Brief summary of some church history:
Christ ascends to heaven at the end of the gospels and then the book of Acts gives us a brief summary of the very early church.
AD 66 the Jews rebel against Rome and in AD 70, at the end and defeat of the rebellion, there is a serious breach between Judaism and Christianity.
Christianity is then an illegal religion until 311 AD when Constantine makes it legal. So, until Constantine, to be a Christian is to break the law and to be willing to be put to death for a capital offense. Why so serious? Because religion was a glue in the Roman Empire and Christianity threatened this cohesion since Christianity denied other gods and paganism.
During this period we see the beginnings of the same "hero worship" that we see today in martyrdom. Ironically, Christians weren't encouraged to become martyrs at first, but were encouraged to face it courageously if it did come. Even Paul himself escaped in a basket at least once and Peter was rescued from prison. (When God is done with us, he'll take us home in his way...why pursue it on your own? Sorry: rabbit trail)
Then, Constantine makes Christianity legal. He then proceeds to start giving favors to the church. In subsequent years we will see his son make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and then we will see paganism outlawed for a time.
So, this transition from Christianity being outlawed ( then favored, then the official, then only) religion was a huge set back for people who wanted to live lives devoted to God. Martyrdom is out of the question. There are actually a lot of people who are becoming Christians for political or social reasons now which was never the case before.
The answer? Monasteries. People started living ascetic (almost no earthly goods) before monasteries, but this gave them a place to live with other people (to try to avoid extreme eccentricities) and it gave them structure in life. However, a mentality began to develop. The idea that "those" people are the ones who devoted their entire lives to God and not the common people. If you wanted to devote your life to God, you became a monk (or abbot).
Today, we have the same idea. But instead of monks and abbots we have pastors and missionaries. They are the ones that devote their lives to God and the rest of us just do what we want or "try" to be a good testimony. Admit it, we feel a lesser responsibility to live a Godly life. We expect a greater level of spirituality from pastors and missionaries than we do from ourselves.
Praise God for monasteries. They preserved a lot of knowledge and information through the Middle Ages. But may God grant us the strength to break this mold of Christian living and realize that we are ALL responsible to live for God. Romans 12:1-2 ff apply to ALL of us...not just those whose job it is to "do ministry."
...all for God's glory!
Christ ascends to heaven at the end of the gospels and then the book of Acts gives us a brief summary of the very early church.
AD 66 the Jews rebel against Rome and in AD 70, at the end and defeat of the rebellion, there is a serious breach between Judaism and Christianity.
Christianity is then an illegal religion until 311 AD when Constantine makes it legal. So, until Constantine, to be a Christian is to break the law and to be willing to be put to death for a capital offense. Why so serious? Because religion was a glue in the Roman Empire and Christianity threatened this cohesion since Christianity denied other gods and paganism.
During this period we see the beginnings of the same "hero worship" that we see today in martyrdom. Ironically, Christians weren't encouraged to become martyrs at first, but were encouraged to face it courageously if it did come. Even Paul himself escaped in a basket at least once and Peter was rescued from prison. (When God is done with us, he'll take us home in his way...why pursue it on your own? Sorry: rabbit trail)
Then, Constantine makes Christianity legal. He then proceeds to start giving favors to the church. In subsequent years we will see his son make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and then we will see paganism outlawed for a time.
So, this transition from Christianity being outlawed ( then favored, then the official, then only) religion was a huge set back for people who wanted to live lives devoted to God. Martyrdom is out of the question. There are actually a lot of people who are becoming Christians for political or social reasons now which was never the case before.
The answer? Monasteries. People started living ascetic (almost no earthly goods) before monasteries, but this gave them a place to live with other people (to try to avoid extreme eccentricities) and it gave them structure in life. However, a mentality began to develop. The idea that "those" people are the ones who devoted their entire lives to God and not the common people. If you wanted to devote your life to God, you became a monk (or abbot).
Today, we have the same idea. But instead of monks and abbots we have pastors and missionaries. They are the ones that devote their lives to God and the rest of us just do what we want or "try" to be a good testimony. Admit it, we feel a lesser responsibility to live a Godly life. We expect a greater level of spirituality from pastors and missionaries than we do from ourselves.
Praise God for monasteries. They preserved a lot of knowledge and information through the Middle Ages. But may God grant us the strength to break this mold of Christian living and realize that we are ALL responsible to live for God. Romans 12:1-2 ff apply to ALL of us...not just those whose job it is to "do ministry."
...all for God's glory!
Quite the challenge. Thanks!
ReplyDelete