By Peter Lundell, D.Miss.
For this article to pragmatically mean anything and produce any positive result, church leaders and their churches with them, must go big, all in, on whichever of the three they most identify. Mere acknowledgment—talking about it or agreeing with it—is not enough; it would be merely academic or theoretical. What I am talking about in this article is the church surviving and thriving in the midst of a hostile environment.
Every church can claim to experience all three. But one will always be prominent. The prominent one is the one through which a church, by nature, consistently experiences the other two.
Here We Go
Christians in America and other western nations are confronting rising hostility in their home countries. Our immediate concerns may be with events, court cases, or the awful things that are said and done against believers and traditional values.
But on a deeper level, what will give us the strength, the coherence, the firm foundation to survive—and to thrive—in a in an increasingly hostile environment?
The best answers can be found by looking at how other believers have endured and increased in hostile environments throughout history.
History’s Lessons
In the earliest persecution, that of the Roman Empire which went on and off for 300 years, Christians held fast to the message and person of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in their midst.
In the most severe persecution in world history, that in Japan during the Tokugawa Era, which was nearly a century of nonstop, intense annihilation in various forms, the Christians clung to there identity as part of Christ and the church as they understood it in the Roman Catholic tradition.
When the Roman Catholics and early Protestants together persecuted the Anabaptists of the radical reformation, the Anabaptists survived and multiplied as they held a white-knuckled grip on Scripture.
In the persecution of the church under Nazi Germany, a coalition of pastors and churches who held fast to the supreme authority of Scripture, known as the Confessing Church, was the only organized group within Germany to survive in its resistance against Hitler to the very end.
In the communist Russian persecution of the church, three groups survived, and in many cases increased: the Baptists, who held to the Bible as the inerrant and immutable word of God; the Pentecostals, who likewise held to the Bible but also whole heartedly embraced the presence and power of the Holy Spirit; and the Russian Orthodox believers, who wrapped themselves in the liturgies and accouterments of the Orthodox tradition.
In the communist Chinese persecution of the church, believers had little tradition and often no Bibles. But when the so-called bamboo curtain lifted, the world was astonished to find that the church had not only survived but had multiplied from four million to an estimated 55 million believers, and it continues to multiply even now. As the believers pieced together what few Bibles, or parts of Bibles, they had, they wholeheartedly embraced and pursued the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, even on to death.
In the present persecution of the church across the Muslim world, believers hold fast to the word of God. The historic churches also hold strongly to their Orthodox tradition, while new Muslim background believers embrace and are led by the power of the Holy Spirit.
What does all this mean for believers in Western nations today, where hostility is rising and one might say that persecution is beginning in certain ways and places?
The universal, historic lesson that we must grasp is this: For believers and churches to survive and to thrive in a hostile environment, they absolutely must capitalize, fully embrace, and hold fast, without compromise, to at least one of three foundations. If they do not, the historical record—along with the continual evidence demonstrated by declining liberal churches—is that they will decline and disappear.
Leaving the historically orthodox tenets and practices of the faith to embrace progressive views and practices may yield what appear to be positive results in some circles. But historically and universally, this kind of shift has never ultimately resulted in numerical growth, spiritual vitality, or any positive manifestation of biblical Christianity.
The Three Foundations
The Bible. Believers with this foundation believe and hold fast, without compromise, to God’s Word as being inerrant, at least in the original documents, and absolutely authoritative for salvation and for Christian life and practice, regardless of what the ever changing surrounding culture says. They will die for this. Everything else is secondary.
The presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Believers with this foundation receive and pursue wholeheartedly the life and activity of the Holy Spirit within them and in their congregations. They are unafraid of whatever the Holy Spirit may do, they seek discernment of what truly is the Holy Spirit, and they obediently follow however the Spirit may lead, regardless of what the world around them may think. They also hold fast to the Bible similarly to those above, but they also value and experience the presence and power of God.
Church tradition. Believers with this foundation will be found among all of the Eastern Orthodox traditions and in the Roman Catholic tradition. These traditions have nearly two thousand years of history, which good or bad, serves as a powerful life encompassing identity, through which they understand God and his Word, and by which a number of those believers will live and die to the end. Protestant churches talk about their own respective traditions or traditionalism, but they are nowhere near extensive enough, historic enough, or deep enough to be a foundation for survival in a hostile environment as are those with two millennia of history.
If evangelical Christians have any millennia-long tradition to tap into, it would be that of Jewish tradition, which is available to us in that we are “grafted in” to God’s covenant with Israel. But few Christians are of such persuasion.
What Will We Do?
Believers and churches may say they believe in the Bible and seek the Holy Spirit. But to what extent? When we live with extremes in our culture, we survive and thrive by pressing into God’s Word and Spirit with radical commitment that does not compromise. It’s easy for lukewarm faith to survive in a friendly culture. And that is precisely what has gone on in Western nations for hundreds of years and has produced such lukewarmness among so many.
But times are changing. Who will survive, who will thrive, in increasingly hostile cultures? It will be those who, without compromise, radically hold to the absolute authority of Scripture. It will also be those who, without compromise, radically embrace and pursue the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. It will also be those who, without compromise, radically hold to their Christian identity as they understand it within their deep-rooted, unshakable church tradition.
So it comes to us here and now. On which foundation would you stand? And which foundation does your church, denomination, or association stand? Please do not think this is optional or that you’ll come up with another possibility. The entire history of the Christian church exhibits that these three are the only three foundations upon which believers and churches survive and thrive in hostile environments. History shows that believers and churches who do not establish themselves on at least one or more of these foundations eventually slide into compromise and decline.
Nuanced, compromised approaches may sound impressive, and those who espouse them may feel justified and righteous. But they will ultimately not fare well. As Joshua called upon an Israel that waffled in their commitment, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (24:15, NIV). Jesus likewise made very clear, “He who is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). And the apostle Paul throughout his letters repeatedly said, “stand firm.” In 1 Corinthians 10:12 he echoes Isaiah 7:9 when he says, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”
Those who do not heed the spiritual reality demonstrated by history will eventually find themselves sinking. Mark my words. And this is not even addressing the account they will have to give to God.
For those of us not in the Eastern Orthodox or Catholic traditions, we have the two strongest foundations already: God’s Word and Spirit. Why would we not hold them with a self-abandoning firm grip? Reasons may vary, but you’ll likely see the common denominator of liberal theology, which begets disbelief and a self-orientation that presumes to redefine the Bible and Christian faith. This leads to conformity to the surrounding culture and avoidance of external reprisal.
Face the realities. Count the cost. Choose your firm foundation and never let it go. You will reap a great reward.
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An Observation Regarding Sectors of the Church of the Nazarene
Concerned Nazarenes hold firmly to an inerrantist view of Scripture. Thus I predict that this conviction will carry them through much opposition. But with their tendency to be negative and critical of others, they will not likely grow significantly.
Churches aligned with the once-active Awakening Prayer Movement, if I may call it that, or similar persuasions, both hold to a high view of Scripture and have an openness and hunger for the Holy Spirit. I predict that this will put them in a very strong position to not only survive but to thrive in the face of opposition.
Those within the Church of the Nazarene, or any other denomination, who do not hold strongly to a high view of Scripture and do not wholeheartedly and without constraint embrace the presence and power of the Holy Spirit may find themselves in trouble. I suspect it will go unnoticed for a long time. In fact, I see it happening across North America now. Most Christians do. This is not an accusation of any kind. It is rather a heart-felt concerned observation from which I would plead with such brothers and sisters in faith to turn and stand firm on a foundation so that they do not sink.
