2024.02.09

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 2 Thessalonians 1:3

In The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark posits that the church grew exponentially in the first 250 years when Christianity was not “legal” in the Roman Empire. Stark makes the case that an estimated 10% of the Empire’s population was Christian by the time Constantine took the throne in 306 CE (AD if you prefer).

In today’s scripture, we see evidence of growth. The story behind the story is that the church of Thessaloniki grew abundantly in faith amid suffering and persecution (see v.4). Paul has even boasted to others about them.

I call your attention to this because I have heard many of my contemporaries lamenting that we are under persecution. Yes, maybe we are no longer the dominant culture and have lost power; perhaps power we were never meant to have. And yes, secularists and others may say some incredibly ignorant things about Christianity to us or in the media. These things may be uncomfortable, but this is not persecution.

When was the last time Christians were rounded up (in the Western world) and forced into slave labor or gladiatorial games? How often are we marched into arenas to be torn apart by savage beasts or tied to a pole and lit on fire to illuminate a politician’s dinner party? When was the last time any of us witnessed a crucifixion?

Yet, the 21st-century church is shrinking like crazy. I often wonder what’s missing…

NOTICE: This is not an endorsement of persecution; it is simply a statement to remind us that we have grown too comfortable over the centuries. HitchHiker believes 42 is nudging us to renew our spirits, as he tends to do that every so often (about every 500 years!)