Moravians - Centered in Christ

There was a time when the group of people history has called the “Moravians,” solely lived for Christ. Everything they did was done for the purpose that all would depend upon Christ.  

Before getting into the practicals of this, I want to say that it is what is behind the practicals that matters, much more than what is seen.

Nonetheless, from what was unseen and desired was born a response that for a season of time brought tremendous results.  

So in talking of these things, let’s remember why things were done the way they were, rather than what was done. Again the reason these things were done was for simple devotion to Christ.  

A lot of what is remembered about the Moravians was the well publicized period of 100 years that they unceasingly prayed and went in many places of the world spreading the gospel. What is less well-known is their emphasis upon spiritual growth concerning the body of believers; especially intimacy with Christ.  

One of the ways that they encouraged this to happen was to establish what they called, “choirs.”

Choirs were people of the same gender, age group, and marital status. They would live together communally. This happened as early as 18 months old, all the way to a time when people were widowed.  

All aspects of a person’s life took place within these arrangements. For example, when a child was approximately 18 months old, they were put within a choir of all the children of similar ages, until the age of 4. At that time they were separated until marriage from the opposite sex, as far as living arrangements and work was concerned.  

There was a series of these choirs throughout their lives. At around 12 they would go into another choir of older children of the same gender. Then at around 20 they would go into single brothers and single sisters’ choirs. If and when they married they would be in the choir of those who were married. When one was widowed they would be in the choir of those who were widowed. If they were remarried they would go back into the choir of those who were married.

The major reason this was done was to encourage intimate union with Christ.  
The practical reason was that those in the same age groups, gender, and life circumstances, would be in similar spiritual junctures. Thus they could support and encourage one another in their journey.  

Another very important reason for this was to deemphasize blood ties so that fellowship with Christ was first in their lives. The history of this practical outworking was that when there was counsel sought, the various brethren would direct them to Christ, not to themselves.  

The overall separation of genders was also for the sole purpose that there would be a total dependency upon Christ rather than a soulish dependency upon another human being.  

This doesn’t mean that they didn’t live close together; they did. They simply lived in different lodgings and worked separately, with differing responsibilities.  

The reason I mentioned at the beginning of the article concerning why these things were done is what’s important. Someone could easily copy these things and get terrible results. The point that was made was that they saw the most important thing in life: the simple devotion to Christ. Everything else was to pale in comparison to that. The practical steps they took were in response to that understanding.  

We need to center into the eternal aspect of these things, while looking to see if some of the practical can apply for us today.  

Moravians

The Moravians, because of their having a well-documented history, are a little more complex to write about.  

They, like Jan Hus, centered on the reality that Christ lived within you and started and centered His work there.  

These, like those before them, had the strong desire to return to the simple ways of the early church. They had grown weary of the excesses of the institutional church and clergy.  

One of the unique features and developments of the Moravians was their living together. In a number of different times and places throughout their history they had started Christian communities from scratch.
 
Like many people today that are hearing the call to move into neighborhoods together, they, 100s of years ago, saw and responded to the same things.  
Many times when you read of their history you read about houses for brothers, sisters and families. There was this wonderful, spontaneous way of living and life in Christ that is recorded for us.  

While they are not the only ones to do this, they probably have more records of it than any other group of people from that time and before. Their writings and history survived the attempt at destroying it that had obliterated the history of other groups from earlier times.  

Another unique aspect of their lives that was recorded later on was that of starting to bring the gospel to others in a way that hadn’t been attempted before. They eventually reached out to the world in ways that were amazing for the small numbers that they existed in.  

Many of those who went to share the gospel died from disease. This didn’t deter these tremendous believers. With continuous union with Christ that is reputed to not have stopped for over a hundred years, day and night, they did what nobody before them had done.  

One of the amazing testimonies that they had was that many of those involved with the protestant reformation made the comment that they wished that those they had the experience which could even come close to their depth and devotion to Christ.
 
Those of the reformation, in many areas, would have done much better to follow the example of the lives of these simple believers, than the example of those that followed.

The Image Breakers

Rom. 1:18 -23 – The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.  

This portion of the history of the church deals more with an insight into the nature of God as embraced by many all throughout the church age, rather than a specific people.  

As the mixture of paganism and the church grew together, the making of images representing the Lord while on the earth, His natural mother, certain believers, and even particles of hair and clothing, among other things, began to be worshipped.  
Throughout the centuries voices have risen up in protest against these obvious idolatrous practices. The major thrust of the detractors is that only God is to be worshipped and venerated. There is nothing created that is to be lifted up in the hearts and minds of believers.  

What is the process they took in doing these things? They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal or created things. They worshipped the creation rather than the Creator. This is still going on to this day.

The key to all of this is to remember what it is that faith in its essence is. As the scriptures teach us: Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. Faith deals with the invisible, not the visible. If we are able to see something, then it cannot be called faith.
 
After all, our faith in God is in the invisible God. Jesus Himself told the disciples that those who would come after, who had never seen Him in the flesh, would be most blessed because of the element of faith required.  

While this all may seem very basic and elemental, in truth, the great majority of Christians don’t really think of the unseen realm that Christ is.  

Even when you read the various accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, most don’t understand that Christ isn’t concerned with anything of the outward but on what is within. Even though they talk about when Christ was physically on the earth, they are truly revealing what was happening within Him in fellowship with His Father. If you read the gospels with that thought in mind, you will see and discover things you have never dreamed of before.  

The main point was that Jesus lived by another life that couldn’t be seen with the natural eyes, but had to be seen and believed through eyes of faith.  This is why many throughout the centuries, since the resurrection of Christ, have opposed the physical image-worshippers. They have been called Iconoclasts by the makers and worshippers of these images. This word simply means “image breakers.” This came about because when many saw these truths about images, they went about destroying them.  

The key for us, though, is to see beyond simply destroying physical objects, and look to why they would be accepted and promoted in the first place.  

In one simple understanding of God, we can see all of these things as worthless. God is in direct union with those who believe in Him. Using some type of object as a replacement or some type of contact point between God and man is folly, pagan, and superstitious. Our Father is the living God. He is spirit. He doesn’t dwell in objects or attach Himself to parts of dead human beings and make them sacred in some type of dispensing of magic.  

Our God is real. And His greatest desire is to be in deep, close, spiritual union with His people, His family.

Albigensians

The Albigensians or Cathars as they have been called, were among one of the great people of God in history.  

They were concentrated in southern France in general, although they lived beyond that geographical region.  

As with all of those Christians who live outside the institutional religious system, they challenged the many excesses that existed in their day. Usually they challenged them simply by not participating in their activities and not living life the way they did.  

One of the truly amazing testimonies that existed concerning these Christians was that where they lived was possibly the most flourishing area on the earth at that time. A great many of those that were called 'catholic' freely interacted with these believers and regarded them very favorably. They had them in such high regard that many became part of what God was doing in them. While the average man or woman were deeply touched by their sincere devotion to Christ, the religious leaders hated them. They didn't want Christ to be head of His church, rather they decided that if they weren't over the people of God, then nobody would be.  

They are made to look weird spiritually because they emphasis the indwelling work of the Spirit of God within them first and primarily.  

Some historians have went so far to justify the crusade that Innocent the III promulgated against them because they say that if they had been allowed to continue on in their ways, they would have destroyed civilization as we know it today.  

An interesting, exciting fact about this though is that historians also say that they mingled with all Christians and their was a tremendous unity among the believers in the towns that they lived in. The religious leaders hated this. They hated it so much that they destroyed the civic leaders of that day in order to stomp out this way of life. It was one of the most brutal suppressions of a people in all of history.  

The numbers of deaths of men, women, and children is staggering to say the least. The brutality is beyond comprehension. When Christ reveals Himself in a people, everything hates that image that is being formed in the earth.  

The Albigensians had the typical lie of Manichaeism applied to them. What they really did was to reject the horrors, tyranny, and sin that the corrupt ‘official’ church had entered into.  What is amazing about all of this is that modern-day Europe is paying the price. If you follow the history of persecution by the religious system, you will find that the social order in the centuries following was swallowed up by the enemies of Christ.

The Donatists being eventually overrun by the Muslims and now (2003) in about a 100 –200 years from this date, Europe will probably become Muslim. God is not mocked!  It never ceases to amaze me that a people that simply want to follow Christ outside all of the false pageantry and ritualism are among the most hated people in the world.  

The Albigensians were among these people. For some reason people are afraid of the reality of Christ. They want symbols and shadows rather than experiential, practical truth of Christ.  

The Albigensians showed us in their generation that there will always be a people that will not submit to the tyranny of symbolism.  

The thing that is hated so much is that there is the testimony of another world; one that is greater than this one. For example in Hebrews we are told that we have not come to a mountain like Israel did when they were so afraid that they begged that nothing more would be spoken to them. They couldn’t handle the command that even if an animal were to touch the mountain it would be stoned.  Rather it goes on to tell us that we have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. We have come to the church of the firstborn, those who are part of it have their names written in heaven. We have come to God and Jesus.
 
This is what the testimony of the early church and those outside the religious system have always testified to. The days of types and shadows are over, now we are to enter into what these pointed to. And what they pointed to was the truth and reality that was fulfilled and is fulfilled in Christ.  

The rejection and genocide of the Albigensians was a rejection and genocide of Christ. Today those who are the heirs of those who did it are beginning to pay the price.  

As for us, we must continue on in the great example that these beloved believers have passed on to us.

Paulicians

Those who history has called the Paulicians (pôlish'unz), were among the first significant numbers of Christians that appear on the scene, outside of institutional Christianity, after the time of Constantine.  
 
This in and of itself makes them extremely significant.
 
I do want to point out again that these people, along with the others mentioned in the history section, would never have thought of calling themselves anything other than ‘brethren’ or Christians. There was never a concept of considering themselves some type of denominational group of people that centered on anything but Christ.  
What was truly remarkable about them was that they saw that the practices of the church had gone completely off base. What many are seeing today concerning the practices of present-day Christianity, they saw approximately 1400 years ago.
 
While there were many things that they refused to partake in and exposed as wrong ways of doing things, I am going to mention just a few of them as inspiration to what God is doing among His people today.  
 
No Special Buildings
 
First and foremost they challenged the idea of special buildings having any type of uniqueness or ‘holy’ quality. To them, like us today, the home was much more suitable and scriptural to the ways of God.  
They realized that we are the temple of God. Their insight into this truth was a great step forward into learning how to live our lives together.
 
No Clergy
 
With this they repudiated the pagan concept of the supposed establishment of a ‘clergy’ by God. They knew that this had come from the time of Constantine and was based upon the pagan priests of that time. They seemed to even suggest what many of us are seeing today; that there is really no need for ‘appointed’ special people to run things.
 
No Special Rituals or Relics
 
One of the underlying themes of their lives was the exposing of the veneration of rituals or items as having any type of significance. All of the paganistic application of spirituality to objects, relics, or rituals was rejected by these godly people.
 
They have a revelation of and appreciation for the deep, inner workings of the Spirit of God within our spirits. This practical way of life and understanding put them at great odds with the outwardly religious way of doing things that had escalated for the previous 300 years.
 
Everyone was a saint
 
Lastly, they put no importance upon individuals being considered more important than anyone else. There was no elevating to ‘sainthood’ of the followers of Christ. Everyone that believed was a saint; there was no special class of people that were superior to others.
 
While there were many things like these that were embraced by these followers of Christ, this is meant to be a short introduction into the reality that there has always been a testimony of Christ among a people in the earth.
 
We stand on the shoulders of giants that have lived throughout the generations. While the testimony has been attempted to be silenced, it has never been able to be overcome by its enemies.
 
Let us grab hold of the torch and continue on, without fainting, unto our purpose in the generation we live in, remaining faithful, that we may pass the torch to the next.

The Waldensians

Centuries before the reformation, there was a number of men that saw that all believers had the responsibility to be a priest unto the Lord, not simply some type of ‘official’ priest.  In other words they believed in the priesthood of all believers not of a select few. The astonishing thing about this is that it was approximately 350 years before the "official" reformation began.  

They fought against the idea of a centralized church order and someone other than Christ being its head.  

One of the other things that they refused to accept was the attachment of holiness to objects or images. When believers begin to recognize this, they acknowledge the inner workings of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  

Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant who eventually sold all of his worldly goods, saw the need of these things and by most is assigned a key role in being inspired to do this work in Christ.  

When he and his colleagues went out in twos preaching the gospel, it was considered an act of rebellion by the religious leaders. People that weren’t priests were forbidden to do any such thing during this period of time. In an act of extreme bravery they defied the order to stop their preaching, eventually they were excommunicated by the ‘pope.’  This is one of the early incursions by God to show the believers again what it means to be a priesthood of believers.  

What these people did also was to translate some of the scriptures into the language of the populace. They spoke not in the ‘official’ language of the religious system, but rather in their own normal way of speaking the general population would understand and relate to.

People that are in power and power-hungry don’t like to see these types of things happen.  Eventually the continuation of their way brought down heavy persecution and martyrdom. It is projected by most that at least tens of thousands died at the hands of the religious system, and possibly many more.  

In an unfortunate development centuries later, they teamed up with some of the reformists that eventually compromised the simplicity and spontaneity of Christ's way of life.  

Yet in spite of this they still held one of the longest testimonies outside of the religious system that there has ever been.  

Interestingly, at first, they really weren’t trying to change anything doctrinally or start some type of rebellion. What they really only wanted to do was to preach the gospel unhindered and unencumbered from centralized authority that they didn’t believe they needed permission to do the work of God from.

Of course, in a pagan/civic/clerical world, this was always only wishful thinking. When that world started to attack and exterminate them, that is when they started to search and seek out a more in depth knowledge of how God was working among them.  
They are truly people, in spite of a number of things that they never changed, that we can take inspiration and learn from. Hundreds of years before the reformation, there already was a reformation, they just didn’t know it.

Church History - Church outside the system

Throughout history, from the beginning of the church of Jesus Christ till today, there has existed those who yearned for two things. One is a passionate love for Jesus Christ that puts Him far above all things in this world or the world to come. Now the Father has already raised Him to this place of course, yet it must be worked into our inner man fully and completely.

Secondly, there has been the desire that the Christ be revealed in His people, not in a man-made system created from blending into the world system, but a living expression of this risen Lord. An exact representation of Him on the earth through His people.

When a person studies church history, we who have done it and live outside the institutional church system, notice a very interesting thing. There are always these things called footnotes that mention these little-known groups of people that wanted to take things further on into Christ than they currently had. They wanted more of Christ and got it. Untold numbers lost their lives as a result of this hunger and as a result of their response to that hunger. 

The reason for this bit of  history is to show you that there are many similar things that numerous of these people up to this day have had in common and have built upon in continuous pursuit of the Lord.

Below is a list of the things that happened and continue to happen up until this current moment in time.

While we need to learn the things that have existed from the past, each generation needs to take things to a new level.

But first we must learn the things of the past so that we do not have to start over from the beginning.

One of the reasons this is hard is because many of those outside institutional religion were slaughtered and their literature destroyed so that there could be no rebuttals to the “official” version of what happened.  Always remember one thing, history is written by the “winners.” Not the winners from God’s point-of-view, but winners in the sense of “exterminators.”

First they must exterminate then they write their version of what happened. That’s a great deal of what history is. Thankfully a lot of those who murdered these great saints, were so full of themselves that they wrote diaries and accounts of their persecutions to justify what they did.  Unbelievably to this very day I hear wicked men defending the actions of these butchers in the name of protecting the church. It will be very interesting after the resurrection to see these men in the fiery light of the judgments of the Lord.

Anyway, we do have enough things to get a good idea of what the lives of these saints were like. Specifically how they lived, which is what I want to concentrate on today.

Community

One of the main things that is always mentioned is that they lived in community together. I mean in close, physical quarters. Today we would call it a neighborhood. Some even built or settled areas and lived in cities that they built. The cities basically being the church. Ever since I became a Christian I have found that for the most part, many of those outside the church system do the same thing today.
I have lived and worked among a number of churches outside the system and each one had the desire to live close to one another.

Centrality of Christ

Another thing that always was part of who they were was the centrality of Jesus Christ. He was everything to them. He was their doctrine, their life, and their purpose. Jesus was far above everything else in this life to them.

Jesus being a part of their life 24 hours a day was another common part of what these believers always lived. Thinking of Christ as someone you met for an hour or two a week wouldn’t have fit into the matrix of their thinking.

Jesus was always more than a biblical doctrine to them, He was a living reality. He was deeply interested in every area and moment of their lives, and they relied upon Him in every way. These same characteristics have been part of those I have lived among and close to over three decades. 

Church is not a System

There was always a fervent rejection of the church being some type of system among us throughout history. It was always something alive and vibrant, not overly doctrinal in a way that systematically revealed Christ as some type of robotic creation that moved only within the confines of man’s personal interpretation.
 
Deep Inner Work

The deep inner working of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the Christian was one of the most continuous aspects of life of these Godly believers. They believed that Christ was very close in them, no, not only believed it, but practically lived it.

This inner working always challenged them to become more Christlike, to have more of the cross of Jesus Christ worked into their lives, so that the life of Christ could be shown forth.

Corporate Living

That brings us to another extremely important aspect of these brothers and sisters. They never only thought in terms of individuality, they thought corporately just as powerfully. What do I mean? They realized that they were a many-membered body of Christ. There was a strong brotherly love for one another that came about from daily living and working with one another. It was real and worked into their lives in every way.

They knew that God moved among them individually for the purpose of building up the corporate life. Like the Godhead, they were one but have various and diverse ways of showing Him forth. They were not lone rangers out there by themselves, rather they had a deep commitment to one another in Christ.

This doesn’t mean that there wasn’t uniqueness. Just that they used that uniqueness for the common building up of one another in Christ. Like Paul reveals to us, they were many members but one body. In their case it was true and practically real.

Conscious of God’s heavenly realm

The last thing I want to mention is that these brothers and sisters always had a sense of God’s spiritual realm. They understood that God was Spirit and they had that sense of otherworldliness that all Christians desperately need.

I don't mean by that the strange type of people that have glazed over eyes and appear outwardly to be in a trance-like communication with God. Rather I mean, and the Scriptures mean, that it's a people that have their hearts and minds set on the things above, and not the things on this earth.

There is a sense of the fact this world isn't all there is, and that there is another world entirely different from this one that represents God in another realm. It's a higher way of life and living, which is why we are taught to ask God for His will to be done and kingdom to come in earth as it is in heaven.

It's a realization that His world of heaven has come down to earth to dwell within us by the Spirit in a real and living way. That we can fellowship and enjoy His presence in peace and joy with one another.

That this great God of ours wants to share the fellowship of His son with us. That’s what truly eating and drinking of Him means; the great eternal purpose that He wants to share of that greatness and glory that He is with His created people.  There is nothing in the world that can compare with this.

What is fantastic about this is this is the just the beginning place of the legacy that has been left for us to continue on with.

Some of you fret about the fact that many of us want to live close to one another so that we can be together in Him on this earth as close as we possibly can. While it is definitely challenging, it is also more than worth it.

Pioneers must do these types of things. Maybe in a couple of centuries there will be neighborhoods all over the world living in this way so that no one will have to move more than a few miles or less to be part of this wonderful way of life. That’s the price many of us must be willing to pay now if we want to leave a true legacy to the next generation. We must think and live beyond ourselves. The early church did, as did many throughout the ages, so must we.

Church History - Peter Waldo

There are many who feel that Peter Waldo had a direct hand in helping to found that group of people that history has labeled the ‘Waldensians.’ While others believe that they existed long before Peter was born.  

None of this really matters, for there can be no doubt that he played a part and had an influence upon them no matter what stage their existence was at.  

I think that one of the characteristics that set Peter apart wasn’t so much what his doctrine was as the way he lived. There came a time in his life that he believed God had called him to sell all that he had and go and preach the gospel. After doing that and leaving enough for his wife to live on, he obeyed and went and did it.  
At a time when the love of money was so part of the religious system, this was quite a step to take.  

While at first this was embraced by the religious leaders, eventually they grew quite uncomfortable with his way of life. Not so much that he went about poor, but rather that they didn’t have a say in what he did.  

What is tremendous about this is that in his own fellowship with the Father and Jesus, he was given instruction to do something and he obeyed and did it. Now this was something that the religious leaders couldn’t and wouldn’t tolerate. After all, what would God be doing talking to someone like Peter without consulting them first and getting their approval?  

So with the consistent monotony of the religious system, they attempted to shut him up. As usual it didn’t work. When God wants to do something, He just doesn’t like religion getting in His way.  

Like others, Peter and those who participated in these things went out and preached the gospel to those who would hear them. They went out by twos and had a huge impact on the world of that day.
 
Because he refused the popes admonition to stop preaching, he and others with him were excommunicated. This did nothing to deter them from continuing to do the Lord’s will as He moved within their spirits and reached out to a world desperately in need of a real testimony of who Christ was.  

Again, to me the significance of Peter Waldo was that he showed forth the ancient unction to fellowship with Christ and the Father outside of any human mediator. This inevitably rubs paganistic, religious systems the wrong way. Somebody always wants to try to manipulate and control what they think God should do within human beings. This will always fail as history has proven.  

Peter Waldo, and those with him, have shown us that actions and practices that come from fellowshipping with God has always been the result that comes from His eternal purpose.  

It is that fellowship that the world and religious systems and power seekers hate. After all, where is the need for mediators when we can know Him directly ourselves? This is the testimony that Peter Waldo left us.

Church History - John Wycliffe

Before we get into some of the importance of Wycliffe, it will be interesting to note a similarity that existed in his time that also existed in the time of Martin Luther.  

Both of these men have been given great importance in playing a role in the reforming of the church. Yet, interestingly enough, none of this could have happened over a normal lifespan if they hadn’t received help. What am I talking about?  One of the most interesting facts that link the two of them is that they had physical protection from civic rulers of their day that protected them from harm by the religious authorities that wanted to kill them.  

This gave them enough time to repeatedly get their message across in a way that has lasted throughout the centuries.  

Why is Wycliffe so important? He is one of the few, which over a lifetime, were able to challenge the absolute power of the existing religious institution without being martyred.  

This gave him time to not only write against the errors of the day, but to train up others that went out all over to show forth the ways of God more clearly. These that inherited this ministry were eventually called ‘Lollards.’  

One of the things that Wycliffe did was to point out that there was only one mediator between God and man. While this may not sound too radical by today’s standards, back then it was not only revolutionary, but considered heretical.  

Back then it must be remembered that for the most part it wasn’t doctrine that was what people thought of when they heard the word heresy; rather it was whether someone went along with the notion that the institutional church leaders had absolute authority. Challenge that authority in any way and you were considered a heretic and worthy of death.  Versions of this continue to this day.  

Another one of the important things that he accomplished was that he oversaw and participated in the translating of the scriptures into the language of the common people of his nation, which was English.  

As throughout all of history, this was hated by those who loved absolute power over men. It went against the concept of centralized power. It affirmed the reality that Christ was to be the center of all things.  

Wycliffe began to see the church in a light that many in our day still do not understand fully or live out practically. He talks of the church not being an institutional organization whose leaders are ordered in some type of power-based hierarchy. Rather he was seeing it as many today have, in the light of being a body, the bride, a living organism being filled with Christ through the Spirit.  

He saw that salvation came through Christ and Christ alone, not through some type of official connection to an institution.  

While there were others before him that saw these things and lived them, Wycliffe was able to survive long enough to show forth some of these things and to pass them on to others that took them up and ran with them for generations to come. He was truly a remarkable individual.  

Church History - Silvanus - (Constantine)

In writing about Silvanus, I want to mention first that his original name was Constantine, but so you don’t in any way confuse him with the pagan emperor Constantine, I will call him only by the name he adopted after going through a strong experience from God.

What began his life’s work was a providential meeting that was set up by God. A man journeying on his way back home was entertained by Silvanus and taken in to his home. The traveler had with him the four gospels and the letters of Paul. They began reading and sharing them together. As a result when the guest left, he gave them to Silvanus.

The continuing seeking and entering into these scriptures brought around a dramatic transformation within him.

It was at this point that he changed his name and began to share with others the tremendous things that were happening to him. He and others began to reject the worship and superstitious adoration of icons and images. This brought about a strong response from the religious authorities.

The great contribution that Silvanus gave us was the passion to go back and see how the early church lived out their lives in Christ and then he would take those things and impart that to others.  

Another terrific part of what Christ was doing in him was the desire to return to the simplicity that is in Christ. The religious behemoth had become so worldly that it was incapable of imparting any type of life to others in any way. The politics of religious power and devious stratagems permeated the institutional religious organization.

This simplicity in Christ and passion for doing things as Christ would have them started to spread everywhere.

One of the other great insights that Silvanus entered into in practice was the work of planting churches like the original apostles did. This was a tremendous, powerful concept that shook the world of that time.

In a tremendous display of spontaneous life from Christ and reaching out to the spiritually starving, one of the great moments in Christian history began to unfold.
The powers that be couldn’t allow this to go unchallenged, so they eventually got hold of Silvanus and made him stand in front of some his fellow believers and they were ordered to stone him. They were offered pardon by the authorities if they would do it. Only one complied, and unfortunately this killed him.

Yet, as always, the testimony goes on. There were those who the Lord raised up afterward and continued on in the purpose of God.

Silvanus is one of the great men of Christian history. Far before most believers saw the need for change, God raised up a man who few have compared with since. His insights were so far ahead of his time that most even today have a hard time grasping and moving into this way of Christ.

We need and must take heed to what these godly pioneers of the faith partook in. We not only need to enter into all of these ways, but then we must go beyond further up into the ways of God that we may pass the testimony to those who will passionately follow.