From the events of history – Events confronted by saints
From the events of history
Events confronted by saints
There are people who misunderstand Christianity… they think that holiness is merely avoiding mistakes, perhaps in a kind of passiveness that neither moves nor acts! And they think this is meekness!
But holiness in its reality is active and effective…
Saints stood powerfully in the face of the events of their times, with a positive spirit that explained error, analyzed it, opposed it, and continued to defend the truth until the truth prevailed, no matter how much they suffered for its sake.
The saints stood against the heresies and false teachings of their time.
Saint Athanasius the Apostolic stood strongly against the Arian heresy, resisting it through debate, writings, councils, many travels, and enduring exile and persecution. He lived during his struggle (45 years) in this spiritual warfare until the faith was established…
In the same way, Saint Cyril the Pillar of Faith stood against the Nestorian heresy and endured much for that. Saint Timothy of Alexandria stood against the Macedonian heresy, and Saint Dioscorus stood against the Council of Chalcedon and against Emperor Marcian and his wife Pulcheria.
The saints also stood strongly against the errors and corruption of their era…
John the Baptist, with complete frankness and strength, said to Herod: “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife” (Mark 6:19). John did not take a passive stance toward Herod, merely feeling disgust at his sins or merely praying for his repentance…
John Chrysostom also did not take a passive stance toward the empress when she wronged a widow.
Likewise, the prophet Elijah had a strong and positive stance toward Ahab and all the worship of Baal and the Asherah in his days… And the Lord Christ Himself took a positive stance when He entered the temple, cleansed it, expelled the sellers from it, and overturned the tables of the money changers…
Even the apostle Paul also took a firm and positive stance toward another apostle older than him, the apostle Peter, saying in one of his epistles: “I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed” (Galatians 2:11).
David took a positive stance toward Goliath while the entire army was in an extremely passive condition. David’s positivity influenced the events and turned them in another direction, filled with joy in the Lord and His work. And the truth must have a witness in every generation who defends it, provided that this is done with wisdom and understanding.
Eli the priest, when he took a passive stance toward the sins of his sons—or at least when he rebuked them too gently—his end was tragic, and God ended his priestly leadership and made him an example to others…
Reformers in every generation are those who take a positive stance toward the errors of their generation…
With effectiveness and influence… and with clear results, such that the generation itself or the entire era was attributed to one of them, and it was said: “In the age of so-and-so,” or “In the days of so-and-so…”
And you, in evaluating yourself, ask: What is the element of positivity in your life? Do you see passiveness as safer? Or do you see it as a false peace, because it is far from the truth?
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