Organized Christianity has lost its identity. Christendom has lost its way. To the extent that Christ has been replaced by Christendom, we no longer know who we are.
Christianity was once defined by its orthodoxies. The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church were defined, at least in part, by the creeds that they affirmed and by their opposition to “the other Church”. After the Protestant Reformation, the Protestants and the Catholics were defined, at least in part, by their opposition to each other. As Protestantism splintered into competing denominations, each denomination become defined by its opposition to the other denominations. Christianity became defined by competing claims of “We are right and you are wrong”. Defining ourselves by what we oppose is not a good idea, because it gives us nothing to affirm. It gives us something to hate, but nothing to live for and nothing to die for. It makes us cranky cynics who protest everything and affirm nothing. We fight, therefore we exist. If all we have to pass on to the next generation is something that we oppose, then we will have given the next generation nothing that is of value. The tendency to define ourselves as being the opposite of what we hate is one of the reasons why Christianity evolved into Christendom. Christendom is Christianity that seeks to hitch itself to political and cultural power because it has forgotten who it is and why it exists. It’s the agenda that says that if we attach ourselves to the powerful, then we may gain some of their power. If we attach ourselves to something or someone powerful, whether it is an empire or a nation or a movement or an ideology or an institution or a president or a king, if it succeeds, then we succeed, but if it fails, then we fail. Christendom is Christianity that tries to be in charge of society. It’s Christianity that refuses to be pushed to the margins. It’s Christianity that insists on being at center stage, under the floodlights, surrounded by an admiring audience of the rich and the famous and the influential and the movers and shakers of this world. It’s Christianity that seeks to gain control of the masses by means of political and cultural domination. What happens when Christendom dies? Do we desperately try to revive it? Do we abandon it and move on to something else? Both are wrong answers. When Christendom dies, then that is the opportunity for true Christianity to re-emerge. Who are we? We are followers of Jesus. Jesus said “Greater love has no man than this, than a man lay down his life for friends” (John 15:13). There is nothing power-hungry about a man who gives up his life for his friends, and who invites others to do the same. Jesus said “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). There is nothing power-hungry about a man who denies himself, and invites others to do the same. Jesus said “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). There is no quest for power here. Jesus came as a servant, and invited his followers to be servants, following his example. Jesus went on to say “You know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whoever will be great among you, shall be your servant: And whoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42-45). These are not the words of a power-hungry man who desired to start a power-hungry movement. Jesus may have been the author of what we now call Christianity, but he was certainly not the author of Christendom. Hear the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say to you, that you resist not evil: but whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. And whoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and from him that would borrow from you turn not away. You have heard that it has been said, You shalt love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you; That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:38-45). Those are not the words of a man who seeks power. His followers should be anything but power-seekers. According to the Gospel of John, “Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come that he would depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). Jesus went all the way to the cross. He allowed sinful men to nail him to a cross. He allowed his enemies to kill him. He was doing it for them. It was for their sins that he died. He paid the penalty for their sins because he loved them— the very ones who killed him. Were those the actions of a man who was hungry for power? He surrendered his right for justice, his right for a fair trial, his right for life itself so that his enemies could be forgiven, so that they could have eternal life, and so that they could be loved by his Father. That is how Jesus lived and died, and that is how he calls his followers to live and to die. This is the way of Jesus. This is not the way of Christendom. What will happen when Christendom falls? The Left and the Right will rush in to try to fill the vacuum. The capitalists and the socialists will rush in to try to seize the moment. Numerous religions and spiritualities, both new and old, will be competing for the attention of the masses. People will find some way to try to satisfy their spiritual hunger, and they will have many competing voices from which to choose. They will grab whatever seems to be the coolest. They will grasp for whatever it is that glitters the most. They will listen to their most influential voices. They will assume that the people whom they admire the most will know what they are talking about. They will assume that whatever seems attractive at the moment must be true and right— at least true and right for them. This is happening now, and will only accelerate in the days ahead. How should those of us who are Christians respond? The worst possible response would be to try to revive Christendom. Christendom has become the enemy of Christianity. Let Christendom die. Its death is long overdue. Trying to hitch ourselves to power (whether on the Left or on the Right) will destroy our witness for generations to come. No one will take us or our Gospel or our Jesus seriously. We’ve got to stop trying to be the loudest voice with the most power. Instead, we give up our power. We give up our privilege. We stop trying to run society. We repent for allowing ourselves to be sucked into this world’s power-hungry way of doing things. We repent for being very bad ambassadors who have tragically misrepresented Jesus. We repent for dragging the name of Jesus through the mud, all in the name of Christendom. We lay down our weapons. We surrender our quest for power. We allow ourselves to be marginalized, as Jesus and his small group of humble followers were marginalized. And from the margins, we quietly and humbly follow Jesus. We learn to forgive. We turn the other cheek. We become humble and kind and gentle and Christlike. We learn to love, to give, and to bless those who oppose us. We become attractive to those who seek truth and beauty and goodness, and we become despised by those who love the pursuit of power and the pleasures and privileges of this world. Those who are drawn to the light will join us. Those who run from the light will despise us. The goal is not to control society. The goal is to follow Jesus from the core of our being, in humility and sincerity and truth. That is the only kind of “Christianity” that will draw people to Jesus. It is the only expression of Christianity that is worth living for and dying for. It’s what Jesus came to live for, and it’s what he came to die for. Jesus didn’t shed his precious blood on the cross so that Christendom could rule society. Let Christendom die, so that followers of Jesus will have nothing to hide behind. Let Christendom die, so that followers of Jesus might live lives that are so authentically Christlike that others will want to join us as we follow Jesus. The voice of Jesus is heard most clearly, not when we yell the loudest, but when we take our rightful place at the margins of society and learn to be suffering servants who love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. At the end of history, it is not the powerful who will have the last word. It is the Lamb of God, who gave up his life for those who hated him, and despised him, and betrayed him, and mocked him, and killed him. The Jesus way is not the way of power, but the way of surrender and the way of servanthood. Happy are we if we are called to follow in his footsteps. When I was a Catholic I remember repeating the words of the liturgy of the Mass every Sunday: “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy of us; Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace”. May we be very grateful to our Catholic brothers and sisters for keeping that refrain alive for so many generations. May those of us who are Protestant join in the refrain. Christendom is all about the quest for power. True Christianity is all about abdicating power and following in the self-sacrificial footsteps of the Lamb who was slain. This is the only expression of Christianity that is worth saving. Who are we? We are followers of the Lamb who was slain, who seek to become more and more like him every day as we walk out the lifestyle of our faith with great authenticity and deep gratitude, as we trust in his death and resurrection and wait for his return, as individuals, as local churches, and as the global Body of Christ. That’s who we are.
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