Ecclesiastical Feudalism and the Collapse of Culture
| By: Dr. Ted Baehr; ©2002 |
| Dr. Baehr says that, “there is something seriously wrong when the church at large takes in billions of dollars and yet seems to be losing the battle for our civilization to the mass media of communications.” What can be done to reverse the trend? |
Ecclesiastical Feudalism and the Collapse of Culture
In an age when the church in the United States takes in more than eleven times more money than Hollywood earns at the box office, it should be a great concern that movies such as Titantic, Hannibal and Scary Movie have so much influence on our children and grandchildren. There is something seriously wrong when the church at large takes in billions of dollars and yet seems to be losing the battle for our civilization to a much smaller and much more compact mass media of communications. A few Christian leaders like Pastor Rick Warren have finally gotten the picture that we need to stop building up edifices and need to start building up the people who comprise the body of Christ.
In some way, the problem we’re facing is very similar to the problems that wracked and finally destroyed the Crusaders as they attempted to liberate and then to hold the holy city of Jerusalem from the infidels. Of course, from a scriptural point of view, the Crusaders would have been better off if they had been missionaries, but from a more mundane point of view, how did hundreds of thousands of well-armed crusaders fail to achieve their goals?
The answer is clearly put out in Hillaire Belloc’s book on The Crusades. Feudalism kept the Crusades from succeeding, even though they won most of the battles against overwhelming odds. The reason for the failure was quite simple: none of the lords from their different feudal domains would submit to a central command or strategy, nor would they work together. Each of them wanted their own feudal kingdom in the Middle East. They were their own worst enemy.
Regrettably, it is much like that today with the church and the various splinter denominations, mega-churches and parachurch ministries. They are doing great work, but they have very great difficulty working together, and, regrettably, Christian leaders are all too often more concerned with expanding their territory even at the expense of others.
In Hollywood, there is good news: more and more Christians are getting involved in the entertainment industry and trying to produce worthwhile movies, music and entertainment. Regrettably, at the same time, this divisiveness among Christians in Hollywood is even more apparent, and the Hollywood professionals are noting that Christians are all too often the first to act like Sammy Glick.
One Christian movie company is being sued by a Christian author of the book upon which the movie was made. Another Christian filmmaker is fighting with his partners. Another Christian leader is upset that a media minister took his mission program in Hollywood, then set up its own ministry. Many Christian ministries cannot agree on whether they’re going to boycott Hollywood or transform it. One Christian fundraiser just told me that a major parachurch ministry refused to publish any solution-oriented articles because people only give to the problem, not the solution. Many of the new crop of so-called Christian filmmakers have been caught lying, cheating and defrauding their stakeholders.
Of course, the list of grievances could go on and on. So, regrettably, the kingdoms and fiefdoms seem to be at each other’s throats, not just metaphorically, but physically.
The answer, of course, is revival, reformation and renewal. Moreover, these leaders need to understand that the battle is not for personal gain nor against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities. Also, they need to have the clear realization that the current spiritual battle is for the future of our children and grandchildren, and the triumphant victor is not any one person, but Jesus Christ and His kingdom.
Of course, whatever happens with Hollywood and so-called Western civilization is finally irrelevant, because history is His Story, and He won the victory on the cross. However, we are called to be His Ambassadors to call people into His Kingdom, which is something we cannot do when we are building our own fiefdoms.
All this sounds exactly like the problems that plagued the Crusaders. Of course, the Crusaders failed, and for 1400 years, the Holy Land was lost to its original inhabitants, believing Jews and Christians.
Whatever God’s plan, the Crusaders met the enemy, and it was they themselves and their feudalistic politics. Perhaps, the Church should learn from history, or we can say with the Crusaders and Pogo that “we have met the enemy and it is us”!
