The early church made its way in a social world that parallels life today in many ways—an era of widespread confusion, unrest and decay. Rome imposed its military will over an empire including widely different peoples. Political and social privilege was granted only to a small minority. The religious scene was one of chaos and decay. Life went on amid the debris of old regional religions, superstition and the hollow practices of the state-supported emperor cult. New religions from the East with secret rituals attracted some and offered escape from the rigors of daily life. Competing beliefs and practices jarred and clashed. Paganism, which would take a long time dying, was entering its last stages.
In this environment, sexual perversion, infanticide and brutal forms of entertainment cheapened the value of human life. Men and women found themselves living meaningless lives, powerless victims of forces beyond their understanding or control. For many, life was marked with a deep sense of despair and helplessness.
It was into this confused setting that Christianity appeared and under these harsh conditions that Christianity spread throughout the ancient world. Christianity was neither a set of magical rites nor an assortment of private beliefs. Christianity was a fundamentally new understanding of all reality—God, the universe and human existence. Unlike the religions in which morality did not play a major role, Christianity was a new way of life. Early Christianity spread not only because of the convincing nature of the message but also because of the compelling power of Christian lives. Many people were drawn to Christianity by the integrity, compassion and quiet confidence that characterized Christians.
The revelation of God in Christ offered a radically new view of the world and the purpose of human life. It taught that Christianity depends on its Creator not only for its origin but also for its continuing existence. “Created…in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27), men and women are made to enter into covenant relationships of trust and faithfulness, both with their Creator and with one another. The new disclosure of God in Christ exposed the false claims of the political, military, intellectual and religious powers of the age. The Gospel revealed that the covenant love that created and sustained the universe was now reconciling the creation to its Creator. The wisdom of the cross was greater than the pretensions of the intellect. Reconciliation was to be found in Christ and not in the many superstitions of the age.
The church was open to all. It was a place where even slaves and masters could be reconciled to their common Father and to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ (Philemon 15-16). In Christ, believers are called and empowered to live lives distinctly different from those in the surrounding society. Above all, Christians bear the imprint of God’s covenant love. The new life received in Christ involves both conduct and character. In other words, the Christian life is not only a new way of behaving, but it also involves a new mind and a new heart, new attitudes and new dispositions. The apostle Paul urged Christians, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
The above came from Things that Matter: A Guide to Christian Faith, a booklet published by the Austin Graduate School of Theology. I found the reasoning in this particular part of that work to be quite deliberate and so encouraging in making us realize the reason “why” Christians are so different from the world. God’s children must be more like Him and not like the world!
