History of Grace

Almost every denomination of Christianity has periods in its past that it is not proud of. Catholics have the Crusades and the Inquisition. All sides are guilty of atrocities during the Reformation. The Southern Baptist supported slavery. And just about all of us have been guilty of oppressing and abusing those of other faiths from time to time.

So what do we do with these sordid pasts? Should we not talk about them, pretend they never happened? Should we whitewash them and say "it was a different time" or talk about "historical context"?

Perhaps we should treat sins of the church as God wants us to treat our own sins. We should not deny them or excuse them but rather give God the glory for delivering us from them. Our churches should not worry about bad press but be thankful for God's grace.