Liz Schauer

Many of us stayed up late watching the election unravel, or woke up early to hear the news, both relieved and appalled at the same time. This campaign year has been ugly, marked by words of hate, blatant lies, and rally cries for divison. Many of us have hoped for progress, for increased inclusion of those from different countries, backgrounds, and sexual orientations. Laws have been passed to increase equal rights for all. Then this election process happened, causing us all to ask: have we made any progress?

Christians have been split too. Some have chosen to disengage completely; others have sided with candidates who have torn apart the beauty of our humanity.

Regardless of your political party, I want you to know this: We have seen worse.

Back in college, I was a major church history nerd. Ask anyone and they will tell you that, while I actually hate reading, I read all my books on the church. I was captivated by the stories and the eras, both good and bad. You can view the 2,000 years of messy church history in one of two ways:

1. The church is entirely corrupt.
2. God is clearly at work in the church because He has sustained it through some of the darkest and worst-intentioned times.

In the 1^st century, a group of Jesus’ followers were preaching the Gospel and healing people in Jerusalem, a place where people were deeply rooted in their religious traditions. They were arrested, but an angel opened the doors of the jail and told them to continue preaching, so they did. People lost their minds, but one of the religious elect said, “Leave these men alone! For if their purpose is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5)

Over the next 2,000, this small group of people spread their message across the globe, but it wasn’t always beautiful or holy—or even in line with what Jesus proclaimed.

In the 300’s, Emperor Constantine, whose mother was a Christian, used Christianity to unify the Roman Empire. He placed a cross on the shield of each soldier, then they wreaked havoc.

In the early 1000’s the East and West churches split. By 1095, the Christians in Western Europe went to war in the Holy Land against the Muslims. The Crusades used the name of Christ as a justification for war. It was ugly.

Then we saw the rise of political Christianity, the use of monetary payment for the forgiveness of sins, and the rise of idols. Martin Luther couldn’t stand this deviation from the Gospel, so he nailed 95 grievances on a church door—and the church split again.

Within the same century, Europeans began exploring the New World. They forced conversions on those in North and South America, justifying their actions with their faith.

Our history is ugly and our new political situation is not really new. From an intellectual perspective, I am astounded that Christianity is still in existence. But the truth is, we are all fallen, we all sin, we all make wrong calls and do things out of ill intentions. The Church is made up of people, people are messy, even our best efforts fall short. What I know deep within my soul is that God is good and He has sustained His Church through the darkest seasons—and He will continue to do so.

I am praying that this next season is our finest hour, that the Church will rise up and declare the goodness, grace, and love of Jesus. We are currently living in what will one day be written in a history book, what will our line of print be? What if the Church stood face-to-face with hate and responded in love? What if we forgave? What if the miracles and transformed lives began making the headlines? What if we prayed for those in power? What if we found our peace in Christ—and used that peace to settle the anxiety so many are feeling?

The Church has seen wars, dictatorship, genocides, and intense persecution. We have seen worse than we are seeing today, but we also know the end of the story. Jesus once said, “I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” May we be the type of people, like Jesus’ followers in Acts 5, who choose to bring the Good News regardless of circumstance, trusting that if it is from God, it will not fail.