Christian Classics

I picked up a book last night to start reading out loud to the family. It was "Eerdman's Book of Christian Classics". I hadn't looked through it for quite some time. It's a compilation of excerpts from Christian writers through the centuries. It also gives a bit of history on the way. I know that I don't agree with all of the writers within the book, but I like the book. It's like a "Greatest Hits" album. You can get all (some) of an artists best songs on one album, tape, CD etc. I don't have to go out and buy each of these books by these writers to enjoy some of their best work. I'm going to share some of it with you. I might share more of it in the future.

Like the Gospel-writer Luke, the unknown author of the letter to 'Diognetus' wrote to explain the Christian faith to a serious enquirer. Its recipient was probably a pagan of high rank, possibly the emperor himself.

The Letter to Diognetus - 150(?) AD

You can't tell a Christian from a non-Christian by where he lives or the way he speaks or how he dresses. There are no 'Christian towns', there is no 'Christian language', and they eat, drink and sleep just like everybody else. Christians aren't particularly clever or ingenious and they haven't mastered some complicated formula, like the followers of some religions.

But while it's true that they live in cities next to other people, and follow the same pattern of life as they do, in fact they have a unique citizenship of their own. They are, of course, citizens of their own lands - loyal ones, too. But yet they feel like visitors. Every foreign country is their homeland, and their homeland is like a foreign country to them...They are nationals of various states, but citizens of heaven.

To put it simply - the soul is to the body as Christians are to the world. The soul is spread through all parts of the body and Christians through all parts of the world. The soul is in the body but is not of the body; Christians are in the world but not of the world.

This letter makes me wonder if I am not too comfortable with living in the world. Do I consider myself a citizen of this world? My town? My house? How would I react if it were lost or taken away? Maybe the problem is more like the letter. I like the letter and what it says, but maybe I mix into the world too much. Maybe my language is too similar to the worlds. Maybe my patterns and lifestyles too closely resemble that of the worlds. Am I trying to fit in or am I trying to make a difference? Typically we are comfortable in a group that we are similar to. A guy doesn't feel comfortable in a room full of ladies and same with a lady in a room full of guys. The same should be our lives in the world. Yes, we physically appear like the world. I do think our speech should be different. Our dress should be different. Not to make the world feel uncomfortable, but because we are supposed to contrast the world. Light in a dark world. People shouldn't jump to the conclusion that we are Christians because of what we wear and what we say, but I think it should different. Not for the sake of being different, either. I know this sounds confusing. I would not allow my daughter to dress like what I see many eight-year-olds dress like. Do I feel like one of a few lifeguards in a world full of drowning people? I have the ability to rescue people (with their willingness of course), but would I rather sit on the pier and count them as they go down?
True, I know that I have citizenship in heaven. Yes, I have no other choice but to be in the world. I do have a choice of where I put my treasures. Here on this foreign soil or in the safe homeland? Am I too comfortable on this earth? Let me meditate on that.

God Bless!!