Volume 1 Number 9
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The quiet storm moved with compassion. Life was hard in the Roman cities. Most families lived a squalid life in filthy and cramped quarters, where nearly half of all children died at birth or during infancy. Children who lived into their teen years could easily lose at least one parent before maturity. The stench of the cites added to the bleakness of life. Cities must have been smothered in flies, mosquitoes, and other insects that flourish in stagnant water and exposed filth. No wonder life expectancy was less than thirty years.1 Not only was life bleak but the church took root in a culture of open violence and overt sexuality. Official civic art and the paintings in private homes graphically portrayed violent scenes and erotic sexual acts. These artistic representations must have created a level of desensitization that enabled the inhabitants to view the real thing. It is difficult to imagine what life was like when surrounded constantly by such a level of violence and sexuality.2 The early church preached, and at its best practiced, love in a world of brutality, sexuality, and death.3 This love spilled over into their communities. These early Christian communities did not consider themselves an “in group” which only cared for its members. They gave freely to the poor and the hungry, visiting the sick and clothing the impoverished. “Christianity’s sense of community and its universal charity were a major reason, if not the most important simple reason, for its growth and subsequent victory over the empire” writes sociologist Rodney Stark.4 An example of this commitment to compassion were the plagues that swept through the Mediterranean area in the third century. The death tolls were horrific at the height of the plagues. In c.250, 5,000 people died daily in Rome. When these epidemics swept through the cities, the explanatory and comforting ability of paganism and Greek philosophy was unable to provide hope or meaning. Most pagan priests simply fled the cities, leaving the Christians to care for the sick and offer an explanation for trials.5 Dionysisus (writing about 260 C.E.) gives a first-hand report of the plague and the church’s response. “Most of our Christian brothers showed unbounded love and loyalty never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick attending to their every need . . . drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pains . . . The best of our brothers lost their lives in this manner . . . The heathen behaved in the very opposite way. At the first onset of the disease, they pushed the sufferers away and fled from their dearest, throwing them into the roads before they were dead and treated unburied corpses as dirt, hoping thereby to avert the spread and contagion of the fatal disease.”6 Historian Robin Fox notes that the church “gave a powerful counter to anxiety. Among second-century authors, it is the Christians who are most confident and assured. There is a magnificent optimism in [their theology].”7 This magnificent optimism was demonstrated through compassion. The early church loved people in a world where they lacked privilege and prestige. No wonder the gospel was like a quiet storm to this pagan and barbaric culture. ___________________ |
The Quiet Storm was crafted by Bill Mowry. Bill serves with The Navigators' Church Discipleship Ministry. You can discover a wealth of creative ministry resources at www.ArtfulMinistry.com Feel free to contact Bill at info@artfulministry.com |