The Meek Shall Inherit

Never forget that at the time the Apostle Paul was writing much of the New Testament, he was a disenfranchised citizen hounded to the edges of society, a prisoner, considered a fool.

At the same time Nero was the emperor, feared, lauded as the designer of a new Rome and merciless persecutor of the church.

Two thousand years later we name our sons Paul and call our dogs Nero.

In the 1930’s Adolf Hitler called Jesus Christ an anemic Jew unworthy of a German’s worship. And by 1945 they found Hitler a smoking cinder in a German gutter. At the same time Italy’s Benito Mussolini said he’d hang God in fascist Italia, but they found the dictator dead, hanging upside down from a steel beam. Meanwhile in Russia, Josef Stalin was cursing God and declaring deity’s demise. Today they curse Stalin’s name and one cannot even find the place where he is buried.

Jesus Christ promised, “I’ll build my church and the gates of hell will not stand against it!” History proves His words true.

John Calvin pointed out, “The history of the church is the story of many resurrections.” She endured the catacombs, the Colosseum lions in Rome. She overleapt her own dismal corruption in the Middle Ages.

Pundits said in the rise of the scientific age of skepticism that the church, the faith of Christ, would fade away. She flourishes still in more vibrant forms than ever.

Scholars have attacked the Bible as outdated, of dubious origins, full of contradictions; yet, the word of God has become an anvil that has worn out all hammers.

Jesus, His word, and His people are here to stay, come what may in fashion, academia, politics, or persecution. The church is simply God’s choice, His means, visible grace—-the very bride of Christ.

If I had to bet on Harvard University or the Catholic Church, the New York Times or the Bible, progressive politics or the kingdom of God, I wouldn’t have to think twice in choosing Jesus Christ. Where is the Third Reich? Where is Rome? Where is the communist workers’ state? Yet the Bible is still read and believed around the globe.

The church won’t fail you. Just be sure you do not fail the church!

The Reverend Stephen Crotts is pastor of Village Presbyterian Church in Charlotte Court House, VA. He is also the director of the Carolina Study Center, Inc., a campus ministry, located in Chapel Hill, NC. Pastor Crotts may be reached at carolinastudycenter@msn.com.