I would like to unpack a bit further the issue of our last post (Sunday-Monday divide). I appreciate the comments shared thus far. The replies have been very helpful. Sonny brought out a good point concerning the transition that occurred in the church’s identity during and after the time of Constantine. For those who are unfamiliar, Constantine (ca. 272-337 CE) was a Roman emperor who allegedly had a vision that instructed him to draw the symbol Chi Rho (the first two letters of the word “Christ” in Greek, as seen in the picture above) on his soldiers’ shields during the battle of the Milvian Bridge, Oct. 312 CE. It is said that in the vision Constantine was instructed, “By this sign you shall conquer.”¹
After emerging victorious in this battle, Constantine attributed the victory to the God of the Christians. Thus, he and his co-emperor at the time, Licinius, issued what is known as the edict of Milan in 313 CE, which called for religious toleration throughout the empire.² Until this time, as Sonny mentioned, the Christians were a suffering, persecuted minority. However, after this edict, Christianity began to take on a more respectable, prominent role in the empire. That’s a good thing, right? Not necessarily.
Slowly but surely, the church, in her identity and purpose, began to merge with the empire. And by the end of the 4th century CE, “the emperor Theodosius finalized the conquest of Christianity, making the faith of the Christians the only legal religion in the empire… The Church had arrived, or so it appeared. Thus arose ‘Christendom’ – an alliance between church and empire.”³ After this transition, the church began to define the faith in a more compartmentalized manner. If the empire is understood to be “Christian” and many of its members, for the most part, live in an un-Christlike manner, then discipleship (living under Jesus’ lordship) is emphasized less and less in teaching what it means to be “saved”. And when one falls prey to the myth of a Christian “religion,” acknowledging proper teachings/doctrines takes precedence over entering a new way of life (now lived in allegiance to Jesus). Thus, we divorce what we “believe” from how we live. And as Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”
As Jeremy, Mike, Dee and Jason have also alluded, salvation entails more than simply claiming to be a “Christian” by title, church membership, and/or experience (e.g. saying the “sinner’s prayer” however many years past). Not to belittle the relevance of admitting to others (verbally) that we are “Christians,” being part of a local assembly, or surrendering one’s life to Christ in prayer – at the heart of “salvation” in the New Testament is “to participate in the kingdom of God, that long-awaited rule of God, in which the rebellion, with its corollaries of lust and violence and greed and self-seeking, is undone.”4 And, in order to participate in God’s Kingdom, there has to be a change brought about in a person’s life. He or she must “repent” of the old world order and, by faith, pledge his or her life to Christ.
Such a faith-commitment means that one no longer lives in accordance with the rebellious worldly system (cf. Rom 12.2). By the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, we surrender each area of our lives to Jesus’ lordship. Meaning, all of life is sacred or lived out “as unto the Lord.” As followers of Christ, it is important to realize that our relationship with God is inextricably connected with our relationship with others (even our enemies!). That at the heart of being witnesses of Jesus is living and loving as Jesus did. We enter into a Christlike, Spirit-empowered life of love for God and others. And, of course, we don’t do this by our own strength or smarts. It is through the empowering grace of God that we enter into this new order; a way of life inaugurated by our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Blessings,
Shannon
¹ Lee C. Camp, Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2008), pp. 25-27.
² See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_I
³ Camp, Mere Discipleship, p. 26.
4 Ibid., p. 81.
