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Yes, God would send a Gideon or a Deborah in the Jewish context & in the Christian context a
Martin Luther or a John Wesley to effect a great revival but then Nominalism like it or not
is a great survivor, it would keep bouncing back just as often a Godly revival does.
If in the case of our Old testament counterparts’, nominalism paved way for something far
worse - ‘open’ idol worship - in our case it leads to ‘subtle’ idol-worship with
‘other things’ of life taking pre-eminence over God.
So the tares that were planted in the Church (Holy ground) with the conversion of so many
subjects of the Roman kingdom (without the Born-again experience), subsequent to that of
the Roman Emperor Constantine started growing along with the choice seed
(Matt 13: 24-30)
& soon became more dominant than the original occupier of that Holy ground as the storms of
persecutions which were once there to blow away the tares were stilled by Divine providence*…
so to say. As Christianity now started enjoying the State backing/patronage, the refining
fire of persecutions that would remove the dross (with the faithful ones alone standing
their ground, like at the time of previous persecutions) was doused. In its absence silver
with its unremoved dross had to exist.
Now, you understand why I called persecutions, the indirect friend of the Church.It had in it the refining influence to separare the 'wheat from the chaff'.
Even for Silver with very little dross, there would very few takers. Right? What would happen,
when the dross content goes up in it inordinately? Silver, simply loses its value! No wonder,
in due course Christianity lost its appeal of being ‘of God, for God & by God.’
* But, if everything is merely happening (i.e.. tares growing along with Choice wheat) as
per our Lord’s prophecy, does it not seem that God is giving His tacit approval for
Nominalism. Are our eyebrows raised? Now let me get into the subject which I dare say, can
also be classified under the ‘Strengths of Nominalism’
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- Nominalism & the Cosmic battle.
Here I think, I am sharing a perspective put in me out of His grace, feeling the same way Apostle
Paul must have felt whilst handling a tricky subject. He states so in the latter half of
1 Corinthians 7:40, in no uncertain terms. Firstly, we have to remember that our God is same yesterday, the same
today & same tommorrow (Heb 13:8).
His Holy, Righteous & Just nature never changes. In the Cosmic battle (I am not going into the
origin of the Cosmic battle knowing that my bros/sisters’ have a fair idea about it) with the Evil
one, given His Character, He would not like to be accused of having fought from a higher advantageous
plane. For instance, He did not barricade the Tree bearing Forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.
Did he? That would have been fighting the battle from an advantageous plane. Rather, He would
choose to fight from a disadvantageous position & win to show His great might. Remember, Jesus
chose to endure the temptations of the evil one, when he was at his weakest physically…at the
end of his 40-day ordeal in the desert. Going back to the Garden of Eden, our early Parents
were given a free choice to choose their paths of obedience or disobedience, with the
Forbidden fruit being always in the vicinity. Making His Children live in a world
completely devoid of internal pressures/allurements would mean conferring extra privileges
on Himself & His Children in the cosmic battle.
As long as temptations were from the outside, the Church did not slip. Would the
Church still stand, if temptations were to come from within? Imagine a seductress
at work within the Church. While figuratively, it is true, is it becoming true
literally also in some Churches… nowadays! That’s exactly what Nominalism
brought to the Church, in its wake. Remember the tests of Job, in yet another cosmic
battle. They increased in their severity progressively. First, he faced problems from
“outside”, then the severity of his tests increased as the problems started coming
from “ inside” with afflictions to his body followed by discouragement from his wife &
friends, who instead of comforting him at that time ended up making him ‘more
miserable’ with their ‘own theories’ on the ‘cause of his suffering’. So here we are
Dear Bros/Sisters’, the Church’s position is no different from that of Job.
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First, it faced problems/temptations coming from outside the Church which were
relatively easier & obvious to spot/handle, now even as it was grappling with them, it
had to face problems … the ones from within. A case of problems (working in
unision) increasing in their severity progressively. Suffice it to say, the Church
was left facing pressures from outside (the World) & within. Situation has been no
different through the Centuries … from 4th Century AD onwards to now.
Nominal Christians with their own set of priorities/lifestyle & in close contact with us
represent, an altogether different temptation/problem/pressure to us . The problems,
they bring with them are 5-fold
a)
In a subtle way, they can influence us for the worse. Within our family circles, if rest of
our family, is yet to know the Lord they can mistake us for the ‘Misguided one’ when in fact,
it is the other way around. So much so, we would end-up at the receiving end of their ‘sincere
advice’ to quit this ‘extreme path’.
A case of fish trying to pull over the fisherman, into its
waters…
b) They blunt the testimony of the Church, at large. Would anyone take Christianity seriously, if for example…
a Madonna says she is a Christian but goes right on living as though there is nothing wrong with her lifestyle.
This is an extreme example, then what about a moderate, humorous story, which goes thus…
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A concerned father whose full name was James John Peter Paul. – they called him
JJPP- admonished his crying son once who was at the receiving end of his teacher’s punishment in
the school for stealing an eraser of his benchmate ‘Son, you have spoiled your family’s & your
Papa’s image?’ He reflected & went on …’What would they say, in the Church, if they know of this?
Where was the need for you to steal an eraser of your
friend? You should have told me about your need & straightaway I would have brought a handful of
them free..… from my office’. So much, for living upto your name! Yes, I am being judgmental
but honestly let me apply brakes for a while & muse ‘Even after becoming a Christian, did my actions ever
represent confused set of values within me’?
c)
Worming their way up the Church hierarchy & eventually occupying ‘Seats of power’
in the Church, they would mislead ‘God’s sheep’ & take it straight to the ‘Lion’s
den’. As though, it is not sufficient, by clever politicking, they would stifle efforts of
the sincere ones to revive the Church. Seen anybody else play the role of ‘Dog
in the manger’, more perfectly?
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Neither would they seek God nor would they allow others to seek him. It is
precisely from this set of people, we would always face problems in our efforts
to tackle the problem of Nominalism. This is a fact & I ain't kidding to burrow
an American phrase. While ‘Fishing’ for the Nominal Christians in our Church circles,
sometimes from the powerful tug on the other side we would realise that in fact a Shark
has caught our line & is trying to pull us into the waters to devour us. If we are
unable to rope them in, let us let go of our fishing rods & save ourselves.
(Jude 23,24)This group represents a big, dangerous shark.
d)They are always in majority. As they outnumber us, let us not lose heart. Remember
‘One Christian plus God’ is a majority. Let us also draw comfort from the fact that fish have always
been more in number than the fishermen.
e)
Last but not the least, their Nominalism is a danger to their own souls.
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