A far greater thinker than I wrote this:
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 arch-defender 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.
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.
Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world.
Without Googling it, do you know who the author is? If so, leave a comment, but make sure the first 7 words of your comment don’t contain the answer (so it won’t show up in the sidebar and give it away).
Reactions? Guesses?
Without Googling it I can’t be sure (well, I could crawl under my dusty bed and dig up my copy of Why We Can’t Wait but that is such a low tech way of doing things - and would involve a lot of sneezing and probably cleaning - and we don’t need that!
The writer, I believe, is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (and it’s from Summer of our Discontent or Letter from a Birmingham Jail).
Julie has hit the nail on the head. The man with more streets and bridges named after him than perhaps any person on earth penned, or spoke these words. Thanks for sharing this.
Hmm, it does sound familiar. My first guess was either Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller or Praise Habit by David Crowder, but Letter From a Birmingham Jail sounds very plausable too.
We don’t have very many (if any) preachers as good as Dr. King today. Julie gets the prize. But we can all learn from Dr. King’s message. The full text of the speech can be found here. RealAudio of King reading the letter can be found here.
I also like this quote: