Good Monday Morning, Dear Friends,
In the three hundred years following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, we know that Christianity grew at an incredible rate. What we don’t hear about, however, was that during this time there were three major plagues in the Roman world all along the Mediterranean rim. During these plagues, it has been documented that the pagans didn’t believe in an afterlife, they felt the gods didn’t care about people, the pagan gods just toyed with people, and so there was no love between a person and a pagan god. So, during the plagues, the rich people left the cities first, the pagan priests left the cities second, and basically the poor people, the average citizens, were left to die and rot. It’s been documented how the wealthy people fled the ancient cities.
But in many of these cities the Christians stayed and took care of their family members and the others who had been left on the streets. Whereas the pagans put their family members in the streets and left town because they were afraid of the plague and were afraid to die, the Christians did not fear death. They did not fear the afterlife.
The Christians cared for their own, but they also cared for the pagans who had been left on the street, especially the babies and the children. Their light shone in such a way that many, many pagans in the cities survived. Marcus Aurelius, the Emperor you heard about when you watched the movie Gladiator, was an actual historical figure. He wrote in a letter that on some days over 500 bodies a day were taken out of Rome because of the plague. It would annihilate entire cities. But in this diseased environment, Christians rose to the occasion, and they were the light of the world. It made a huge, huge difference. As you know, by the time Constantine came along, he embraced Christianity. It was during his reign that the persecution of Christians stopped, and the Roman empire became a Christian nation. Throughout the civilized world, Christianity was known for its generosity and its benevolence.
And that’s how, by 400 A.D., Christianity had become the faith of the entire Roman world. In fact, the Emperor Julian in 395 A.D. wrote about the Galileans (we would call them Christians) and it has been preserved for us today. He said, “Recent Christian growth is caused by their moral character, and by their benevolence toward strangers. The Galileans support not only their own but ours as well. They keep taking in children, they keep taking care of the poor, they keep giving generously. Even when people lack help from us, they get it from these kind Galileans.”
If we want to influence our culture today, this is how we do it. We are here to make a difference. And the way to do it is to love one another. Love your enemies. Take care of those who need someone to take care of them. Live in the very opposite fashion of the people around you and the people you see on the news. This is what will make a difference in the world. It’s what Jesus taught, it’s what the apostle Paul modeled, it’s what the early church did, and that’s the opportunity that we have.
Thank you for the way you let your light shine,
Bruce Jones, Pastor Imagine Church
