Faith in Context of Empire
In my morning reading I’m now starting the New Testament book of Acts, which I’ve read numerous times over the years. There’s a lot going on there—like the emergence of the Christian movement, how Jew and Gentile believers will be together as one people, and how to live as faithful people in the Roman Empire.
That last point is sticking with me right now.
There were both citizens and non-citizens in the Roman Empire. A citizen was either born a citizen (like the Apostle Paul), or paid money to become a citizen, or served in the military in order to obtain citizenship. Slaves and other non-citizen legal residents (known as Peregrini, or foreigners) also occupied the Empire. And both occupied the emerging church.
There would have been questions, like: Can a Roman Citizen, who has to claim allegiance to the Emperor, also claim allegiance to Christ? Would non-citizens be viewed as second-class members of the church because of lack of citizenship? What is it that really binds us together?
Paul the Apostle would address this by saying,
There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
Because the people were bound together in Christ, they could also, even with all their differences, understand that their role in the world was to bear witness to that same Christ. In other words, regardless of citizenship, ethnicity, socio-economic status, or gender, they would live out their common identity in their context. And, for them, that context was the Roman Empire.
I think these are things that we people of faith need to think about right now. How do we bear witness to Christ in our context? We would be unwise to assault our culture (either with words or actions) without recognizing that we are of it and in it. Whatever characterizes our context—for good or ill—also characterizes our context for ministry.
Recognizing this has impacted my thinking a bit. I can get as upset as anyone about the things that are happening in the U.S.A. right now. But I’m feeling like I need to catch my breath and look deeply at what’s happening around me and how I bear witness to Christ in my context.
Maybe we’d all be helped by thinking about that.
I appreciate your encouragement to “catch my breath and deeply at what’s happening around me and how I bear witness to Christ in my context.” - my greatest desire in life is to faithfully bear witness to Christ so thanks for the encouragement and reminder.
Our book group recently read and discussed Alan Kreider's book, _The Patient Ferment of the Early Church_ which lends itself to this topic. Then we followed it up with Scot McKnight's new book, _Revelation: For the Rest of Us_. Both these books have given our group an alternative view of what is taking place in our own current era. We are continually reminded to consider that same question you ask, how do I (we) bear witness to Christ in this context.