A look at the Early Church culture and young martyrs · Isis offers the same ‘revolutionary pull’ as had occurred during the French Revolution, the Bolshevik ... Should churches

A look at the Early Church culture

and young martyrs

A story about young people from

2,000 years ago …

You could use this slide to put big

statements or quotes that you want

to make a bit of a deal of…




ROMAN

CULTURE

• religious

• superstit ious

• violent

• authoritarian

• slavery

• infant exposure/abortion

• vertical/hierarchical society

• woman inferior







BUSINESS

• Integrity

• Ethical

• Speaking plainly

and honestly

• No lit igation

• No retaliation

• Work hard

SEXUAL

DISCIPLINE Christians,

‘repudiated

adulterous glances,

avoided second

marriages and

committed

themselves to

l i felong continence’







• Meeting together as

equals

• Training children

• Woman active in the

Church

• Christian Love

MEN, WOMEN

AND CHILDREN







‘When Christians joined together for

worship, they were a ragtag army of,

‘God-fearing old men ... God-beloved

orphans ... widows armed with

gentleness ... and men adorned with

love. They asked God for the subduing

of sickness to be put to fl ight with the

laying on of hands and the shattering

of violence of demons which would be

reduced to impotence by confident

commands.’

MANIFESTATIONS

OF DIVINE

POWER







Care of the poor was a

fundamental commitment

the Christians made at

their baptism. The practical

application of charity was a

powerful cause of the

Christian success.

CARE FOR

THE POOR

SANCTITY OF LIFE

Refusing to participate in the

taking of human life in any form

at all was a basic Christian

commitment; it was a product of

the Christian’s patience, their

refusal to retaliate and their

understanding of the way and

teaching of Jesus.







Early church fathers believed that

church growth would depend, not

on pressure, but on proof—on the

believer’s lives, which

demonstrated across time

whether their beliefs have

authenticity.

PATIENCE

THAT DOES NOT

COMPEL







Exercise: The Sermon on the

Mount was the ‘bible’ of the

early church. Using Mt 5-7.

Discuss in groups the

contrasting Christian reflexive

habits (habitus) that would

distinguish a Christian from the

secular world view habitus.

SERMON ON

THE MOUNT

A look at present day phenomena with youth

TODAY







Christians are persecuted around

the world today.

Many of those who are

persecuted think it’s ‘normal’ to

suffer prison and torture because

they bear the name of Christ.

THE

PERSECUTED

CHURCH

TODAY







WHAT

MOTIVATES

YOUNG MEN IN

THE WEST TO

FIGHT FOR ISIS?

WHY DO YOUNG

PEOPLE JOIN

ISIS?

1. A call to glory

2. A way to become a hero

3. Adventure







1. Isis understands youth better than

the governments that are fighting

against it

2. Governments should listen to

young people for ideas in how to

counter this phenomenon

3. Isis offers the same ‘revolutionary

pull’ as had occurred during the

French Revolution, the Bolshevik

Revolution and the rise of Nazi

Germany

WHAT THE

EXPERTS SAY







1. Are revolutionary-type Christian youth converted and

discipled in churches?

2. How can churches and youth groups engage the

‘serious’ youth instead of fun and games?

3. Are churches preparing converts and young people to

fight/stand for their faith? If not, why not? Isis

prepares young people to die for their faith. The

early church prepared new people to die for their faith,

the persecuted church around the world even

prepares their new converts for persecution and

death.

4. Should churches be learning to disciple radically?

THE CHALLENGE

FOR CHURCHES







Young people go through a ‘Messianic’

stage of development.

They see themselves in a major effort to

reform the world.

They become champions of the

underdogs, can identify with the

oppressed, the victims of self ish society,

the poor and the weak.

COGNITIVE

DEVELOPMENT

HIP HOP CULTURE

Hip Hop music culture developed by inner city black

gangs is increasingly attractive to young Caucasian

males who are taking on that persona. Why?

Jordan B. Peterson who is a Professor of

Psychology at Toronto University says that this

phenomenon is 'corrective to the insistence that

the highest moral virtue for the modern man is

harmlessness, which is absurd. Women don’t even

like harmless men. They hate them ... What women

want are dangerous men who are civilized.’

WHAT IS A DANGEROUS MAN WHO IS CIVILIZED?

• A man that is willing to die for his beliefs, someone

who is a hero, who can change the world. A man

who fights for what he believes, for values that are

worth dying for. Someone like a Saviour of the

world, someone like their true Father. To be all that

they were created to be.

• Are we training our young men to be dangerous?

That their faith is worth dying for? That there are

absolute truths that need defending? Could this be

a missing part of discipleship?

We must present a radical cause in our mission, a

purpose beyond ourselves, a struggle for

righteousness, something worth dying for, not

insipid and easy.







Due to a lack of discipleship, the church

is producing immature converts who are

biblically i l l i terate, comfortably l iving in

the sacred/secular divide, only have faith

for at home and the rest of their l ives

l iving within the secular. This is l ike

animism, in Africa, Christianity that is a

'mile wide and an inch deep' has been

unable to transform the culture.

DISCIPLESHIP

IS THE KEY

• Young people need a clear

understanding of the power of the Gospel

and a personal encounter with Christ --

resulting in transformation (not just 'a

great experience‘)

• They need to see authentic Christianity

lived out before them (in community if

possible). A faith that impacts every part

of their lives and not just on Sundays or at

youth group

• They need to live in the reality of divine

manifestations (like the early church)

• Most importantly, to be discipled well

(ready to stand for their faith, for a

purpose greater than themselves)

SUMMARY

HOW OLD WERE JESUS

DISCIPLES?

“Hitler has said to them ‘I offer you struggle,

danger, and death,’ and as a result a whole nation

flings itself at his feet.” –George Orwell’s 1940

Review of Mein Kampf

“The church should be countercultural in personal

morality and its vision of the good life … nobody wants

to give their life for or to a movement that is just a vague

spiritual version of the secular culture.” Ross Douthat,

The Enigma of Pope Francis

“When it comes to religion, a faith that

lacks social impact does not interest

them.” – Ps James Emery White, Meet Gen Z

• Present a radical Christianity

• Engage radically transformed,

white-hot, young people who are

influencers and who can speak the

language of this generation

• Give them a cause to change the

world or give their l ives for

(present a clear vision)

“How can we expect righteousness to prevail

when there is hardly anyone willing to give

himself up individually to a righteous cause?,”

Sophie Scholl said as her final words just before

she was killed. “Such a fine, sunny day, and I

have to go, but what does my death matter, if

through us, thousands of people are awakened

and stirred to action?” - Sophie Scholl (White Rose

resistance movement, aged 21 years)

Documents

A look at the Early Church culture and young martyrs · Isis offers the same ‘revolutionary pull’ as had occurred during the French Revolution, the Bolshevik ... Should churches