Are we really followers of Christ? According to whom? According to what measure of holiness?
Have we substituted Cheap Grace for the costly discipleship that defines the Kingdom of God?
The Letter to Diognetus, the work of an unknown author, written in about 130, describes Christians to the Romans as follows:
"They dwell in their own countries simply as sojourners.... 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, they surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men but are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned. They are put to death, but [will be] restored to life. They are poor, yet they make many rich. They possess few things; yet, they abound in all. They are dishonored, but in their very dishonor are glorified.... And those who hate them are unable to give any reason for their hatred."
The entire Letter to Diognetus can be found in the HERE.
Because the earth wasn't their home, the early Christians could say without reservation, like Paul, "to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21). Justin Martyr explained to the Romans, "Since our thoughts are not fixed on the present, we are not concerned when men put us to death. Death is a debt we must all pay anyway."
When I first read the criticisms that the Romans leveled against the Christians, (as atheists and anarchists) I painfully realized that no one would accuse Christians today of those same charges. We aren't criticized for being totally absorbed in the interests of a heavenly kingdom, ignoring the things the world has to offer. In fact, Christians today are accused of just the opposite. We are accused of being money hungry, political, and hypocritical in our devotion to God.
Have you ever heard of a synedoche?
Hint: It’s a literary term.
Actually, a synedoche occurs in one of two ways: either the whole represents the part or the part represents the whole.
Consider examples of the latter first: 1) from a poem: “…the fingers signed the treaty…” or “the prisoner is behind bars”; the fingers represent the hand that did the signing of the treaty; the bars represent the prison in which the prisoner exists.
Now, consider examples of the former: 1) Parkersburg High School will play Parkersburg SouthHigh School or 2) …the Germans exterminated the Jews; no, not everyone in either Parkersburg High or Parkersburg South High will be on the field playing football or soccer, only the members of said teams will be doing so; plus, not every German was a Nazi with anti-Semitic thoughts wanting to exterminate the entire Jewish population.
For those not English majors, one aspect of the definition of a synedoche is what most would commonly call a “generalization.”
I understand why you say, “…Christians today are accused of just the opposite. We are accused of being money-hungry, political, and hypocritical in our devotion to God”; but I also want you to note the pronoun beginning the second sentence: it is first person plural, subjective case. That means that the “We” includes you…so…you the writer, you are lumped in with those who are accused of being “money-hungry, political, and hypocritical.” Are you? Are you, youself, money-hungry? How ’bout “political”? And what about “hypocritical”? And if the writer of those two sentences is the Steve, who provided this entry on your blog, then I would surmise that being called a hypocrite, considering the way you love and are devoted to God, would be the most offensive of all three accusations.
…so…my response to that which has been written is, most emphatically, “Speak for yourself.”
Some real-life Christians today, like the early Christians,”…dwell in their own countries simply as sojourners…. 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” [and, young as they may be, they long to return, as did the Prodigal Son to their Father and that heavenly home.] “They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time, they surpass the laws by their lives,” [by reading and continuing to read, study, and grow in and because of God’s Holy Word as they, “Love the Lord with all their heart and all their soul and all their mind and all their strength” along with “…loving their neighbor as themselves.”] “They [die], but [will be] restored to life. They are poor, yet they make many rich” [with their extension of God’s grace, their service, their gift of prayer, their smiles, and their heart for God.] “They possess few things; yet, they abound in all. They are dishonored, but in their very dishonor are glorified…. And those who hate them are unable to give any reason for their hatred.”
“Are we really followers of Christ? And by whose authority?
Yes, I am a Christian! By Whose authority? By the authority of God’s prevenient grace; my baptism in Christ and the Spirit; the Lord’s Supper; the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ; and all the scriptures in God’s Holy Word that tells me that “my name is written in His book of life,” that I am a “child of God,” and that “God knew me while yet I was still in the womb.”
If, as Shakespeare and other writers suggest, that “the eyes are the windows of the soul,” then all “…those who hate Christians and are unable to give any reason for their hatred” have to do is look into the eyes of a devout Christian in order, for themselves, to be touched and changed from hatred to loving and being loved by the Light living within and radiating from a Christian heart.
I know who I am “in this time and in this place, and I know that God has a purpose for my life,” as He does for all Christians. I know that Christ, before He ascended into heaven, commanded all to “go into all the world and ‘make disciples who make a difference.'”
Perhaps, part of my purpose will be convincing at least “one of those who hate Christians without being able to give a reason for such hatred” that generalizations or synecdoches about ALL Christians being “money-hungry, political, and hypocritical” are inaccurate and untrue. And, perhaps, he, too, will one day be Christian enough to also say, “Speak for yourself.”