1.21 blog

At the end of our last post, I mentioned that Christendom has failed, but that Christendom was never Christ’s intention. I think that it would be helpful for me to further clarify those remarks, which will help us to think through the church’s place in contemporary culture.

Christendom has a variety of meanings, but I’m using it in a fairly specific sense here. Christendom is the result of adopting “Christian” moral views without embracing the Christian gospel. In Christendom, there’s a general moral consensus: people agree that there is a God, who expects certain behaviors. Drugs are frowned upon, aberrant sexual practices are rejected, prayer happens in public schools, children say “sir” and “ma’am,” etc. Some of these elements are right, while others are more problematic.

The main problem with Christendom, though, is that people come to equate it with Christianity. People can live in Christendom, be good citizens, who mind their manners, and uphold “traditional moral values” without ever being impacted by the reality of Christianity: the gospel of Jesus Christ. What’s more, because they adhere to the moral values, they often believe that they are Christians, when in fact they are not.

Christianity is not about what we practice and do. It’s all about trusting in what Jesus Christ has already done.

But over time, we lose sight of this, and people learn to conform their behaviors to “Christian” standards, and leave it at that. When this happens on a widespread level, we get Christendom.

Up next, we’ll look at the current situation as it relates to Christendom.

Posted by: Gene Schlesinger