Going against the cultural order of the day
can get you arrested, beaten, or killed.
Now, who wants to be a Christian? Watch our Truth in Two, with full text below.
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Pictures: Josh Collingwood, Snappy Goat
FULL TEXT
Sometimes you get in trouble just by showing up. During the Roman empire, Christians were malcontents, agitators, troublemakers, and criminals because their beliefs ran counter to cultural authorities. Acts 17 gives us an example. The apostle Paul and his entourage traveled to an important Roman city called Thessalonica. Among other beliefs, the Roman culture maintained that Caesar, the emperor of Rome, was god. To Romans, Caesar was a universal savior; his benefits and aid were referred to as “good news” in the Roman empire.
When Paul showed up persuading people that Jesus is God’s “good news” of salvation, any Roman citizen within earshot knew this was sedition against the state. Why? Here are three reasons the leaders in Thessalonica declared in Acts 17:6, “these who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” (1) Declaring Jesus to be King would be saying the emperor of Rome was not king. (2) Telling the people to “turn from idols” would mean giving offerings to Roman idols would be a rejection of Roman authority. And (3) Only Jesus, not the Roman empire, could bring peace and security to the world.
Just saying that Jesus is Lord, is a rejection of cultural norms that would upset any cultural authority. Fast forward to the 21st century and consider why the Christian message is reason for violence against Christians. We believe that all authority rests in Jesus and His Word. The Bible tells us what to believe and how to live. So, when Christ-followers speak up for God’s authority over issues of life, ethnicity, identity, family, or freedom, we are immediately defamed. No, we Christians are not interested in overthrowing the cultural order. But when Jesus changes how people think, as He did in Thessalonica, cultural authorities will say their “world has been turned upside down.” For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally showing up for Truth wherever it’s found.