Every Friday afternoon during the last period of the school week I find myself helping out in a year 8 class discussing history. I assist this entertaining group of students a few times each week (one of the various things I do as a chaplain), but for some reason Friday afternoon history is my favourite.
Last week as the lesson began I learned that the topic they were learning about was the Crusades. A brief explanation in case you were doodling and passing notes in year 8 history....
As per my recently refreshed knowledge thanks to Mrs Caple, the Crusades were religious wars fought by Christians against (mostly) Muslims between the 11th and 16th centuries with the aim to recover Jerusalem and the surrounding area ("the holy land"). Jerusalem was important to both sides for religious reasons. The Pope kicked it off, the Catholic Church repeated the call and the kings dutifully led their armies out (at this point the Catholic Church had a huge amount of power, even and especially with the monarchy). Several hundred thousand soldiers responded, some for glory, some for adventure, and many for more basic reasons: they would be fed. It was a violent and dark time in history, and the "Christian" church were the main perpetrators.
As the lesson began - well aware that my chaplain hat was unavoidably atop my noggin - I thought to myself "This could be awkward."
As a pastor and as a Christian I've had many conversations with non-Christian folk where I've tried to explain how good and worthwhile Christianity is - how great it would be and what an amazingly different world we'd have if more people lived Jesus' way.
"Well, what about the Crusades then?" people have replied. That was a time in history, they point out, where entire nations were "Christian" and yet took it upon themselves to slaughter everyone else (not just Muslims). It's a pretty crushing response and it's been very difficult in these conversations to find anything else to say. Even though it was hundreds of years ago in a medieval world, I've felt a fair bit of guilt over this dark part of history.
There has been a lot of church-bashing going on in the last few decades and the Crusades is one of the more well-worn blunt instruments.
Recently at a pastors conference that I attended, one of the speakers (who'd had similar conversations with his buddies) encouraged us to take the humble approach: although it wasn't us fighting those wars, we need to own up to it and just wear it because we wear the Christian name. (Similar to how our prime minister Kevin Rudd said sorry to all indigenous Australians on behalf of... who exactly?)
I think humility is definitely the right course of action whatever we do, but I also believe that in this instance that answer might actually prove to be a little unhelpful. Here's an illustration....
This week the Australian Rugby League State of Origin is on, for which I'm a very proud Queensland supporter. Suppose that in a club somewhere on Wednesday night a drunken fight breaks out over a dodgy ref's call and a QLD supporter leaves a NSW fan in a coma. Should I then hang my head in shame for the rest of my life because like that drunken thug I also support Queensland?
Or suppose it was discovered that during the world wars of last century one of the secret Nazi organisations devoted to wiping out the "inferior" races was code-named World Vision. Should today's World Vision aid organisation hang its head in shame and wear the wrongs of that Nazi group?
Or suppose someone was to steal my identity and then under my name start up a crack-dealing crime syndicate. Should I then go and apologise to anyone who's affected? "It was all done under my name. I'm so sorry for ruining your life. I'm heading to the cops now so they can lock me away." Of course not. That would be ridiculous. Once it was established that someone was using my identity I'd be perfectly in the clear. "It was just somebody using Ben's name."
I think you get it. Jesus himself said once "You can tell a tree by its fruit." If you go to Bunnings and buy a lemon tree and find out later that it grows oranges, it doesn't mean you should call David Attenborough because you've discovered an amazing new variety of lemon tree. It means someone at Bunnings put the wrong tag on the tree. If it grows oranges, it's an orange tree.
Although the Crusades were fought under the "Christian" name, they were nothing at all like Christ. They were in fact pretty much the exact opposite of Jesus. Jesus was a compassionate, inclusive and accepting, humble man devoted to peace. While many of his fellow Jews wanted to stage a violent military revolution against the oppressing Romans, Jesus taught about sacrificial love, unrelenting grace and above all he painted a vision of a future world that could include everyone, free of pain and heartache, violence and corruption.
The word "Christian" literally means "little Christ." It was originally given to Jesus' followers in the first century because people looked at them and thought "These people are just like Jesus."
Last week in that year 8 history class, I found that I don't feel guilt anymore when someone talks about the Crusades. Because to me, those soldiers, those kings and the violent, power-hungry "church" were not Christians at all. They were not "little Christs." They were not like Jesus at all. I similarly disown the violent and racist "Christian" groups of modern-day times. There are a lot of "Christians" in the world but a lot fewer people who actually look like Jesus.
Don't look at the tag. You can tell a tree by its fruit.
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