Chapter 9. The Pilgrim Church. What do you do when you wake up in a world you have lived in all your life, and suddenly, as hard as you try, you just can't fit anymore?
I talk to friends and coworkers constantly, but I always got the same strange glassy-eyed, "You're taking it too far, look." One of my good Christian friends on the base was concerned about me and came one day saying, "Dean, you're asking questions that should never be asked." I asked him how he dealt with the words of Jesus concerning our enemies, and he replied that he was comfortable. Comfortable? I was far from comfortable.
I had the sensation that I was walking about in a sleeping world trying to arouse anyone who would listen, but no one would wake up. It was lonely. I have to admit that in those days my wife and I often longed just to go back to sleep with the rest of them. Thanks be to the Lord, His grace continued to illuminate our path. Although we were living in Germany, our church at the time was a very large, English-speaking church involving several U.S. military bases.
When the Persian Gulf War was warming up, the sermons were beginning more and more frequently defending the idea of Christians in warfare. One night the church planned a special meeting to which they invited in a former pacifist to speak to us about the Christian's place in war. He used all the same pragmatic reasoning I had heard before, but this time, in addition to the old rhetoric, he also added his own testimony of how he had come to this knowledge.
As he spoke, others joined in and shared how they had been misunderstood as Christians because people did not think they would make good fighting soldiers. One pilot even stood and shared, almost weeping, how he believed that he was not allowed to be a fighter pilot because during his training period his commander did not understand his Christian convictions.
He enthusiastically charged the congregation that people need to understand that Christians have no problems with jobs such as those performed by dive-bombers and fighter pilots. Throughout the night, many an "Amen" was heard resonating throughout the church, and often a look came my way as if to see what I was thinking. Then came the moment of truth. The pastor went up with the speaker and, after giving him many accolades and confirmations, proclaimed that he felt this should pretty well close the issue.
Backed with renewed confidence, he said that if the congregation had any corrections or questions for him, they should ask them now. This was my chance. All through his talk I had been thinking of Scriptures and historical facts, and here was my chance to stand and proclaim a different view. A few who knew my feelings looked my way, and I tried with everything I had in me to raise my hand. "Any more questions?" the pastor asked. I knew this was my last chance. My mind was spinning.
There was so much I wanted to challenge, but how could I put it into a question? As I sat there trying to organize a question, the time was up, and the pastor began the closing prayer. I felt horrible. The whole experience sealed the reality of what I was feeling. I was alone. Maybe they're right. The next day, I called the church office and set up an appointment with the pastor. My goal was a last-ditch effort for him to convince Tanya and me that we were wrong. The meeting didn't go very well.
Every time I brought up a question, the pastor said, "You're not going to change my mind." We reassured him, saying, "It is not our goal to change your mind. We just have some questions." I asked him, "What do you do with the teachings of Jesus on this subject?
You know, words like 'Love your enemies'?" Without any discussion, he just shook his head and repeated, "You're not going to change my mind." And then, the final words, sort of looking down, he said, "Perhaps you would be more comfortable worshiping elsewhere." Sometimes I'm a bit slow to recognize when someone is telling me to beat it, so I asked another question. He simply repeated his resolute advice, "Perhaps you would be more comfortable worshiping elsewhere." This time, I got it.
We thanked him for his time and left. I think it was not until we got home that we realized we no longer had a church. We felt alone. It was painful, confusing, and even scary. But oh, how dear Jesus became to us during this time. Strangers and Pilgrims. The words of Hebrews exhorted me, teaching me that the only way to keep going through times such as this was to keep my eyes on the non-changing promises of God, as others had always done before me.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. The testimony of the saints that lived before me became more than just a comfort or a historical curiosity. For a time, they became my church.
The unanimous voice of the church on this subject during her first 300 years was a real strength for me, against what seemed to be a nearly universal opposing voice in the modern church. However, as comforting as this was, I still felt there had to be more than just the early church. I had to believe that if this all was true, then honest believers throughout time, led by the Spirit of God, would have read the Scriptures and come to the same conclusions. As I studied on, I began to get excited.
Some of the books I was reading at this time not only told of the faith of the early church, but went on to show how many groups of Christians down through the ages have kept these truths, even in spite of severe persecution. David Bercot's Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up, John Kennedy's The Torch of the Testimony, and E.H. Broadbent's The Pilgrim Church were some of the volumes that traced many of the ancient beliefs of the apostles down through the ages.
I found that throughout the centuries, Christians who trusted in the promises of God and dared to live by His ways have gathered together to worship God in truth. Even before Constantine, as the church grew lax and began to compromise with the world, groups of believers gathered together desiring a church that sought for purity. Waldensians. A remarkable group of radical Christian believers that impressed me was the Waldensians. Many separate groups of radical believers have felt one with them.
Some writers have even attempted to trace them all the way back to the apostles. Formally, their origin is generally traced back to a rich merchant turned radical preacher named Valdes, otherwise known as Peter Waldo. In A.D. 1174, Peter Waldo came across the teaching of Jesus and was particularly impressed with the story of the rich young ruler. After a dramatic conversion, he left his merchant life, gave his money to the poor, and began living a radical life for Jesus. During a famine in A.D.
1176, he started a soup kitchen to feed the poor. After this famine, he began his vocation as an itinerant preacher. The early Waldensians lived a life of radical self-sacrifice and voluntary poverty. Motivated by Jesus' teaching to evangelize and preach the gospel, they sent out preachers across the countryside in groups of two. They often went as traveling salesmen offering their wares from door to door. After talking with a resident, they then offered their true merchandise, the gospel.
Taking the pattern from Jesus, at times they even sent out groups of 70 as powerful missionary bands. Their movement spread into Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Poland, and Spain. Waldo's burden to see the Bible in the common language influenced many reform groups after him. Eventually, the Waldensians became a threat to the Catholic Church, so they, in company with the early Christians, sealed their faith with their lives.
Through it all, taking the Sermon on the Mount literally, they loved their enemies, blessed their persecutors, and trusted God for their every provision. Stuart Murray, writing for Anabaptist Research, said of their witness for non-resistance, "Early Waldensians were committed to non-violence, deriving this emphasis from a literal reading of the gospels.
They spoke out against violence, crusades against infidels, and warfare in general, killing Jews, execution of thieves who were caught stealing food for their families in times of famine, capital punishment, and coercion in matters of faith. This instinctive non-violence persisted through the centuries." Czech Brethren. Another pre-Reformation group, about A.D. 1420, bravely held to the apostolic faith in the hills of Czechoslovakia. These believers were known as the Czech Brethren.
Under the leadership of Peter Chelcicky, this group spoke out strongly in favor of Christian non-resistance. Because of the association of the church mixing with the empire, Peter Chelcicky boldly declared that the Pope and the emperor, acting as representatives of the church and the state, were whales who had torn the net of true faith. He taught that no physical power could destroy evil and that Christians should accept persecution without retaliating.
Philosophically, he challenged the peasants, teaching them that if the poor refused to go to war, then the rich kings would have no one to fight for them. Specifically to Christians, he taught that they should refuse military service.
In a letter rebuking the idea of so-called Christian nations going to war with other Christian nations, Peter wrote, "The whole rabble of these divided multitudes are called Christians, and together they pray, 'Our Father, which art in heaven.' They approach God in this way while each party has in mind the destruction of the other.
They think they are serving God by shedding others' blood, and on both sides they say, 'Forgive us as we forgive.' And every party seeks to increase its military force and never thinks of forgiving the other so long as they can hope to overcome them. Therefore, their prayers are blasphemies against God." Coming on to the Reformation, many Christians came alive with new faith in Jesus Christ and His promises.
The Bible was beginning to be taken seriously on a large scale, and accordingly, the world was radically changed. Erasmus. Even one Catholic scholar, Desiderius Erasmus, attempted to bring reform within the Catholic Church. Erasmus was well-versed in the original languages of the Scriptures and many of the writings of the early church. As a result, he came out decidedly on the side of non-resistance.
He wrote, "They who defend war must defend the dispositions which led to war, and these dispositions are absolutely forbidden by the gospel." Since the time that Jesus Christ said, "Put up thy sword into its sheath," Christians ought not to go to war. Christ suffered Peter to fall into an error in this matter on purpose that, when he had put up Peter's sword, it might remain no longer a doubt that war was prohibited, which before that order had been considered as allowable. The Anabaptists.
Certainly, the most outspoken group of Christians during the time of the Reformation was the Anabaptists. Called by their persecutors Anabaptists, which literally means "rebaptizers," modern historians have called this movement the Radical Reformation. It started around 1530, stemming from the Reformation started by Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli. The Anabaptists felt that the early reformers didn't go far enough, so they endeavored to bring in a restoration of the early church.
This meant calling the church to greater levels of radical commitment to Christ. For many of their non-compromising stands, scores of courageous Anabaptist saints of God were persecuted by the Catholics and Protestants alike. Through it all, however, they were renowned for their supernatural and otherworldly ability to love their enemies, even through the most brutal and merciless treatment their persecutors could inflict. Their powerful testimonies made my, petty, uncomfortable situations seem as nothing.
Menno Simons. One very influential early Anabaptist was Menno Simons. Raised a peasant in war-torn Friesland, or modern-day Holland, Menno Simons trained for the priesthood and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1524. By 1526, he was having serious doubts about many doctrines of the church. But his greatest change came about after hearing of an early Anabaptist who was beheaded in 1531 for being rebaptized. The devotion and zeal of these early Anabaptists changed him forever.
After Peter Simons, who possibly was his brother, was killed during a religious insurrection in 1535, he finally gave his life completely to Christ, trusting in the efficacy of Jesus' blood. He wrote of this night, "My heart trembled in my body.
I prayed to God with sighs and tears that He would give to me, a troubled sinner, the gift of His grace and create a clean heart within me, that through the merits of the crimson blood of Christ, He would graciously forgive my unclean walk and unprofitable life, and bestow upon me wisdom, spirit, candor, and fortitude, that I might preach His exalted and adorable name and holy word unperverted and make manifest His truth to His praise." Following his conversion in 1536, he left the priesthood and joined the
Anabaptists.
Writing about war, Menno Simons said, "The regenerated do not go to war, nor engage in strife. They are the children of peace who have beaten their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and know of no war. They render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. Their sword is the sword of the Spirit, which they wield with a good conscience through the Holy Ghost.
Our weapons are not weapons with which cities and countries may be destroyed, walls and gates broken down, and human blood shed in torrents like water, but they are weapons with which the spiritual kingdom of the devil is destroyed. Christ is our fortress, patience our weapon of defense, the word of God our sword, and our victory is a candid, firm, unfeigned faith in Jesus Christ.
Iron and metal spears and swords we leave to those who, alas, regard human blood and swine's blood of well-nigh equal value." Jacob Hutter. On the other side of Europe, in modern-day Italy, Jacob Hutter led many believers to a radical walking out of the Sermon on the Mount. Their missionary zeal to share their faith spread quickly across Europe. Literally thousands were baptized upon profession of their faith as adults, although to do so meant they had committed a crime punishable by death.
After a time of persecution, they ended up in Moravia, present-day Czech Republic, where religious toleration was granted to them. In 1535, a bounty equal to a soldier's yearly wage was placed on Jacob Hutter's head. In November of 1535, after returning from a missionary trip to Tyrol, northern Italy, in an attempt to bring people back with him, he and his wife were captured. After condemning him to death, the authorities tried to bargain with him to secure names of other believers, but he gave them none.
To make an example of him, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Ferdinand I, had him severely whipped, placed on the rack, and tortured. In February 1536, Ferdinand had him taken to the city square of Innsbruck, Austria, held in freezing water, then placed in a hot room. Brandy then was poured into his wounds. After this torture, he was taken to the city square and publicly burned at the stake. All along, he never denied the faith or turned in his fellow believers.
During his life, Jacob Hutter spoke out strongly against Christians in warfare. Speaking of the true Christians, he wrote, "We will not do a wrong or an injury to any man, yea, not to our greatest enemy, neither to Ferdinand nor anyone else, great or small. All our actions and conduct, word and work, life and walk, are open. There is no secret about it all.
Rather than knowingly to rob a man of a penny, we would willingly give up a hundred guilders, and before we will give our greatest enemy a blow with the hand, to say nothing of spear, sword, or halberd, as in the manner of the world, we would be willing to lose our lives." More groups. As I read, I continued to discover more and more groups who, after taking the Bible seriously, ended up with many of the same convictions.
For example, there were the Brethren groups under the leadership of men such as Peter Becker and Alexander Mack. They too continued to call the church to return to apostolic Christianity. In 1785, the Church of the Brethren stated in their annual conference that they should not "submit to the higher powers so as to make ourselves their instruments to shed human blood.
The church cannot concede to the state the authority to conscript citizens for military training or military service against their conscience." Even today, their descendants, the German Baptists, the Dunkard Brethren, and the Church of the Brethren, still hold to these teachings. Early Methodists. It seemed that whenever groups of Christians gathered together and covenanted to take the Bible seriously, this doctrine of non-resistance naturally came out.
Even some of the early Methodist circuit riders, filled with the Holy Spirit and anointed preaching, could not resist the clear teaching of Jesus on this subject. John Nelson, the first person to offer his services as a lay preacher to John Wesley, was at one time taken by force, clothed in a uniform, and with a rifle forced into his hand, told that he was to stay in uniform and fight. He boldly told these military commanders that he would wear the uniform as a cross, but he would not fight.
Two of the most influential early Methodists, Barbara Heck and her husband Paul, refused to support the Revolutionary War. This conviction cost them great financial loss. At one time, they were stopped by a British officer who tried to compel Paul to join the army to defend the king. To this, Paul Heck replied, "I have taken service under the best kings, and I desire no better. And as for King George, God bless him, I am willing to suffer in body and estate for his cause, but I cannot fight.
I would ever hear the voice of the master whom I serve, saying, 'Put up thy sword in its sheath.'" Early Methodist leader Jesse Lee, speaking briefly but thoughtfully on the subject, wrote, "I weighed the matter over and over again, but my mind was settled as a Christian, and as a preacher, I could not fight." The Martyrs' Mirror. Dirk Willems.
All these testimonies dramatically affected me, but perhaps the most impressive story of non-resistance and Christ-like faith recorded during these troubling times was that of Dirk Willems. I was amazed when I read his story as recorded in The Martyrs' Mirror. The Martyrs' Mirror was compiled by Thieleman J. van Braght in 1660. This book exhaustively goes through each age of the church, detailing the testimonies of brave men, women, and children who gave their lives for their faith in Jesus Christ.
Most of the focus centers on the persecuted church during the time of the Radical Reformation. Dirk Willems was a young man who converted to Christianity in Holland during a time of great persecution. The Spanish had ruled Holland and, wanting to stabilize the country, they tried to stamp out the Anabaptists and other radical Christian non-conformists. Apparently, Dirk was no quiet believer, but instead shared his faith openly and even allowed others to be baptized in his home.
Dirk, after being arrested, was tried and committed to prison for his faith. After he had been in for some time, Dirk figured a way of escape. Taking bedsheets and tying knots in them, he let himself down the prison walls. Unfortunately, he was quickly spotted by the burgomaster, and a deputy was sent quickly in pursuit. Dirk swiftly made his escape over a body of thin ice. I imagine Dirk must have thought for a moment that he might just pull this off.
However, the much heavier deputy also attempted to cross the thin ice, but to his peril, the ice gave way, and the deputy fell through the ice and would have drowned. Dirk was well on his way when he heard his pursuers cry for rescue. Turning around, he realized that the deputy had fallen into the ice and was now pleading for his life. I have often wondered what Dirk Willems must have been thinking at that moment. In front of him was his life, his freedom. All he had to do was keep running.
Who would blame him if he didn't turn around to aid the deputy? He had been falsely imprisoned, and to return now would inevitably cost him his life. But Dirk had died to himself years before when he gave his life to Christ. Now, if any real temptations to keep going raced through his mind at this moment, we would never know it from this account. Jesus taught that his followers must love their enemies, feed them, and even bless them.
Dirk knew that Jesus had done that very thing for him, and now it was his turn to do the same for this drowning man. So Dirk immediately turned around and pulled his pursuer out of the ice. The deputy was greatly moved by this unprecedented act of compassion and wanted to let Dirk go free. However, looking on from a distance, the burgomaster screamed to the deputy, reminding him that he had sworn an oath of loyalty.
Sadly, the burgomaster persuaded the deputy to choose loyalty to the state over compassion for his rescuer, so the deputy apprehended Dirk and brought him back into captivity. Once back in captivity, his persecutors showed him no compassion for his act of mercy. Instead, they re-convicted him for his crime of heresy and rebaptism. The report says that he then was placed in severe imprisonment until the day that he finally was taken to the city square to be burned at the stake. His was an awful death.
The eyewitness reports say that a strong east wind was blowing and that the upper part of the fire was being blown away, leaving Dirk to suffer horribly because only the lower portion of the fire was burning him. The eyewitnesses said that they heard him cry out, "Oh my Lord, my God," more than seventy times. Finally, a local official traveling by on horseback was filled with sorrow for the young man. He ordered that the fire be arranged so that Dirk would die quickly.
The Martyrs' Mirror finishes its epitaph on Dirk Willems' life, saying, "But as he had founded his faith not upon the drifting sand of human commandments, but upon the firm foundation stone, Christ Jesus, he, notwithstanding all evil winds of human doctrine and heavy showers of tyrannical and severe persecution, remained immovable and steadfast unto the end.
Wherefore, when the chief shepherd shall appear in the clouds of heaven and gather together his elect from all the ends of the earth, he shall also through grace hear the words, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things.
Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'" I thought, "Oh, that I might have a testimony just like that, a testimony of a life undoubtedly sold out to God, so that when all is said and done, I too might run confidently into the welcoming arms of our blessed Savior and hear that glorious salutation, 'Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'" After saturating ourselves in stories of saints such as these, Tanya and I no longer felt alone. We felt encouraged. We felt welcomed.
We still felt like sojourners, but in the midst of the pilgrimage, we felt at home. Hebrews 12 became dear to us. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.