Christians, listen to the words of one of my biggest heroes:
"There
was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the
early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they
believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that
recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a
thermostat that transformed the mores of society.
I think the church in America could learn a lesson from these prophetic words.
"There
was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the
early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they
believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that
recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a
thermostat that transformed the mores of society.
Whenever the
early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed
and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers
of the peace" and "outside agitators."' But the Christians pressed on,
in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey
God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They
were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated."
By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests.
Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak,
ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an
archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence
of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled
by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as
they are."
(Martin Luther King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963).
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