Popular Church has come to terms with this age. She borrows its methods, she apes its techniques. She does not ask, “ How does God do it?” She asks, “ How does Caesar do it?” How does the social world, the busi ness world, the amusement world, do it?” She tunes in on Hollywood in stead of heaven. She worships size and noise, revels in statistics, counts nickels and noses. Instead of cutting Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300, she would raise it to 50,000. She is not interested in taking out a people for God’s name; she is building re ligious empires and ecclesiastical super-corporations. She has lost her simple faith, her pilgrim character and her blessed hope. The early church looked for the Lord to return. After Constantine she made earth and not heaven the center of her program. She is on good terms with the world and makes light of those who see no concord between Christ and Belial. She loves money and what it will buy. She is not interested in sound doctrine; all that matters is just to be friendly. She laughs at separation from the world. Her fel lowship is little different from a civic club or a fraternal order. She has crucified Christ because she is a friend of Caesar. But there is still a Persecuted Church. It is not a certain sect or denomination. Its members are to be found in all church bodies. They are not perfect people but they are dif-
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