Conflict Develops People

One of the things I’ve realized as I’ve been studying church history is that oftentimes the conflict and persecution the early church went through helped develop it doctrinally, spiritually and practically. I realize all of these are intertwined to a great extent but I’ll break down what I mean through this post. It’s easy to look at the bad when we’re going through such things ourselves but we shouldn’t remain oblivious to many blessings in disguise that come along with such experiences.

So without any further delay, let’s take a quick look at these 3 areas!

Doctrinal Development

In the early church there wasn’t a consensus on what books were to make up the New Testament until the 4th century. Up until that point there were disagreements over various books of the NT and people made little distinction between canonical and non canonical books. Both were kept and used, obviously with different levels of authority in mind. People didn’t really make it a priority to agree on what was canonical until their lives were on the line. During different times of persecutions sometimes Christians were forced to give up the scriptures to be destroyed otherwise it would cost them their lives. The last thing someone wants to do is lose their life over a non-canonical or even spurious piece of Christian writing.

We also see heresies help develop the understanding of Christian doctrines that we hold today. The early church dealt with numerous heresies but probably the most known would be those dealing with Gnosticism and Arianism. These errors and others helped form a consensus of the orthodox view of Jesus Christ as both man and God, the trinity, salvation, Christian living and so forth and so on. Some of these errors almost seem to be mincing with words but when we think about it we realize that these errors though at first glance may not seem so serious but if we follow them to the logical end we have grave problems. The early church went through the hard work for us in working out all the finer details in all these various doctrines.

Spiritual Development

You generally know someone is serious about something when they pursue it despite the fact it costs them. It can be time, money, friends, family or even their life. The early church suffered persecution on and off until the beginning of the 4th century when the Edict of Milan was passed allowing Christians to freely worship. Yet this persecution was to a degree a blessing in disguise. It helped keep the church filled with serious Christians. You didn’t have very many half hearted Christians in those days and it helped create an environment that was spiritually minded. The Christians were known for their love towards one another and for their good works.

When the church was made the official state religion it became quite advantageous to be a Christian. Obviously in such an environment it is easy to see how Christianity quickly spread and people began to take Christianity less seriously than they did once before. The spiritual zeal was lost in the overall feel of the church over time and developed into what it is today in the Roman Catholic Church. The same has been seen throughout history whenever conversion becomes beneficial for the masses, whether that is socially, politically or even financially. Where my parents are from the Ottoman Empire invaded and conquered the region and put everyone under subjection to their rule. If you were not a Muslim you had to pay extra taxes, you were viewed as inferior and had less say concerning the law (i.e. a Muslim’s word was taken with greater weight than a non Muslim), you were ostracized from society and in every which way and it’s not surprising to see that about half the population converted to Islam.

Practical Development

Practically, and this may not seem (and probably isn’t) as important as the other 2 points but conflict help develop the church in practical ways as well. Things that we take for granted in most churches with regards to our services were fought over in earlier times. Though quite recent in comparison the the early church, it was still many years ago for most of us. Music is a good example. Were songs allowed? If so was it only hymns? What instruments were allowed and were they considered worldly? More recent issues we’ve seen in today’s churches include the use of projectors and Powerpoint presentations. All these things were (and to various degrees still are) all practical things that the church fought over. Even radio and television broadcasts are good examples of technology being used in a practical way to the glory of God was at one point hotly contested. These points admittedly are still debated in some circles but the church as a whole has moved forward through these controversies and has helped it think through these things with a biblical mindset when it was taken for granted beforehand.

Application

I realize it’s very easy to say conflict and persecution are blessings in disguise without having to go through all of it myself. It’s almost a back handed comment when you’re telling someone who has seen people die for their faith that it’s a blessing in disguise. In saying all this though, I know in my limited experience that the trials and conflict I’ve went through has helped to develop me and in some cases develop the people around me. I think it’s important to realize the good that God brings out through tough circumstances. This is not at the expense of the hardship we go through or the hurt we are feeling or had felt.

So the next time we’re involved in some sort of trial we should see this as a time of personal development that the Lord has provided and we should work through it seeking to glorify Him in the process. In the years to come such issues that are hotly debated today have been fought and won and taken for granted in that generation of Christians just like we take for granted what the church has fought hard for us today all those years ago. Let’s look to the future and more importantly to God through these times.

Until next week, God bless!

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