Acts - Pt. 4 - Attacked

As soon as the Holy Spirit came upon the church, there were attacks. Today Christians are one of the most persecuted of religious groups worldwide. In the 20th century, more Christians have been killed; either directly for their faith or in situations where being a Christian has played a role, than in all the other centuries combined.

While it is true that the first and crudest tactic is violence, overwhelming the Church with persecution, the second is even more cunning: moral corruption and compromise. Brennan Manning famously said “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” The early Church was not exempt. The first example in Scripture of the attempt to insinuate evil into the interior life of the Church is the story of Ananias and Sapphira.