Scripture reading: Matthew 10:16–39

The Epistle to Diognetus

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. (Revelation 2:5)

 

How did early Christians survive and thrive during the period of time in Roman society when persecution was so intense? The anonymous letter provides a good picture. Written in the second century (circa 124), the letter responds to an inquiring non-believer’s desire for more information about the beliefs and practices of early Christians. Though little is known about Diognetus, he was apparently a high ranking official in Roman society. Some think he was the tutor to the future emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. . . . Inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities . . . and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. . . . Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonored, and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honor; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred. To sum up all in one word . . . what the soul is in the body, Christians are in the world. . . . The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world. . . . The soul is imprisoned in the body, yet preserves that very body; and Christians are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet they are the preservers of the world. . . .

My, how times have changed! How far the church today has fallen from the glories of those early centuries. Was persecution the cause or the effect of such vital Christianity? Though that is difficult to know, there is only one way to recover: Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.

 

The biggest problem with Christians today is that

no one wants to kill them anymore. —Søren Kierkegaard

 

point to ponder • Are Christians today to blame for the world’s hatred towards them?

prayer focus • For those throughout the world who are being persecuted for the cause of Christ.