lessons church north africa

8/3/2019 Lessons Church North Africa

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LESSONS FROMTHE CHURCH IN THE ARAB WORLD

INTRODUCTION

Seventeen centuries ago, multitudes of Christians lived among thepeoples of North Africa and the Middle East. In the fourth century AD,this were the one of the great heartlands of Christianity.

Christianity in the Arab world goes back to the beginning of churchhistory. In Acts 2:11 we read that Libyans and Arabs were amongthose whose responded to the first Christian preaching on the day ofPentecost. In Antioch (present Syria) the disciples of the Lord werefirst called Christians (Acts.11:26). In Acts 18:24 it speaks aboutApollos born in Alexandria.

Cartage in Tunisia and Alexandria in Egypt were (along with Rome)the leading cities of the Christian world. They were home to the mostinfluential writers and theologians after the apostles (Clement,Tertullian, Origen, Augustine) Athanasius was bishop in Alexandria.It was the place where the Septuagint, de Greek translation of theOT was produced.

During the first 5 centuries after the rise of Christianity the church

grew rapidly in the Middle East and North Africa. As early as the thirdcentury AD, Tertullian, writing in defense of Christianity, coulddeclare: We are a great multitude, almost a majority in each city.

The Gospel traveled deeper into North Africa and the Middle Eastthan ever Roman rule did. Relics of church buildings, for example,have been found in North African villages too remote for Romanrecords.

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History of Church in North Africa

Christianity is a fundamental part of our rich North African heritage.The way of Christ was known and loved here long before it reachednorthern Europe and America.

The Gospel took root in North Africa in the first century as thevulnerable faith of a persecuted minority. For three hundred yearsthe Imazighen (Berbers) heard and responded to the Word of God,not because of Roman power but despite it. Indeed, Romangovernors and magistrates did their utmost to suppress the faith, todestroy its leaders, and to drive its followers back into the pagantemples. A relentless stream of stringent laws, designed to wipeChristianity off the face of the globe, were enacted at the highestlevels by a succession of tyrannical emperors.

During these years of persecution, the churches of North Africaflourished. So firm was their faith, and so effective their outreach,that by the third century most of present-day Tunisia and much ofpresent-day Algeria were known to be Christian. The earlybelievers achieved these marvelous results by means of personalwitnesswithout radio, correspondence courses, audio or videocassettes or printed literature. North Africa produced manycelebrated martyrs and some of the greatest theologians. Three ofthe foremost Christian writers of all time, Tertullian, Cyprian andAugustine, were Algerians.

In the fourth and fifth centuries, however, this spectacular Christian

growth was followed by an equally remarkable collapse. Thechurches which were poised to take the gospel throughout thelength and breadth of Africa faltered, stumbled, and shortlyafterwards disappeared without trace. They failed completely tocapitalize on the freedom offered to them by the Edict of Milan inAD 313. When Vandal and Arab invaders arrived in the fifth andseventh centuries, the churches were in no condition to offer anyresistance or to survive the introduction of new religious systems.

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To what can we attribute the North African

Christians early success?

1)They proclaimed a very practical gospel. It related to thefelt needs of both educated and uneducated. It was offered asgood news to be received rather than a rival philosophy to bedebated. There was really nothing to debate. Outsiders werealready aware of the weaknesses of their old religion, and theprocess of intellectual proof and disproof seems to have had avery minor role in their conversion. The reformation of morals,however, was a major theme, accompanied by the affirmation ofthe great eternal certainties of the gospel. This brought hope,the opportunity of a fresh start in life, and the strong assuranceof life beyond the grave in a world where death was an ever-present reality. These are the emphases of Tertullians earliestwritings, such as his great Apology in AD 198.

Application: Are we presenting a practical gospel that relates tofelt needs and comes across as good news?

2)They developed a supportive Christian community built onthe admirable principles of love, trust and honesty. The worldcould see the difference that the gospel made to the character of

the believers. Outsiders who longed for a better way of life knewwhere to find it. The study of books, which often preoccupies themodern European (and tends to exclude or humiliate theuneducated) seems to have played a very small part. TheChristian communities were practical support groupsfellowshipsin the fullest sense. They devoted themselves to personalworship and prayer, and to mutual exhortation andencouragement. They called one another brother and sister,and cared for one another as family members. Again this is clearfrom Tertullians Apology.

Application: Are we developing supportive Christian communitieswhere all feel fully involved?

3)They sought to be light and salt in their street or village.They helped their neighbours at every opportunity in the name ofChrist, not hiding their faith but rather showing its fruits. Theresponse of Cyprians church to the onset of the plague inCarthage is a striking example.

Application: Are we encouraging believers to serve othersimaginatively and prayerfully in the name of Jesus?

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4)They welcomed persecution as an opportunity for publicwitness and for eternal reward. They held prayer meetings inprison, and preached with great boldness to the assembledcrowds whilst awaiting execution. Many bystanders wereconverted in consequence. These were the most effective open-

air meetings that North Africa has ever seen. The account ofPerpetua and Felicitas in Carthage AD 203 is a fine example.There are many others.

Application: Do we welcome persecution as an opportunity forwitness and eternal blessing?

5)They had a very simple and effective organizationalstructure. During the first two centuries, the senior men, orelders, evidently shared leadership of each independent localgroup, all contributing according to their diverse spiritual gifts.

Chosen according to Pauls instructions to Timothy and Titus,these were working men with family responsibilities. Thechurches generally met in the home of one of its more wealthymembers, not necessarily one of the elders.

In addition to these established local leaders, there weretraveling evangelists who proclaimed the Word far and wide.They introduced new converts and contacts to the group beforemoving on. The evangelists were single men, inured to povertyand hardship. Without any salary, they looked to the Lord tosupply their needs through the local churches. (See the Didache,

Tertullians Apology, and also Greens Evangelism in the EarlyChurch, Chapter 7)

Application: Are we encouraging the development of simpleBiblical churches with plural leadership? Should we be prayingfor the training itinerant national evangelists?

The Christian communities, which showed such promise in thefirst and second centuries, gradually abandoned the Scripturalprinciples which would have guided and guarded them.

The great lesson of Christian history is this: Churches

flourish while they follow Biblical principles; they start todecay and die as soon as they abandon those principles.

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Application: We should deal firmly with moral lapses andcompromises in the churches, remembering that we are calledto be saints. Those who are seen to be hypocrites should notparticipate in worship. Believers who are known to have sinnedmust show signs of genuine repentance before sharing in the

Lords Supper. In our teaching we must rebuke worldly attitudes,priorities and prejudices, and expect each believer to testify torecognizable progress in these areas.

4)The churches were distracted and demoralized by internalcontroversy. The Donatist dispute, and the Arian controversy, inparticular, led to the establishment of rival groups, harshfeelings, bitter words and sometimes violence. The programmeof the churches sank rapidly from the heights of vigorousoutreach to the depths of denominational survival.

Application: We should warn against controversial novelties, anddo our utmost to forestall any impending dispute relating todoctrines or personalities. In essentials unity, in non-essentialsdiversity, in all things love; this is our aim. But if majorprolonged doctrinal or personal differences occur, we must prayfor grace to deal with them wisely and with restraint, and fortruth to prevail.

Whatever happens, loving kindness must still be the hallmark ofthe Christian community. It is forbidden for us to judge andcondemn (Matt. 7:1). Our attitude should be: I love my brother.I may grieve for his sin or for his error and I will do my utmost tohelp him; but I cannot speak evil of him, and I cannot hate orresent him.

5)The churches of the fourth century entangled themselves insocial and politicalissues that had nothing to do with thegospel of Christ. Initially the Donatists alliance with rebelgroups brought visible successa mass movement with widepopular support. Ultimately, however, it led to bloodshed,military reprisals and the dispersal of the half-converted masses,and it ended in great disillusionment. The Catholics support forthe Roman State made them powerful but unpopular, and it

meant that when Rome fell, they fell too.

Application: We must not take sides in any social or politicalconflict, however attractive the possibility of a mass-movementmight seem. Christ told us My kingdom is not of this world.What accord has Christ with Belial?

6)The churches failed to make Scripture available in a formunderstandable to the ordinary people. Using only thelanguage of the educated they could reach only the educated,those who lived in urban centres and whose parents could afford

to send them to Latin school. The churches also failed to initiate

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literacy programmes to teach their members how to read theBible.

Application: We should distribute Scripture widely in its mostunderstandable formsimpler translations, smaller portions,larger print, audio cassettes, psalms set to music, etc.so that

all have access to Gods Word. The educated townees,meanwhile, will naturally prefer the literary medium, and theyshould be encouraged to use it, without despising other versions.

7)The churches lost their vision, their God-given aim, andtheir spirit of self-sacrifice. Although they enjoyed freedom,royal favour and the resources to reach all of Africa with thegospel, the fourth and fifth century churches failed even to get asfar as the Sahara. Too many believers had become gettersrather than givers, looking to acquire prosperity and influencein this world rather than a reward in the world to come.Application: We must pass on to our national brothers our God-given concern for the lost and our God-given vision for the nameof Christ to be loved and honoured throughout this land. If thechurches do not catch this vision they will never start to reachtheir own people with the gospel. But when they do catch it...When a thousand North African believers are willing to spendand be spent, to count the cost and to lay down their lives, toleave home and set out for the mountains and the plains bearingnothing but the promises of God and the power of His Spirit, thenwe will begin to see the harvest we are longing and praying for.

The work of evangelism must be placed in the hands of bold,self-denying, humble, Christ-like national brethren. Our task is to prepare and equip the churches for this great enterprise.BdR/5/2002

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lessons church north africa

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