The infiltration of the church

In the early days after the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, the immediate lot of the Christians was persecution-intense persecution. Stephen and James were executed. At the height of Nero’s persecution, Peter was killed. Apostle Paul who had himself been a persecutor-in-chief of the Church before his conversion was imprisoned, beaten and eventually church historians record that he was executed between AD65-68. Martyrdom was the ‘trophy’ of many of the early Christian fathers. Ignatius was scourged and tortured and his flesh was torn apart with hot pincers and then lions were released to devour him. When Polycarp refused entreaties to denounce his God, he was taken into the arena and burnt alive. As the flames enveloped him, the old Bishop took off his garments and looked up to heaven, praising God and thanking him that he was found worthy of the cup of Christ.

In this climate of persecution and martyrdom, there was no incentive except to those who were ready to die for their faith to claim to be Christians. Only an insane person would so claim if he was not completely yielded to the gospel of Christ as the consequences were so dire and terrible. The population of the Church was not large, but the heart of every single one in their company could be presumed for God. Not surprisingly, the Bible records that the early church was filled with power, and with love. “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul…And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was with them all” (Acts 4:32-33). The Church endured varying degrees of persecution for many years-until an emperor became a Christian!

Constantine became emperor of Rome in 306. In the course of one battle, he saw a cross of light in the heavens, with an inscription, “By this sign conquer” and that night, Christ appeared to him. Of course he won a complete victory in the campaign. From that point, Constantine effectively supported Christianity and ended the persecution of the church. He abolished state sacrifices, favoured the church, instituted freedom of religion, and returned the properties of Christians hitherto confiscated. He enacted laws based on Christian morality and vested the church with financial and material support. Clergymen occupied important state positions and churches were erected on the sites where martyrs had died. Of course, when a king belongs to a group and favours it, many would be attracted to it, and not necessarily for the same reasons!

Geoffrey Hanks writes in ‘70 Great Christians’ that “Because of the preferential treatment of the Church, Christianity became fashionable. Many pagans started to attend church and became nominal members, perhaps to enjoy some of the benefits Christians had gained. Correct doctrine became more important than right behavior, and there was a lowering of moral standards…formalism in worship appeared; priests repeated set prayers and the congregation listened to a performance…a form of ritual gradually crept into services, replacing the simplicity of earlier years. The Church responded by allowing Constantine to exercise spiritual authority.” So while Constantine ended the persecution of the Church, and ushered in a period of peace and stability, his reign signaled the beginnings of a pattern that has manifested to this day. Constantine was baptized towards the end of his life, and spent the rest of his life wearing his baptismal robes. He died in 337 at the feast of Pentecost with great grief all over the world.

The ‘King’ brought Christianity to Nigeria. There was a conjunction of some sort between the colonial authorities and the European missionaries. Like some have written perhaps skeptically, the British came with the “Bible in one hand and the gun in the other”. After the initial resistance to the white man’s faith, pragmatic natives would soon notice that there were many benefits to be gained from conversion-education for your children, jobs in the civil service, a new status in society (especially for those who may have been previously unimportant)etc. While many were convinced by the gospel many others had no doubt simply made a sensible decision. Not surprisingly most natives took the Christian (and other foreign) faiths and kept their traditional gods and religious practices by the side. Like the Yorubas unabashedly proclaimed, “esin kan ope kawa ma soro, awa o soro ile wa o!” (No religion can stop us from worshipping the gods of our land, we will worship our gods).

The Scripture Union (SU) phenomenon largely founded in the universities and schools introduced a new dimension however, of faith based not on pragmatic compromises but based on adherence to the word of God. Of course SUs were not popular and were regarded in the 1960s and 1970s as extremists, fundamentalists who were being unreasonable. Parents, including nominally Christian ones begged their children not to join the SU. The SU phenomenon did not adopt modern marketing and branding strategies, offered no commercial or social benefits (except of course fellowship with the brethren), and demanded strict moral standards. Many did not find it attractive! The Pentecostal movement was the inheritor of the SU mantle, but perhaps the time was now right. Many were now second and third generation Christians who had come to know God better, and their traditional gods less. Education was more widespread and the international evangelical ministries were more organized. Social, economic and political uncertainty was also higher.

With the increasing spread of the Pentecostal Church in Nigeria, the adversary changed his strategy. Seeing the Church can not be stopped, he decided to fight the church from inside. Many have joined the church who are not of God. Many may have risen to leading positions in God’s house, who are agents of the other side. Of course that is the nature of warfare, espionage, intelligence and workers of evil will learn from their master, the devil who fought God from right inside heaven! Christians must be vigilant. The Bible warns us that in the last days many will come claiming to be of him. God says we should test every spirit. And says by their fruits we would know them. Is their fruit manipulation, mischief, propaganda, wickedness, politics and deceit? Or is it love, holiness, truth, compassion, encouragement? Test every spirit.

*Columnist’s Note-This article was first published on December 19, 2007.

Opeyemi Agbaje