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Listen while you read: "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne"1 (Lyrics) |
It is common knowledge that so many people today don't know about God and Jesus, and that our churches seem to be emptying of those who do, a sad and troubling picture if our gaze is riveted upon it long. It took my thoughts to the first century, for I imagine that the early Christians, a small minority within the vast, pagan population of the Roman Empire, may have felt at times that they were looking at a similarly bleak picture.
Many first-century people in the Roman Empire didn't want the early Christians around: they didn't worship the same gods as everyone else; they didn't carouse and hang out at the arena like "normal" people did; they worshipped differently. Today, many people in Canada and throughout the world find Christians to be offensive: we worship a God Who does not benignly condone the gods of other religions or the worship of self, wealth, or power; we (should!) stand apart in the way we live our lives — not judgmentally, but reflecting Christ's love and light in a dark world. Those who have seen a church only from the outside will indeed wonder what goes on Sunday morning during their golf or kids' sports time.
The early Christians began to stand out more visibly as they "turned the other cheek" during frequent times of persecution, responding in love rather than hatred, and as they cared for those who became untouchable — the dead and dying victims of the plague — showing real love to "one of the least of these" as Jesus would have done. While it is true that most people today are not drawn into our church buildings by the presence or stately appearance of the structure, those same people may be touched by God's Spirit as Christians — you and I — reach out to them in their time of need, reflecting Jesus' love and light on their personal darkness.
Those first-century Christians were so few amongst the diverse peoples of the Roman Empire. However, they didn't focus their gaze on their small numbers in contrast to the crowds around them. Instead, they focused their attention on their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ:
Hebrews 12:2 – We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. (GNT)
Interestingly, to many of the people who saw their love, those Christians started to look beautiful, and many were drawn to them to learn why they were different, and their numbers grew. Within 300 years, they had Christianized the entire Roman Empire.
Whether we worship corporately in a large downtown building, or in a small house church group as we do here in the Cariboo, or somewhere in between, those people who don't know Christ will first find Him, in most cases, when they meet us — if and as we humbly and faithfully seek to serve them in Jesus' name.
Prayer: Our Father, God, discouragement can come to us all too easily in this world. Help us, we pray, to focus our eyes of faith upon Jesus, our Saviour and Lord, and help us to remember that this world is Your field. Give us the strength, the faithfulness, and the humility to be living testimonies of Your love. In Jesus' name, we ask. Amen.
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Saturday, April 20, 2024 – In Niger — We had some wonderful cool weather through January and February which was a real blessing as we approach the hot season in April/May. We welcomed three returning students who had been delay due to the coup d'état. Pray for a resolution to the coup, and for endurance during the hot season and power cuts. Pray for the salvation and growth of our students.
Housing: "Update April 18, 2024: The judge granted the father 4 extra days of visitation per month. T is..." 
May it be so Don.
Praying for this situation in Jesus name, Amen.
Good morning Don, thanks for a very thoughtful and insightful meditation. It was good to read how the early Christians were indeed a minority in the Roman world.
God speed to you in your ministry.
It’s as if you had already read my sermon notes, only said it better.
I may still quote you, as I’m not sure many in the congregation read these Devotionals.
May you continue to be a real messenger if God’s word.
Thanks.
A very well thought out devotional for us today. As our world around us is so much in a turmoil and lost, but not searching in the right places for answers. What a wonderful world it would be if mankind stopped and thought things through and worked towards a God driven world of.
Thank you.
What an excellent devotional! We really do need to follow the example of these early Christians in their devotion to Christ and love for one another. Our reaction and response to those in our communities who do not know Christ should be as theirs was.
This should be obvious to us and yet we do need to be reminded.
Thank you!!
(Ontario)
You are absolutely right.
There is no longer a Presbyterian presence in my Toronto hi rise community so our small worshipping group moved to the local Anglican ministry, a social service agency who is a key player in our community and welcomed a weekly worship presence. Most of those who now attend would not feel at home in a traditional stately building. But Christ is present and hearts are being touched.
Don,
What a fantastic reminder to remain faith-focused and not become discouraged.
God bless you in your efforts to share what He has laid upon your heart with the PresbyCan readers!
Thank you!
Hi Don,
I read your devotional the other day about the treatments of the early Christians. At my Bible Class at the Local Long Term Care Centre we have been looking at story of those people as written by Luke in Acts, and the more the Christians were persecuted, the more they moved to safety and the more they moved, the more the gospel spread. It is just amazing how the Lord worked in those early Christians. Thank you for writing.
Blessings.