Revival, Truth, and Persecution: An interview with Eugene Bach
God’s Word is truth, and it doesn’t stop being true just because we might be offended. And if our feelings are hurt by God’s Word, it is not the Word of God that needs to change to adjust to our feelings, but our feelings that need to adjust to fit the truth of God’s Word.
Now, do not misunderstand. I am not saying that we should preach truth to intentionally hurt others. I am reminding us all that we need to be ready to expose ourselves to pain for the sake of searching out the truth. We cannot continue to create culturally homogenous environments that cater to the world and neglect the true teachings of Christ because of our fear of offending the very world that we are called to save. Why would a rescuer desire to mimic a drowning man in an attempt to save him? The truth only has power to change societies when it is shared, not when it is diluted, so let us cast off anything that keeps the Gospel from being productive.
Let us reject all that obstructs the truth from releasing revival into our society and let us more forward boldly proclaiming the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
PneumaReview.com: What was the most surprising thing that you learned in the process of making of this new resource?
Eugene Bach: What I learned about homosexuality and the early persecution of the church probably surprised me the most.
When I first started this journey, I never dreamed that I would discover the history about homosexuality and persecution against early believers – but that is exactly what I found.
What I stumbled across while researching the history of revival blew me away and challenges the things that I have been told about homosexuality in the church.
Before I began this study, I thought of homosexuality as a modern-day phenomenon. Of course I knew that it had always existed, but I never thought it was something that was widely accepted the way it is now. But as I walked in Paul’s footsteps prior to the outbreak of revival in Europe, I realized I was wrong.
The pieces started to come together when I traveled throughout the ancient Roman Empire, in places like Rome, Assos, and Mitylene. When I studied the history, I discovered that homosexuality was not only practiced, it was institutionalized. Not only were same-sex relationships common and acceptable, but Roman males often proved their power, dominance, and virility through forcing their male slaves to serve their desires. Their conquests were sometimes celebrated through homosexual acts, and young male slaves were the most prized possessions. It was even commonly practiced among the military ranks, as homosexuality was even associated with entrance into the military.
In the recess of my mind, I guess I had always thought of homosexuals as being victims – being wrongly abused throughout history, but that idea came unraveled as I dug deeper in to church history. What I found was very disturbing. Early Christians were victims of homosexual rulers.
Category: Ministry, Winter 2019
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