Cultural Christians Slow Read: Chapter 4 (continued)
Healthy church culture as antidote to apostasy
Back in the fall, Daniel Hummel, director at the Upper House, a fascinating center that ministers to students and the surrounding community at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, invited me to write for The Raised Hand on the question: What has the university to do with the good life? My response was this essay, “Why Athens and Jerusalem Still Need Each Other, and Why a Healthy Democracy Needs Both.”
I went down quite a rabbit trail in this essay, thinking about the modern university (when at its best) as a “school of democracy”—a place to train students in the virtues. Does it always happen, and does every college/university do it? Absolutely not.
Anyway, this week I had occasion to think back to this essay, because I had the privilege of participating in the Upper House’s end-of-year dialogue. I was asked to speak on the question: what does the university need next? My argument: to treasure the humanity (and the imago Dei) of each of its members. It was a lot of fun, I learned so much from the other two speakers and from Dan Hummel himself, and I’ve been so encouraged by the work of the Upper House!
The Slow Read
Okay, back to what you’re really here for! Last week, we started discussing the difficult topic of apostasy: why do some converts who come to Christ fall away? Yes, God works in each believer’s heart; but there are also certain ways in which our environment can draw us to God—or push us away. In what ways is culture, in particular, a factor? Our case study here is the Bithynian church, for which we have both Roman sources (Pliny the Younger) and Christian sources (1 Peter).
1 Peter opens as follows:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance. (1 Peter 1:1-2, NIV)
So often, I hear the subject of 1 Peter being described as persecution—and it’s not false. It’s a letter of encouragement to Christians suffering localized persecutions. But that’s not all that it is. It is also a letter about the significance of healthy local churches—churches that love the gospel, flourish, and do not drive converts away by internal sin. This is why elders get this special exhortation and admonition (I highlight a few key words):
To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away (1 Peter 5: 1-4, NIV).
In the second half of chapter 4, I note that so much of 1 Peter is, indeed, about the dynamics of how different Christians interact with each other. To abuse power seems to come way too easily to people in antiquity as today, and Peter expresses this concern. Healthy churches—and healthy church leadership—are key in preventing apostasy.
Here are my questions for you this week:
1. What do we learn about the causes of apostasy from 1 Peter? What are the cautionary takeaways for us from this letter today?
2. What are the causes of apostasy that you have observed in your own experience with churches?
Next week: a story that was originally part of Chapter 4 but got cut out of it—it was kind of extraneous to the main story of the chapter (plus the chapter was getting too long anyway), but this extra is all about Lydia!
Finally, an exciting piece of news that was announced this week: I am one of the new Contributing Editors for Providence Magazine. You can find my previous articles for this magazine here, and you can expect to see my essays there a bit more regularly now.
Apostasy was a real problem in the ancient church and continues to be a problem today. There are external cultural and legal pressures that can be placed upon Christians unless they have supportive families and supportive churches. Ancient Mediterranean culture was polytheistic(except for Judaism) and Christians were subjected to the power of the law and the power of being ostracized(or threatened legally). A church needs to be a real community of believers in our Lord and Savior which supports all members and where leadership exemplifies actual love, support and real concern as opposed to hierarchical power that sustains selfish goals. Young people need to be supported since their education and peers may ridicule their faith commitments to Christ as well as the attempt to live a holy life. Parents need to be actively involved in their children's religious development. My denomination sees many young people who never darken the door of the church after confirmation. We also have members whose children are struggling with transgenderism.