Jumpstarter 7 of 10

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Question 7

The chapter claims that since Constantine the institutional church has repeatedly adopted the world’s values (burning at the stake, torture, racism) and typically only repents after the world changes; what does that pattern imply about the church’s ability to hear Jesus, and what might it mean for how we evaluate our own era’s blind spots?

Another way to ask: If the church has often copied the world’s values and only apologized after society changed, what does that say about how well the church listens to Jesus? How should that affect how we look for our own blind spots today?

Direct Answer Bercot argues this pattern shows the institutional church often fails to be guided by Jesus’ unchanging teachings and instead follows the world’s morals, so we should suspect we may also have “dye-stained hands” in areas we currently excuse.

Support from Transcript:

He says “ever since the time of Constantine, the institutional church has been locked in step with the world.”
Examples: Romans burned people, “so it became acceptable for the church to do so”; Romans accepted torture, “so the church accepted torture.”
He adds cultural prejudice: Romans looked down on “barbarian people groups, so the church did so as well.”
Summary: the post-Constantinian church still professed love for Christ, but “its guilty hands were covered by the world’s dye.”
Pattern of delayed repentance: the church continues “until the world finally recognizes them as wrong,” then the church changes too.
He uses racism as a modern illustration of that lag.

Discussion Follow-ups If the church often repents late, what practices today might future generations see as obvious compromises? What standards can we use now to test ourselves besides “what our culture accepts”?

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Jumpstarter 7 of 10