Humility or Humiliation?

 

  A bit more about the subject of the massacres of Jewish people during the First Crusade. I think it gives a bit more information.

When, in 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade, some Christians thought it desirable to kill the Jews of Europe before proceeding so far to fight Turks in Jerusalem. Godfrey of Bouillon, having accepted the leadership of the crusade, announced that he would avenge the blood of Jesus upon the Jews, and would leave not one of them alive; and his companions proclaimed their intention to kill all Jews who would not accept Christianity. A monk further aroused Christian ardor by declaring that an inscription found on the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem made the conversion of all Jews a moral obligation of all Christians. The Crusaders planned to move south along the Rhine, where lay the richest settlements in northern Europe. The German Jews had played a leading part in the development of Rhenish commerce, and had behaved with a restraint and piety that had won the respect of Christian laity and clergy alike. Bishop Rüdiger of Speyer was on cordial terms with the Jews of his district,...

LexCity Church votes to 'permanently cease' ministry amid investigation of Zachary King On July 1, former pastor Zachary King reportedly admitted to having a nearly year-and-a-half-long sexual relationship with a minor, starting when she was 15 years old. During an interview with King, investigators said he admitted to picking her up from her home in Fayette County and driving up the road to have sex in his car. King also reportedly told the police he had sex with her in her home, his home, and at LexCity Church, where, according to the attorney general’s office, he used to be a pastor. Arrest records show that, after being confronted by the congregation regarding the ongoing investigation into his conduct, King resigned as church pastor.

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. Proverbs 22:4 The result of humility is fear of the Lord, along with wealth, honor, and life. Understandably, church leaders like to make much of those they consider to have been "heroes of the faith", those who have suffered persecution and martyrdom because of what they believed. Also understandably, church leaders do not like to consider that the church itself has far too often been the persecutor, that the church has been the one who kill the martyrs or who committed other gross sins. Church leaders like to portray the church as the victim, but there is another and much more unpleasant truth; the church has often been the victimizer, the persecutor, the one with blood on its hand, the one wading deep into the vilest of sins. The Fault Many people have their own ideas about what is wrong with the church. I have been one of those people. No doubt, many of us have been...