“Why are you so different in your attire?” the Roman tribune queried the Christian soldier during a traditional military ceremony in the late Second Century. Every other soldier—including, apparently, other Christian soldiers—was given a laurel crown, symbolizing adoration for the emperor. Instead, the Christian soldier held the crown in his hand in honor of the emperor but displayed his ultimate allegiance to God. Other soldiers mocked him, and reported his indiscretion to the tribune, sparking the inquiry into his dress. Refusing to wear the emperor’s crown was tantamount to treason. They arrested him and condemned him to prison where he was likely killed.
This story comes to us from the ancient Christian theologian Tertullian, who reports that this episode involving the soldier was a flash point among the Christian community in North Africa. Tertullian lauded the soldier’s decision and commended others to follow his example.
While this story took place more than 1800 years ago, it resonates with the same kinds of challenges Christians are increasingly facing in the modern world. In his celebrated book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Carl Trueman diagnoses the ills that plague our society and explains why and how our world is becoming increasingly secular. He concludes his analysis pointing to the early church as a model for navigating the pagan world. “In the second century,” Trueman writes, “the church was a marginal sect within a dominant, pluralist society. …This is where we are today. …The second-century world is, in a sense, our world, where Christianity is a choice—and a choice likely at some point to run afoul of authorities.”
We are, once again, living in a world that resembles the ancient one. In this brave new world, the mores that bind together our social order are no longer Christian. The Christian life is now merely one option among many and increasingly not the easiest one to embrace. Given this situation, maybe the church has some wisdom that might encourage the church today. While I discuss their response in detail in my recent book, here I want to focus on three essential features of early Christian cultural engagement: identity, discernment, and hope.
Identity
In the modern age, the notion of “identity” is often related to what Robert Bellah and others refer to as “an expressive individualism.” Expressive Individualism holds that “each person has a unique core feeling and intuition that should unfold or be expressed if individuality is to be realized.” But for Christians, created in the image of God, our identity is not about expressing our inner core feelings but receiving the gospel message that transforms our lives. “Now I would remind you, brothers,” Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:1-2, “of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved.” Like Paul, the early church knew that the gospel must be received—it must be taught—because it was counter-cultural, which requires discipleship or catechesis, sometimes longer periods of it.
One of the earliest Christian discipleship manuals, was composed by the early Christian theologian Irenaeus of Lyons. He argues that those who desire to walk the Christian path must be discipled. “Since man is a living being composed of a soul and a body, it is fitting,” Irenaeus writes, “that the Christian is formed in both doctrine and morality.” “For what use is it,” he continues, “to know the truth in words, only to defile the body and perform evil deeds: Or what profit indeed can come from holiness of body, if truth is not in the soul?” Instead, when a Christian is discipled, Irenaeus continues, doctrine and morality “rejoice together and join forces to lead man to the presence of God.”
How can we expect Christians to know how to inhabit a world with all its competing ideologies if they are not formed doctrinally? How can Christians deal with changes in education, marriage, the workplace, if they are not familiar with Christian morality? Christians will have principled disagreements about how to inhabit pagan spaces, but we will be even more hampered if we cannot agree on some basic assumptions about belief and practice.
I am not here to propose a specific form of catechesis. I trust pastors to utilize many of the resources at our disposal to train new converts. But my main point is this, discipleship in Christian doctrine and morality is cultural engagement. Living according to the Scriptures is a subversive, counter-cultural activity.
Discernment
A second feature of cultural engagement in the early church is what I call: a culturally discerning spiritual life. Discernment in this sense means making discriminating judgments about the theological moral implications of participating in cultural institutions or other social activities. The story of the soldier mentioned above is a good illustration of discernment, but there are many others in the ancient world with similar stories of discernment. We need to figure out—and figure quickly—how to live the Christian life in a pagan culture.
The early church looked to the examples of Joseph and Daniel, who lived discerning lives under pagan rulers, or passages that guide this kind of cultural discernment such as Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters.” Another example is found in the early Christian handbook, On the Apostolic Tradition, records how aspiring members of the church were queried about their lives. “If any is a pimp or procurer of prostitutes he should desist or he should be rejected,” the text begins. “If any is a sculptor or a painter he should be instructed not to make idols; he should desist or he should be rejected. If any is an actor, or makes presentations in the theater, he should desist, or he should be rejected. If somebody teaches children it is better that he desist; if he have no other trade let him be allowed.”
Many other trades and professions are mentioned and not all occupations were equal. While some vocations were acceptable, any involving sexual immorality, pagan religious offices, or gladiatorial games had to be abandoned before the candidate could proceed further. Some others, such as teachers or military personnel, might continue their work with some cautioning or qualification. In the ancient, pagan world, Christians who emerged from the waters of baptism had to navigate their lives with a new set of convictions, weaving new patterns of social engagement.
In my book I use the image of improvisation. Think about a skilled Jazz player who can improvise in exceptional ways. Through the skill of their internalized doctrine and morality, Christians can learn to improvise and live the Christian life in a pagan world that demands discernment. Like the ancient church, we are all de facto missionaries living among the modern pagans in our neighborhoods, towns, cities, and states, learning to reinhabit these spaces in ways that are consistent with Christian theology and morality.
Hope
Finally, with identity and discernment, the Christian hope is a third ingredient for Christian cultural engagement. When I say hope I mean the recognition that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,” (Phil 3:20) who will come again to establish “a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Heb. 12:28). Living in the shadow of the mighty Roman Empire, the Christians of the first few centuries lived in hope.
The martyrdom accounts in the ancient world provide good examples of the triumph of hope. In one martyrdom account, The Martyrs of Lyon and Vienne, dated to 177A.D. the Christian community describes their harsh treatment saying, “Not only were we excluded from houses, baths, and the forum, but it was forbidden for any one of us to appear in any place whatsoever.” But even amid this persecution, they did not lose hope. The “grace of God,” the church writes, “rescued the weak and set them as firm pillars. The ancient Christians embraced fortitude and, leaning on the words of Romans 8:18, they “made light of their great sufferings. They hurried on to Christ, showing in reality that the ‘sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.’”
So, Christian, live in hope. You already know how the movie ends, there is no reason to fear. Christ is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead and establish a kingdom that has no end.
Conclusion
There is much the modern church can learn from the ancient one. Like the Christian soldier in North Africa, we have many opportunities to walk in faith, displaying that our ultimate allegiance is to God. The early was not perfect, but it survived and even thrived in times like our own, and God was faithful through it all. May their example inspire us to be firmly rooted in Christian doctrine and morality, while we learn to cultivate a culturally discerning life, all the while living in hope of Christ’s glorious return.