Frank E. Wilson, in his book The Divine Commission: A Sketch of Church History, places considerable emphasis on the church fulfilling the divine commission Christ left his followers.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
What interested me was that his book, while recording the partial realization of the divine commission, was mainly a record of how unlike Christ the church has been throughout history. The people in leadership positions in the church were more interested in money, power, and prestige than about the things of God. [1] They were quite willing to torture and kill those who disagreed with their theology and practices, even for very minor differences. [2] In our own age we have seen priests molest young children, TV preachers amassing wealth at the expense of their poor followers, and all sorts of financial and personal misdeeds by Christians.
What is incredible is that throughout this sordid history of the church the teachings of Jesus have remained valid. I do not see how that could happen if Jesus’ teaching were just a human construct. The hypocrisy of the church teaching one thing and doing another should have ended it long ago. The fact that it did not indicates to me that Jesus’ teachings are of divine origin and in spite of the fallible people who are this church, his teachings remain the ultimate guide for our lives. This is one reason why I believe.
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[1] Frank E. Wilson, The Divine Commission: A Sketch of Church History, Delhi, India: Facsimile Publisher, 1927, p. 209.
[2] Ibid., p. 114.
