The Pilgrims didn’t plan to change the world. But they did, anyway.
They began as a small church that wanted to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. They ended up founding a nation and sparking a revolution.
This week, Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. While many of the stories of the Pilgrims are well-known and mixed with a few myths, here's one not-so-well-known fact: it was a small church that founded the United States of America and changed the world.
Their story began in the small town of Scrooby England. A tiny group of Separatists found themselves under constant persecution because they refused to worship in the manner they were ordered to by King James and the politically corrupt Church of England.
The problem with the Church of England wasn’t that it was big, but that they used their size to intimidate and gain political power, instead of blessing people and promoting the Gospel.
So a handful of believers in a small church decided to leave.
Here are seven principles we can learn from the integrity and perseverance of these brave Pilgrims:
1. They Had a Healthy Dissatisfaction With Church as Usual
It's been said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The Church of England held absolute power in the 16th and 17th centuries. A power that corrupted the nation and the church. There was no religious freedom. People were fined for not attending the Church of England.
A small group of Christians who called themselves Separatists met to worship in their own small congregations in direct violation of that law.
2. They Were Willing to Do Something About it
The people we now know as Pilgrims weren’t the only ones who were dissatisfied with the way things were in England. But they made a difference because they took action.
When the king persecuted them for worshiping in their own way, they decided to leave England rather than violate their consciences.
Like a lot of their bible heroes, they left without knowing where they’d end up. For many world-changers, action comes first. A plan comes later.
3. The Didn’t Settle for Half-Measures
At first, they settled in Leiden Netherlands, where they were free from persecution. But they had a hard time adapting to Dutch language and customs.
They were British, and they wanted their children to be raised British. So after a couple years they left Leiden for the colonies. There, they could keep English language and customs, but be far enough from England to avoid persecution.
So the bulk of the Leiden Congregation – 37 in all – left Holland on a boat called the Speedwell, and sailed for Southampton, England, where they would meet up with another ship called the Mayflower.
4. They Risked Everything for What They Believed
A couple years ago, my wife and I visited Plymouth, Massachusetts where we boarded the Mayflower II. It’s an exact replica of the original Mayflower.
It is stiflingly small. Being onboard made me more aware than ever of the enormous price the Pilgrims paid to worship God in their own way.
This was a one-way trip. They knew they'd never return. In fact, chances were less than 50/50 that they would survive the trip to America.
5. They Pursued their Vision – Then They Wrote it Down
The Mayflower Compact is an extraordinary document.
As implied by its name, it wasn’t drawn up before they left, but after they were on board the ship.
Churches are often told we need a mission statement, which is fine. My church has one, too. But world-changers tend to do things first and write about it later. Not vice versa.
A vision matters, but the written form of it tends to have far greater value if it’s written after the vision is well under way.
6. They Persevered
The New World was not the Promised Land. Life was hard. Much harder than in either England or the Netherlands.
As the American Thanksgiving holiday approaches, we’ll all be reminded of the trials of that first year and the help they received from the native people.
But their trials didn’t end with that first Thanksgiving feast. Starvation and disease were rampant for years. The mortality rate was high.
They lived for a lot of years at a notch below survival level. But, like hundreds of thousands of small churches before and after them, they held on to their faith, they cared for each other and they stood for what’s right.
7. They Changed the World
As I wrote in The Grasshopper Myth, the rich and powerful seldom change the world. Why would they? It’s obviously working for them.
The world is changed by the poor, the lowly and the disenfranchised. Not always for the better. But always from the bottom, up.
The world is often changed by the least likely people. And sometimes they’re worshiping together in a small church.
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