I have been reading a book by George Barna called Pagan Christianity. In the book Barna postulates that when Constantine declared Christianity to be the official religion of the empire back in 313AD, he altered the face of the church for the past 1700 years. The church went from being an underground movement of revolutionaries to an institution housed in a building. It moved from an organism that flowed through the lives of its people to a place people attended to get their needs met and then traveled back home without bringing their faith with them. It caused Christians to become consumers instead of participants in a Kingdom and led to a church that has been largely ineffective in accomplishing the mission that Jesus gave her, “Go, make disciples of all nations”.
He lists a number of other shifts that he believes occurred with Constantine’s decree. The list is as follows:
> The Lord’s Supper changed from a common meal to a ceremony.
> Worship changed from participation to observation.
> Witness changed from relationship to salesmanship.
> Leadership changed from everyone a priest to professsional clergy.
> Growth changed from multiplication to addition.
> Missions changed from being missionaries to supporting missionaries.
> Confession changed from public before a small group to private in the confessional.
> Discipleship changed from on-the-job to classroom training.
> Fellowship changed from in-depth community living to more surface in large meetings.
> Body Life changed from lifestyle to membership.
> Gifts changed from edification to entertainment or extinction.
> Empowerment changed from God’s power to man’s ability.
> Buildings changed from functional to sacred meeting places.
> Administration changed from integrated to compartmental.
> Membership changed from producer to consumer.
> Childcare changed from parental to church responsibility.
> Bible study changed from doers of the Word to hearers of the Word.
> Evangelism changed from “Go” to “Come”.
Could the way we are the church today have more to do with what happened in the fourth century at the hand of Constantine than with what happened in the first century at the hand of Jesus?
Posted by revklein5947 