Boasting in humiliation
This post is part of a monthly synchroblog. This topic of this month’s synchroblog is “Poverty”.
Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. (James 1:9-10 ESV)
If I had written about poverty a year ago (and I probably did), I would have written from a theoretical position. While my family has never been “rich”, we were also never poor. Similarly, I had never spent time around people who generally would be considered poor, except for a short time in Nicaragua.
In fact, as I think back, my life generally resembled the lives of the children of Israel. God consistently admonished them through the prophets because they did not care for the fatherless, the widows, the foreigners, the oppressed, and the poor:
They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them. (Isaiah 1:23 ESV)
They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. (Jeremiah 5:28 ESV)
Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. (Ezekiel 22:7 ESV)
Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. (Zechariah 7:9-11 ESV)
Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals – those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned… (Amos 2:6-7 ESV)
While the children of Israel kept the feasts and Sabbaths and offerings and sacrifices, they did not show mercy to those in need.
This is a good picture of my life until a few months ago. I met with the church. I gave money. I sang songs and prayed. But, what about those in need? I “cared” for the poor, but I didn’t care for the poor. I “loved” the needy, but I didn’t love the needy. There was a huge disconnect between what I said or through about myself, and what my life demonstrated.
Then, God began to transform me. It all started when I began to view the church as people instead of structure, organization, or leadership. As God began to turn my heart toward people, he also began to turn my heart toward “the least”. And, for the last several months, God has given me opportunities to truly demonstrate his love toward the fatherless, the widows, the foreigners, the poor, and the needy.
Something interesting happened as my family began to truly serve the needy. As we sought to bless others, we found that God blessed us through them. You see, these poor and needy people are often more rich than we are in some areas. And, we have found that we need them in our lives more than they need us. In fact, for our family, there is no “us” and “them” anymore. They are part of our family.
So, I’ve learned from friends who have less financial resources than myself. I’ve grown by listening to people who have no family members to care for them. I’ve been helped by single parents struggling to provide for their children. I’ve been taught by people who are struggling physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
I believe that God has much in store for his children – those who are poor and those who are rich. For those of us who are rich (in finances, in possessions, in education, in health, in relationships, etc.) to learn from those who are poor, it takes much humility.
When God commands his children to care for “the least”, he does not command this simply for the benefit of “the least”. Instead, he understands what his children need. I’ve missed out on so much of what God is doing for so long. God is with “the least”; and when we serve them, we are serving him. In fact, we serve him through the poor, the needy, the oppressed, the fatherless, the widows, and the foreigners much more than we do through singing and listening to preaching. Don’t believe me? Then learn what this means: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13; Hosea 6:6).
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Here is a list of bloggers who are participating in this synchroblog on poverty:
Sonja Andrews: Fully Known and Fully Loved
Phil Wyman at Phil Wyman’s Square No More
Adam Gonnerman: Echoes of Judas
Cobus van Wyngaard: Luke: The Gospel for the Rich
Lainie Petersen at Headspace
Steve Hayes: Holy Poverty
Jonathan Brink: Spiritual Poverty
Dan Stone at The Tense Before
Jeremiah: Blessed are the poor… churches…
Alan Knox: Boasting in Humiliation
Miss Eagle: Poverty and the Hospitable Heart
Jimmie: Feeding the Poor
Lollipop Love?
I haven’t written a summary of the last section of John M. Perkins’ book Beyond Charity: The Call to Christian Community Development yet. However, I wanted to share this paragraph from chapter 12, “Discerning the Call”, because it speaks very clearly about what God is currently teaching me:
So the biblical evidence overwhelmingly states that the will of God is to love him in a way that leaves no room for idols, and to love our neighbors in a way that liberates them from poverty and oppression, either spiritual or physical. Most of us don’t see the commandment to love our neighbor as having anything to do with dealing with physical needs. But this is primarily because we have allowed the culture in which we live to redefine the word love for us. The love that we talk about now is a lollipop; it’s a smile and a “God bless you!” The love of Jesus, the love he intends for us to show to our neighbors, is much tougher than this. In his first epistle, the apostle John say that our love should be of the same quality as Jesus’ love for us, that we get our definition of love not from our feelings or our culture but from the cross. “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16 NASB).
Thank you, Mr. Perkins. John wrote something else in that same epistle that goes along with this (the very next verse, as a matter of fact):
But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? (1 John 3:17 ESV)
And, of course, this convicting verse:
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8 ESV)
hmmmm… We cannot know if God’s love is in us by what we say (regardless of how eloquent our speech or how often we preach) nor by what we write (regardless of how many readers we have or how many times we’ve been published).
We can know if God’s love is in us by noticing whether or not we sacrificially (laying down our lives) love others. That’s a difficult (but biblical) test.
Mercy not Sacrifice
Next Sunday, we’ll be studying Matthew 9:9-13. I’m not scheduled to teach, but I’m continuing to study along in case God teaches me something that would transform my own life and perhaps that he would want me to share with others in order to build them up toward maturity in Christ. Here is the passage:
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13 ESV)
The quotation, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice”, is from Hosea 6:
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love [mercy] and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. (Hosea 6:4-7 ESV)
For the children of Israel during Hosea’s time and for the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, following God meant offering sacrifices and attending religious festivals as well as living according to the law. But for all their sacrifices and attendance and law keeping, Jesus (and God through the prophet Hosea) says that they were actually “transgressing the covenant”. They had forgotten about mercy.
In Matthew 9:9-13, Jesus is eating with Matthew and some of his tax collecting friends. The Pharisees were appalled that Jesus would eat with that kind of low life scum. Everyone knew that tax collectors were cheaters and traitors – sinners. That is why the Pharisees would have nothing to do with them.
Jesus knew the deplorable nature of the tax collectors also. That is why Jesus spent time with them. Thus, Jesus turns the world upside down. The righteous one spends his time with the unrighteous, because it is more important for God’s people to offer mercy to others than to offer sacrifices to God (without mercy). The sacrifices and offerings and feasts and rituals meant nothing to God if the people were not also dealing mercifully with others.
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were always getting mad at Jesus for hanging out with people like tax collectors and prostitutes and drunkards and lepers and others of an unsavory sort. He spent so much time with them, that the religious leaders started saying the Jesus was a glutton and a drunkard. But, Jesus knew that these were the people who most needed the love and mercy of God. These were the people who needed a true demonstration of God’s grace.
Today, there are many, many people who need a true demonstrate of God’s grace. They need to know the love and mercy of God. And, God’s children are the only ones who can demonstrate God’s grace, mercy, and love to them.
God desires for us to demonstrate his mercy more than we care about our religious gatherings and exercises. Which do we care more about?
More living faith
Lately, I’ve been sharing about ways that God has been using me, my family, and my friends to demonstrate the good news and his love to our brothers and sisters and to the world. I started doing this because someone challenged (in a positive way) me to offer positive and real examples of the theoretical stuff that I write about. When I see more examples of “living faith”, I want to share those with my readers as well.
Joe (J.R.) at “More than Cake” wrote about a recent example in a post called “Faith With Works is Alive!” Joe writes about one of his brothers providing a car to a single mother. You read that correctly: a car! Go to Joe’s blog and read his post.
This is how Joe ends his post:
In the end, no single person can take the credit for helping Erin because none of us had the ability or resources to make it happen on our own. It is our prayer that this tangible demonstration of love will serve as an example to our friends, neighbors and other churches of how God makes provision through the working of his Spirit in the power of His church. All who read, be encouraged and find a way; this very day, to be the hands and feet of Jesus!
Amen! Let it be in me and in all of those who are “stirred up to love and good works” by this example of faith that works!
She said, "I’m very close."
I saw Mrs. Jenny again last Saturday and last Monday (see “I think we’ve been adopted“). When I first met Mrs. Jenny, she told me, “I didn’t grow up with religion. I’m not an atheist, but I don’t know much about religion.” She’s told me that twice.
Monday, I took an early lunch and went to the nursing home where Mrs. Jenny lives and where some of my friends have “story time”. During “Story time”, they read a couple of chapters of the Bible, sing hymns that the residents request, and spend time touching and talking to each resident that comes to “story time”. When my friend reads Scripture, he often asks his boys and others to read certain parts. His oldest son read the parts where God speaks. Another son read Cain’s lines. A girl who was with them read for Eve. Me? He asked me to be the serpent… is he trying to say something?
After reading and singing, I went over to where Mrs. Jenny was sitting in her wheelchair. She had a bag in her lap, and I asked her about the bag. She showed me a painting she had made in her art class for our friends who do “story time”. She had painted a cross. This is where the conversation started:
Mrs. Jenny: (pointing to the cross) “I’m very close.”
Me: “Are you?”
Mrs. Jenny: “Yes.”
Me: “Would you like to talk about it sometime?”
Mrs. Jenny: “Yes. I have some questions. I can’t read well yet so I can’t read the Bible for myself.” (She’s having cataract surgery in a few days.)
Me: “Let’s plan to talk about it the next time I come to visit.”
Mrs. Jenny: “I would like that very much.” (Then she told me how precious my wife is. I agreed.)
So, God willing, my family will visit Mrs. Jenny again today. God has been working in her life. She has heard Scripture read. She has heard many hymns sung. She has seen and been the recipient of the love of Christ through many of his children. I think that God is drawing her to himself. I look forward to what God continues to do through her, and how he continues to teach me and mature me through her.
Opportunities to Serve
Recently, on Sunday mornings, we have been asking people to share how God is using them to serve people – both other believers and also unbelievers. We do this for several reasons, two of which include 1) giving people examples of service to follow and 2) giving people opportunities to serve. Yesterday, it was my family’s turn to share how God has been using us to serve. I haven’t shared all of this on my blog before, so I thought I would share what we have been doing on Saturday mornings.
First, I want to explain a few things that led up to this. Several months ago, we took part in a ministry to children one Saturday morning. Several people from different churches gather together at a community center in a government housing project to play with the children, feed them lunch, and share a Bible story. The people there were building relationships with the children, but they were not finding it as easy to build relationships with their parents.
Second, a friend of ours noticed that many groups bring left over food – old food from grocery stores and old cakes and cookies – to some of the poorer sections of our town. After talking with one of the residents, my friend found out that these groups rarely interact with the people; they simply left the food. And, unfortunately, the food was rarely healthy.
Taking these two events into account, we decided that we wanted to serve in a way that we could provide healthy food for people, and in a way that we could begin to build relationships with both adults and children. So, on Saturday mornings, we stop by a local farmers market and buy some fresh fruit and vegetables. We don’t spend alot of money. As a matter of fact, our family has set aside $25 per week. This allows us to buy enough produce for 5 small bags. When other people join us, if they decide to buy some produce as well, we put more in the bags and/or we prepare more bags. We usually buy beans, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, peaches, grapes, apples, oranges, or plums. Occasionally, a friend of ours has baked fresh bread for us to take as well.
We then take these bags of produce to the neighborhood where one of our friends lives. This is very important. Since the people know her, and since she often introduces us, we’ve found that we can get to know people better. We offer the bags of produce to her neighbors with no strings attached. We tell them that we have some fresh fruits and vegetables, and ask if they would like a bag. We don’t announce ourselves as part of any church or group, we are simply Alan, Margaret, Jeremy, and Miranda wanting to serve our friend’s neighbors.
We have only been doing this for a couple of months, and already we have begun to build relationships with many of the adults in the neighborhood. Often they invite us into their homes where we sit and talk for a few minutes. Once we get to know them, we talk about spiritual issues. For those who are believers, we try to help one another grow in maturity in Christ, and we pray for one another.
We have talked about addiction, sickness, loneliness, work situations, education, reading and understanding Scripture, surgery, children and child care, death, friendship, and church. In other words, the people are already opening up to us as they see that we are not trying to get anything out of them. Instead, we come by because we care about them.
As a side benefit, we have also started building a relationship with the lady who runs the farmers market stand. She asked us why we buy so much produce, and we’ve explained what we’re doing. There is always the possibility that we could get a better price or a better selection at another stand, but now I feel like I would be neglecting another opportunity that God has given me.
We’ve been able to touch about eight or ten houses in this neighborhood. This is probably only about one third of the houses. However, God does not call us to do everything. Instead, he calls us to use what he’s given us. Right now, this is what he’s given us. It would be very easy to start organizing and become more efficient and forget the reason that we’re there. I never want to lose the one on one contact with the people.
I am not sharing this with you to brag about what we’re doing. Instead, I’m sharing this in order to encourage those who may not know how to serve others. Perhaps you don’t know how to reach out to “the least” in your community. If you live near Wake Forest, NC, send me an email and I’ll be glad to help you get started.
I am also sharing this for those who are serving but who may sometimes feel that they are the only ones who care. Be encouraged! There are others who are serving alongside of you. God is at work in many, many ways in our communities.
Finally, I’m sharing this for the many seminary students who read my blog. Attending seminary is not a ministry. If you are not serving people, then you may need to check your priorities. You do not demonstrate God’s love by reading books and writing papers. It may be time for you to start getting your hands dirty.
How is God using you to serve people?
Sailing against the prevailing winds
On Saturday, July 26 at 2:44 pm, Dave Black posted a picture of the start of the final chapter of the book that he’s been writing. I couldn’t help but sneak a peak…
It’s time to summarize and conclude. Are you in a mainstream congregation? In an emergent church? In a home meeting? It doesn’t really matter. The paramount question to ask is this: Are you willing to wash the feet of others? Are you willing to use your gifts to enrich the Body of Christ? Are you willing to forgo pyramids of power? Are you willing to surrender what is rightfully “yours”? In the end, it doesn’t matter what denomination or church we belong to. What matters is that we faithfully pursue the downward path of Jesus regardless of the religious structures around us. What matters is that we work from the bottom up. “Don’t be arrogant,” writes Paul, “but be friendly to humble people” (Rom. 12:16). “Excel in showing respect for one another” (Rom. 12:10). And we are to do this whether or not we agree with our brother and sister in every area.
One of the most important aspects of walking with Jesus is learning this lesson of serving different parts of the Body in times of special need, even if that means sailing against the prevailing winds.
That is all that I can read from his photo. I realize that this book will still go through an editing process, but this passage alone speaks volumes to me. This passage may not make it into the book in this form, but God is already using this words to affect me.
If the church can learn this simple lesson of humility and service, it will change the world as we know it. I don’t mean the kind of “humility and service” that causes us to stand up in front of a room of people and tell them what we know. I’m talking about the kind of “humility and service” that causes us to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty by washing dirty feet.
This lesson is simple, but very profound and completely impossible in human nature. And, we love to do things in our human nature. We even mimic social research that tells us how people like to do things in their human nature. Its time to “sail against the prevailing winds” and catch a new wind – the wind of the Spirit, who blows where he desires, not where we desire.
Jesus touched lepers, and the demon possessed, and women with fevers, and dead bodies, and the lame and blind and the deaf, and prostitutes, and heretics (Samaritans), and Gentiles, and tax collectors, and sinners. He got his hands dirty, and the religious people of his day noticed and did not like it. They accused him of every sin given by God and a few they made up on their own. And, Jesus ignored the religious professionals – except to point out that they had replaced God with a god of their own making – and he continued to touch those in need.
The religious professionals attempted to sway the crowds – telling the people that Jesus was dangerous. But, all the people could see was that Jesus loved them, and he showed that by touching them, hugging them, going to them, caring for them, providing for them. As he was doing so, he told them that God loved them so much that he came to them. He told the people about the kingdom of God – and that the kingdom was near to them. The people refused to listen to the religious leaders because they saw that Jesus cared.
Next, the religious leaders decided to kill Jesus. They insinuated that they would also kill anyone who sided with Jesus. The people gave in – even Jesus’ closest friends. But what did Jesus do? He continued to touch as many as he could, including a soldier who came to arrest him. He continued to care for as many as he could, including the thief beside him who was casting insults at him previously. He continued to love them, even his “followers” who had run away, calling on John to take care of his mother.
After Jesus crucifixion and resurrection, he “re-instated” Peter by asking Peter to care for Jesus’ flock the way that Jesus did. Peter asked about John, and Jesus said, “What does that matter to you? You follow me.”
Jesus is still calling us to follow him. It doesn’t matter what your neighbor does, or what your friend does, or what your pastor does, or what your teacher does, or what your parent does. You follow Jesus. And, Jesus is continue to lead us to touch, and care, and love, and serve. Jesus is continue to lead us to wash dirty feet. Are you willing to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty?
Disciples are not recognized by the claims to following Jesus. Disciples are recognized by actually following Jesus. It is time to “sail against the prevailing winds” and follow Jesus.
Beyond Charity – Our Gospel
As I mentioned in my posts called “Beyond Charity – Introduction” and “Beyond Charity – Our Vision“, I’m reading John Perkins’ book Beyond Charity: The Call to Christian Community Development. Part Two of the book is called “Our Gospel”, and it is divided into eight chapters: “The Living Gospel”, “The Burden of Proof”, “Filling the Leadership Vacuum”, “Evangelism”, “Wholesome Care”, “Providing Services”, “Economic Development”, and “Pursuing Justice”. I cannot discuss all of these chapters, so I’m going to focus on Chapter 4 (The Living Gospel), then hit some of the high points in the remaining chapters which flow from Perkins’ understanding of the gospel.
Chapter 4 – The Living Gospel – is probably my favorite chapter in Perkins’ book. The gospel, as Perkins describes it, is not a gospel of mental ascent, nor is it a gospel of works. The gospel flows from God’s love and transforms us into agents of God’s love.
As I understood more of God’s love for me, and the extremity of the sacrifice he made for me, I began to be transformed, little by little. I was overpowered by God’s love that morning, and I wanted to share it with those whom I was coming in contact with. As as the love of God worked in my life, it was changing me so that God could use my life to demonstrate his love for others – and he is still at work in me today… So God calls us to be transformed by his love in order to make us instruments of his love to the whole world.
If you miss this very important point when reading this book, you may think that Perkins is pushing a “social gospel” without a spiritual foundation. Perkins’ gospel is social, but it begins with the spiritual – the love of God that transforms individuals. When God transforms a person – that is, God CHANGES a person – that person begins to demonstrate their new character – a character that starts with love.
Social action is not a means to earn salvation, nor is it a means to bring about the kingdom of God on earth. Instead, social action is the (super)natural outcropping of a life that has been transformed by God’s love. Just has James could not imagine a life of faith without works – that faith is dead, James says – Perkins cannot imagine a gospel that does not result in active care and concern for other people – demonstrated in social action.
It seems that for Perkins there are two motivations for social action: 1) a desire to see others reconciled to God, and 2) a desire to demonstrate the love of God. Therefore, social action is valid and necessary even toward those who reject the gospel. God’s love is unconditional; Jesus even loved the rich, young ruler who turned away from him. In the same manner, our active love for others should not stop if they reject the gospel.
The next seven chapters in Perkins’ book flow from his understanding of the gospel. For example, he says that the “burden of proof” lies with followers of Jesus to demonstrate that our love – the love that flows from God through us – is authentic by connecting our words and deeds. Furthermore, as we love others, we trust them with leadership, not thinking of ourselves as better. Similarly, our evangelism will “take place inside the community of faith” and “is most effective when it calls people into a relationship with a holy God and into a fellowship of believers”. In case some may misunderstand his purpose, Perkins clearly states, “Christian community development cannot happen without the work of evangelism”. Furthermore, Perkins gives practical suggestions and examples for creating an environment of hope through dignity, power, education, employment, health, security, recreation and beauty. Finally, Perkins exhorts Christians to use their energy and resources to pursue justice for the poor, the needy, the fatherless, the widows, and the foreigners.
I think that Perkins has described a very biblical gospel – the Good News that Jesus Christ reconciles people to God and then gives them the ministry of reconciliation. This gospel expects a faith that works.
Family love
I’m very proud of Margaret (my wife) and my children. They have given of themselves in order to love others this week so many times that it has been very challenging and very encouraging to me.
On Monday morning, they joined some friends at a nursing home to love on some of the residents. Besides reading and singing with them, they also spent time talking individually with many of the men and women.
On Monday evening, they rode with me and some friends two hours south of our house to love on a young couple because the husband’s grandmother had passed away. This couple is very special to us, and we are so thankful to God for this new relationship.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, they kept the three year old son of a friend while she was having tests run. On Wednesday, while they were keeping this precious boy, they also kept the daughter of some of our friends so the wife could visit a friend in the hospital.
On Saturday (the day this is scheduled to be published), my family is planning to spend time serving in a friend’s neighborhood, then they are planning to keep the children of some friends so that they can work on their house.
I’ve told Margaret how much their service has encouraged me. She acted like their service was “no big deal”. I don’t think she sees it as service, since she was caring for family. But, I think that’s awesome! That is what it means to see the church as a family.
I’m not suggesting that Margaret, Jeremy, and Miranda are the only believers that I know who are serving. In fact, that would be far from the truth. God has placed us with a group of brothers and sisters who spend time with one another and care for one another. Again… we recognize that we are family, and we actually treat one another as family. “Family” is more than a title for us… it is a call to love and action.
Church Meeting in Tertullian – Part 3
This is the third installment in a series concerning Tertullian’s descriptions of the meeting of the church sometime around 200 AD (see “Church Meeting in Tertullian – Part 1” and “Church Meeting in Tertullian – Part 2“). This passage also occurs in Chapter 39 of Tertullian’s Apology. Between the previous passage and the current passage, Tertullian denies that the Christians share their wives, although he says that they share everything else. He also denies that their feasts are “extravagant” or “wicked” as some critiques have claimed.
Then, Tertullian ends his discussion of the church meeting with this passage:
Our feast explains itself by its name. The Greeks call it agape, i.e., affection [love]. Whatever it costs, our outlay in the name of piety is gain, since with the good things of the feast we benefit the needy; not as it is with you, do parasites aspire to the glory of satisfying their licentious propensities, selling themselves for a belly-feast to all disgraceful treatment,-but as it is with God himself, a peculiar respect is shown to the lowly. If the object of our feast be good, in the light of that consider its further regulations. As it is an act of religious service, it permits no vileness or immodesty. The participants, before reclining, taste first of prayer to God. As much is eaten as satisfies the cravings of hunger; as much is drunk as befits the chaste. They say it is enough, as those who remember that even during the night they have to worship God; they talk as those who know that the Lord is one of their auditors. After manual ablution, and the bringing in of lights, each is asked to stand forth and sing, as he can, a hymn to God, either one from the holy Scriptures or one of his own composing,-a proof of the measure of our drinking. As the feast commenced with prayer, so with prayer it is closed. We go from it, not like troops of mischief-doers, nor bands of vagabonds, nor to break out into licentious acts, but to have as much care of our modesty and chastity as if we had been at a school of virtue rather than a banquet.
Give the congregation of the Christians its due, and hold it unlawful, if it is like assemblies of the illicit sort: by all means let it be condemned, if any complaint can be validly laid against it, such as lies against secret factions. But who has ever suffered harm from our assemblies? We are in our congregations just what we are when separated from each other; we are as a community what we are individuals; we injure nobody, we trouble nobody. When the upright, when the virtuous meet together, when the pious, when the pure assemble in congregation, you ought not to call that a faction, but a curia-[i.e., the court of God.]
Apparently, in Tertullian’s day, the meeting of the church included a feast – eating enough food to be satisfied, and drinking but not so much as to be unchaste. From this passage it is impossible to tell whether or not this feast occurred at the same time and place as the exhortation described earlier. (For example, when Pliny interrogated some Christians, he found out that they met twice on the same day – see “Meeting with the Early Church – Pliny’s Letter“.) However, it is clear that this “feast” was not limited to a piece of bread and a drink of wine. At the same time, however, it was also not a time of gluttony and drunkenness.
This is the second time that Tertullian remarks that the Christians act a certain way because of their belief that God is with them. Here, though, he continues by recognizing that their manner of living is consistent both during the meeting and after the meeting – both when they are with other believers, and when they are away from other believers. Apparently, the belief that God is with them carried over outside the meeting of the church, and greatly affected they way that they lived their lives.
Besides eating and drinking, the feast also included prayer – both before and after the meal – as well as singing, as each one is requested to sing either from Scripture or a self-composed song. There is also interesting reference to “bringing in the lights”. I do not know what this points to. Perhaps a reader can help me out with this one.
At the beginning of this passage, there is another reference to benefiting the needy, this time in reference to the feast. Tertullian does not give us details of this benefit – whether Tertullian is referring to needy believers who are provided with food for the feast, whether the needy are invited to dine with the believers, whether the believers again receive contributions during the feast to benefit the needy, or whether that benefit comes in some other manner. However, even during this feast, the thoughts of the believers are turned to “the least”. Why do they desire to benefit the needy through their feast? Because they see it as the way of God himself. For this reason, “a peculiar respect is shown to the lowly”.
What do you think about Tertullian’s description of the “love feasts” in 200 AD? How does Tertullian’s description of Agape meals compare to those of today (“Lord’s Supper” or “Eucharist”?)? How does Tertullian’s description compare to Scripture?
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Series:
1. Church Meeting in Tertullian – Part 1
2. Church Meeting in Tertullian – Part 2
3. Church Meeting in Tertullian – Part 3