The Results Of Persecution On The Early Church

How did the church respond to persecution?

How did the Christian movement develop in theology and practice as a result of persecution?

There were four main causes of persecution for the Church: Religious, Social, Political, and Economic.

Religious persecution of the Church came mainly from the Jews because the Jewish leaders didn’t accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. While some Jews viewed Jesus as the fulfillment of prophecy which moved the Jews into the messianic age. Those who doubted found a great deal of force and urgency with their persecution of Christ-followers. A secondary reason for religious persecution was because of the enthusiasm Christ-followers had after their conversion. Christianity was contagious and as Acts chapters 1-6 traces it grew in epidemic proportions very quickly.

Social persecution came from two areas. First the fact that Christianity put the master and the slave on equal ground and secondly blame due to the disrespect of other gods. Slavery and religious tolerance had swelled like a tumor in this time with the rise of Greek philosophy and melting pot of gods were thrown together and all worshiped for different purposes and meanings. The Christians claimed that Jesus was the only one true God and this did not sit well with religious relativist worship.

Political persecution came from a similar vein of idol worship. As Christians claimed Jesus exclusively as God they refused to say that Caesar was Lord. For this reason they also refused to serve in the army in which they had to proclaim this statement and were deemed unpatriotic.

In the economic realm, Christians hurt business of those selling idols for idol worship.

The Christian church responded in many ways persecution.

The good results of persecution were that the vast majority of Christians remained true to their faith despite the persecution; the Church was purified by any who chose to take the easy road out and flee the persecution; and the Scriptures became canonized during this time.

The bad results were that thousands of Christians denied the faith and fled persecution; many took positions that were contrary to the Christian faith in other religions; it caused divisions in the Church; some of the Scriptures were lost due to the burning of Christian letters and text; an abnormal desire for persecution arose among evil emperors and persecution became a heavy blood sport, and concerns of the relationship between the Church and the State arose.

There were some mixed results as well: While three million Christians dying at the hands of persecutors is by no means a good thing it does provide and effective witness to the fact that three million people were willing to die for the cause they believed in. Also while some fled the persecution and the empire, like cowards, after they got their bootstraps back underneath them the Gospel was spread into the areas in which they fled.

The Christian movement was forced to stand firm in their theology and practices. They had to know what they believed and why they believed it if they were going to be killed for holding true to it.

Pedal Boards, Giftings, Talents, & The Body Of Christ

So I know this might sound really cheesy but, last night I felt like I was worshipping God by packing up my pedal board.... God reminded me of some beautiful truths. Let me explain.

Last night I had the privilege of leading worship for the Prayer Service Kick-Off for Living Proof our High School ministry. It was a small group that came to pray but, pray we did. It was awesome.

So I normally use my pedal board set up with my acoustic as well as my electric because I like my Boss DD-6 looping feature and some Boss Super Chorus effects etc along with my CryBaby Wah make for a really rich sound. Well last night I didn't end up using any of that. We had run everything through the system and then literally seconds before we started decided to go "unplugged" more than we already were since we were a small group. It was awesome and the best choice for the moment. After all was said and done I quietly walked up on stage and began to unplug my cables and pack up my board. I began to think of all the little intricate circuitry that is involved to make each of my pedals work they way they are supposed to. How each linking cable from one pedal bridges the gap to the next so they can work together in a family unit to create one sound.

All of this reminded me of the Church. God has created each of us with individual giftings and talents in order to worship him effectively with our lives. Each of these individual gift/talent groups when combined with the gift/talent groupings of others create the Church in unison as it's supposed to be. The Church then can create "one sound" or "one love" to give to the Father and to show to the world around.

The Apostle Paul talks about this in his letter to the church in Ephesus. In chapter 4 verse 11-13a Paul begins "And Christ gave gift to people - he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God's people. Christ gave those gifts to prepare God's holy people for the work of serving to make the body of Christ stronger. This work must continue until we are all joined together in the same faith and in the same knowledge of the Son of God." In my pedal board some pedals are made to create distortion and sustain. Some are created to add delay or looping effects, some for chorus and flanger, and some for funky wah sounds. The point is while each of these are amazing on their own. They can be so much better when combined with one another working to the goal of creating one sound.

I just stopped for a moment and looked down at my board and said a prayer to our God thanking Him for the gift/talent mix He has given me. I also prayed I would never misuse this mix for my own glory.

I closed the lid and locked the latches on my board and my prayer with the help of a friend and then packed up my guitar... (that's another blog.... not really) and went to spend some time at the prayer stations set up around the room. God did some working in my heart for our ministry last night. He made real in my heart some things that had been real in my head but, weren't making the connection.

The room is open from 7am-5pm all week till Friday for prayer. I'm planning on spending more time in prayer over our ministry there. God speak to me in the little things. Show me You in the margins of life. Continue to break my heart for what breaks Yours.

You can see pictures from the Prayer Service here. Living Proof Prayer Service

BRIGHT LIGHTS - The Church

"As one of the two primary entities that God has positioned to have influences in the world, the church is uniquely and strategically placed on this planet to display God's glory to the world. The role of the church is simply to turn on the light." - Reggie Joiner | THINK ORANGE

If the role of the church is to turn on the light in order for those lost in darkness to find Jesus the question must be asked. Is your local body, part of the universal Church, shining it's light to the world? If your church turned out the lights would anyone know the difference?

When describing Christ-followers of the early church Peter writes to remind that the church then of who they are in Christ Jesus. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1Peter 2:9 ESV) Being called from darkness into the marvelous light of Jesus Christ is no doubt a biblical truth. The beautiful thing about the role of the church is that since we are in the marvelous light of Christ we are able to reflect that light, brightly, to the still darkened world around us. The church is called to be a bright light. If we're not turning the lights on then we aren't being the church.

"The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose." - C.S. Lewis | Mere Christianity

Are we doing this? If not why not?

If not can we call ourselves the church?

I don't think we can call ourselves part of God's Church or His Kingdom and not turn on the lights.

Let's be light in a dark world and stop making a mockery of our Lord and King.

"Into marvelous light I'm running. Out of darkness out of shame. By the cross You are the Truth, You are the Life, You are the Way." - Charlie Hall: Marvelous Light | Fly Into Daybreak