Question: What are the best day-to-day practices that
characterize a good Christian life?
Here in our own 21st-century Baptist tradition, we have our
own answers to this question: having a daily “quiet time” in which to pray and
read the Bible, being part of a local church fellowship, giving to the church,
etc. But it’s good to realize that not all of our Christian brothers and
sisters throughout history have shared our list of preferred practices. In many
cases, although the underlying big ideas of Christian practice—like prayer,
generosity, etc.—remain the same, the actual practices can look quite
different. It can be an inspiration and a challenge to examine closely what
other Christian traditions have done in order to live a good Christian life.
How to Become a Christian (a hypothetical early church
conversion)
Step #1 – You encounter the Christian message. Most probably,
you will be told about it by a family member or friend; or, just as likely, you
might witness a miraculous healing or an exorcism, or be impressed by the way
Christians in your city are taking care of plague victims and unwanted babies.
You start attending a local church to explore this faith a bit for yourself.
Impressed by the beauty of the liturgy the power of Scripture, and the love of
the Christians, you profess faith in Christ.
Step #2 – You become a “catechumen.” For three years, you
will be part of a closely-guided group of new believers who will be instructed
in basic doctrine and trained to live a moral, upright life. In every worship
service, you are dismissed partway through, since you are not yet allowed to
participate in communion.
Step #3 – If you pass through the moral and doctrinal
training of catechesis, on the morning of Easter Sunday, you will be baptized.
Before baptism, you symbolically renounce Satan and his kingdom, and transfer
your allegiance to Christ and his kingdom. You might also be “chrismated,” that
is, anointed with oil and given a new Christian name. As a baptized person, you
can now be a full part of the church.
Day-to-Day Practices of Early Church Christians:
Fasting – Although it wasn’t a legalistic requirement, most
early Christians would have made an attempt to participate in a mild fast every
Wednesday and Friday. (Matthew 6:17-18; Mark 2:19-20)
Hospitality – One of the regular practices of early
Christianity was that Christians had homes that were always open to other
Christians who were traveling through, whether already acquainted with them or
not. (Heb. 13:2; 1 Pet. 4:9; Rom. 12:13; Matt. 10:40-41, 25:34-35)
Almsgiving – Giving was expected of Christians, not only in
the church service itself, but a whole-life orientation of generosity, which
included giving alms to the poor. (Luke 11:41, 12:33; Acts 9:36, 10:30-31; 2
Cor. 9:6-9; Gal. 2:10)
Confession – Early Christians were very serious about trying
to live holy lives, and so they carried out the Scriptural command to confess
their sins to each other (usually to the leader of their church, but sometimes
another lay Christian). (James 5:16)
Scripture – Most early Christians would not have had access
to their own copies of the Bible, so they framed their worship services around
the public reading of Scripture. (1 Tim. 4:13)
Are There Different Types of Christians?
Early on in Christian history, Christians began to think of
themselves as separated into two or three different “orders”—(1) clergy, such a
pastors/priests and bishops, (2) laypeople, and (3) monks, hermits and nuns.
Why did they make these distinctions?
The distinction between clergy and laity arose early. Even
though the New Testament teaches “the priesthood of all believers,” it also
assigns some special roles and ministries to a certain few (1 Tim. 3:1-10;
Titus 1:5). Thus, gradually, “clergy” became the class of those who spent all
their time on the ministry, whereas “laity” were those engaged in work that was
not specifically ministry-oriented.
The distinction between laity and monks, however, rose a bit
later. Christians began to feel a dynamic tension between some of the commands
of Scripture that gave a very high standard for Christian life and what they
were actually able to accomplish (Matt. 5:48, 19:21; 1 Thess. 5:17). So while
the laity strove to keep the faith and observe the “spirit of the laws” of the
New Testament, monks represented those few Christians who could give all their
time, energy, and effort to keeping every command of the New Testament to the
fullest degree.
Applications
- Take your moral responsibility as a Christian seriously. The
early church trained its new believers for three full years in the hard skills
of fighting sin, practicing spiritual disciplines, and being serious about
pursuing holiness. We need to recognize that living a God-glorifying Christian
life is something that needs continuous work.
- Try out some of the practices of the early church. In our
tradition, we tend to be much weaker than the early church was on the practices
of hospitality, fasting, and confession.
- Let yourself be challenged and moved to action by
Scripture’s call to “perfection.” But at the same time, recognize that we are
not “lone ranger” Christians; we are part of one Body, and the spiritual gifts
of other Christians help to fill in the gaps of our own giftedness.