Smoodock's Blog

One of the enemies of Christianity in the 2^nd century, the philosopher, Celsus, had to begrudgingly admit that Christians did, in fact, love one another. It may wonder some to know what he would say about today’s Christianity and the cliques we love to be a part of. Was it easier for the first Christians to love one another? Were they more spiritual than we are, today? To be perfectly honest, loving one another didn’t come any easier in ancient Christianity than it does today. The fact is, it may have been more difficult.[1]

Paul may be implying in Romans 15:7-12 that there were biases in the early church, namely, that the early Jewish Christians looked down on the early Gentile Christians. After all Jews were the chosen nation, and it was believed the Messiah would come and make Israel the leader of the nations of the world, so why shouldn’t the Messianic Jews be the leaders in the early church?

Well, there is nothing wrong with desiring to lead in Christ, but it is wrong to stereotype one another. Christians do it today and they did it in the early history of the Church. Today, we tend to think of some brethren as sloppy, talk too much, dishonest, unfair, too aggressive and the like. In ancient Church history the new Gentile Christians who were coming out of paganism knew very little about God. They had no traditions that would teach them about him. It may have been difficult for the more experienced Jewish Christians not to look down upon these new brethren. Some may even have considered the Gentile presence an intrusion. The more conservative or fundamentalists among the Jewish believers even tried to force the Gentiles to go through initiation ceremonies like circumcision before they were considered truly Christian.

From the beginning right to the very end of his ministry, Paul faced heavy odds and had to endure a great deal of personal abuse among both his Jewish brethren in Christ and the Jews of Judaism. He was a wanted man all over Asia, Greece, Galatia, but especially in Judea and Jerusalem. Paul’s prayer was that God would fill the early believers with joy and peace and help them to believe that they would abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost (Romans 15:13). But this was not only his prayer and hope for others, he lived it himself. He looked for and emphasized the good in a situation (Romans 15:14). He wasn’t interested in a person’s past, only in what God could make of that person.

Paul had hoped to bring the Gospel to Spain after visiting Rome (Romans 15:24), but first he had to take a much needed gift to the believers in Jerusalem (Romans 15:25). The churches Paul had raised up in Asia, Macedonia and Achaia had taken a collection for the believers in Jerusalem. Josephus mentions that the High Priests had used men of questionable character to take by force the tithes of the lower order of priests [Josephus: Antiquities 20.8.8]. Many priests had become Christians just before the death of Stephen (Acts 6:7) and continued to come to Christ (Acts 21:20). It may be that many of these priests were being persecuted by the Sadducees because of their Christian faith. Josephus mentions that some even died for want of food, for they depended upon the tithes as their income for the services they rendered in the Temple [Josephus: Antiquities 20.9.2].

So, Paul braved going to Jerusalem, knowing trouble awaited him there. Why? Because, Paul not only preached Christian love and unity, he practiced it—risked his life to express it (cp. John 15:13). He believed that Christianity rested upon the principles of unity, trust, mutual love and understanding. These principles weren’t just ideas for Paul. He expressed them in what he did—how he lived among his brethren—those who loved him and those who doubted his character (Acts 21:20-21). Nevertheless, Paul wasn’t the only one who lived out his Christian life to the glory of God. There were many others who did so that we hardly ever hear about. Paul mentions some by name at the end of his letter to Rome in chapter 16. He directs his comments there to some friends. Some Biblical scholars do a bit of speculating on just who these people were and where they came from, and what happened to them. It appears that Paul sums up his commentary of them in a series of one-liners.  “They risked their lives for me” (Romans 16:5). “She is a hard worker” (Romans 16:6). “He is a good man” (Romans 16:8). I wonder what my family and friends would say about me, if they had only one sentence to describe me. What a sobering thought! Oh, Lord have mercy.

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[1] This is my final blog on Fritz Rindenour’s book: “ How to be a Christian Without Being Religious.” Remember most of the thoughts in these last 15 or so blogs concern and are often taken directly out of his book. I have tried to express myself in my own way, but often found it impossible not to use his own words. There was a lot to express in each chapter and little space in a short blog to express it properly. Therefore, often the briefest way to express what was said was to actually say it in Fritz Ridenour’s own words.

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