By Editor Bob Terry
The Alabama Baptist
The first century was a dark time. In the Roman world slavery was everywhere. Abuse was common. Violence reigned as government maintained itself by the sharp edge of a sword.
The privileged few lived lavishly while most people eked out an existence characterized by poverty and hunger. Economically society rewarded the rich and cursed the rest.
Personal passions were indulged and sexual promiscuity was accepted. Pornography was rampant and prostitution widespread. One writer noted, “It was not unusual for Roman citizens to have multiple sexual partners, homosexual encounters and engagement with temple prostitutes.” That same scholar wrote, “It was not unusual for people to share their spouses with each other.”
Children were abused, incest widely practiced and babies left on hillsides to die from exposure.
This was the world into which Christ sent His followers to make disciples from all nations.
The description sounds eerily similar to society today. Almost 1 in 6 people in Alabama lives in poverty and almost 1 in 5 suffers from food insecurity. Hardworking people struggle to stay even with little thought of getting ahead.
Pornography, abuse, homosexuality and other scandals are commonplace. And babies die by the thousands through legal abortions.
Faith in Jesus Christ
How did the early Church turn this culture upside down in a matter of 300 years?
By living differently.
The ability to live differently came from faith in Jesus Christ, to be sure, but the presence of Jesus in the lives of believers caused them to live differently than the pagan world which surrounded them.
Early in His ministry Jesus taught that His followers should “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:44–45).
Near the middle of His ministry Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment: “Love one another. As I have loved you, you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34–35).
Days before His crucifixion Jesus emphasized the importance of caring for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the poorly clothed, the sick and the prisoner (Matt. 15:30–31).
Following Jesus’ teachings
New Testament Christians understood that faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior included making Him the orientation of one’s life. That meant following His teachings and living by a different ethic than that of the Roman world.
That is why the apostle Paul urged Christians in Rome to “bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” and then added, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink” (Rom. 12:14, 20).
The apostle James emphasized the difference between pagan culture and the lifestyle of Christian believers when he added, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).
Helping those in need
It is not surprising that early Church fathers defended the legitimacy of Christianity by pointing out how Christians were generous and shared their resources with all those in need. For example Tertullian wrote, “One in mind and soul, we do not hesitate to share our earthly good with one another. All things are common among us.”
Even their sexual ethic was different. The Epistle to Diognetus, a second century document, reports, “Christians share their meals but not their sexual partners.” In the second century Apology of Aristides, Aristides defends the legitimacy of the Christian faith to Emperor Hadrian by pointing out that Christians “do not commit adultery nor fornication” and “their men keep themselves from every unlawful union.”
It was living according to the teachings of Jesus that demonstrated to all who saw them that Christians were different from others. Faith in Jesus Christ transformed the way they lived before God and the way they lived with others. The self-centeredness of the Roman culture gave way to Jesus’ command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30–31).
The early Church did not busy itself trying to get pagans to live like Christians. Instead the Church emphasized the presence of God in one’s life that drives Christians to live according to Jesus’ teachings. The Church would not be distracted from its primary duty of loving God and loving others.
Similar lifestyles
Today’s problem is far different. A 2013 Barna study documented that the lifestyles of Christian believers and nonbelievers were almost identical in areas such as sexual habits, generosity, concern for others and attitude toward money and possessions.
Instead of valuing lifestyle, today’s Christians are judged by participation — primarily in worship services. If one goes to church at least once a month or so, one is judged to be an active Christian. But being a Christian is about more than spending an hour in a worship service on Sunday morning.
Living differently
Being a Christian is about loving God through faith in Jesus Christ and living like a Christian according to the teachings of Jesus.
How sad that the challenge of this day seems to be getting Christians to live like Christians.
The purpose of worship is not to produce an emotional high that leaves one unchanged in the way life is lived in the days that follow. The purpose of worship is to produce an encounter with God that empowers the believer to live differently from the world in the following days.
That truth helped the early Church change a pagan world and it can help Christians today turn this culture upside down for Jesus.
That is a lesson worth learning from the first century Church.
Share with others: