The World in Which We Live.

I am an easy Christian – most of the time.

What I mean to say, is that I live in a community of people who have chosen Christianity as their faith – it’s their basic way of life.

Also, I spent the last year immersed, wholly, in Christianity – it’s various teachings, scripture, world view, and gathering with people who mostly agree about all of these things and how they should be lived out in the world.

This makes Christianity easy – in some ways, – at least to look the part.

This is a question that rolls around and around in my mind most days: 

What is a Christian supposed to look like? 

I know what we DO look like a lot of the time. I know what the world expects us to look like, a lot of the time. I know how people would prefer other people to be – but I’m not always sure what we’re SUPPOSED to look like.

Right now, I’m taking a class on Paul the apostle. Probably because he comes to the forefront of a lot of teaching in the Church, he is also a well-criticized person in history. 

I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to argue against the speculations of other people on Paul. I was never really able to explain that he isn’t a chauvinist, or crazy, or gay. All things people claim against Paul. So, I’m studying Paul – trying to understand the context and culture of his life, and it, already, is fascinating.

Paul bridged 4 worlds of existence.

1. The Jewish world, which in the early church was huge and comprised of religion, faith, culture, and politics. Which asked the questions:

What does it mean to be a part of God’s people?
What does it mean to be loyal to the Torah?
What does it mean to maintain a Jewish identity in the face of an all-encroaching pagan world? 
What does it mean to await God’s kingdom, promised by the prophets, to bring redemption to Israel?

(NT Wright)

This was Paul’s up-bringing. He was originally from Tarsus, but was sent to Jerusalem for school. He spoke Aramaic and Greek, which brings me to the second world.

2. Greek or Hellenistic Culture – whose language was comparable to English of today – predominately spoken. Culture and philosophy, and the rhetoric style of the Greek world pervaded everything.

He was extremely familiar with the Greek culture – and based many of his writings’ style on Greek forms of arguing.

3. Roman Citizen.

While, at first, this meant nothing to me, at closer explanation – it is huge.

During Paul’s time, Roman citizenship was reserved  for the elite. Paul, whose family had been granted Roman citizenship, was a Roman Citizen by birth – and it is seen several times in his letters that this is a privilege of which he reminds his readers.

Roman citizenship is also important because it is, in some ways, focal point of both previous worlds. The Jews looked forward to the resurgence of the Davidic Dynasty through the Messiah - they saw Rome as the oppressor and the one who was to come, as Moses leading them out of the captivity of Egypt.

On the other side, Rome spoke predominately Greek, a first and only language for some, and Rome drew Hellenism’s philosophical and ideological attributes as foundational elements. 

So Paul sat on either side of Rome – a Roman Citizen, which a full concept of Hellenistic Culture, and Judaism’s understanding of the coming Messiah and redemption for Israel. 

4. The Family of the Messiah

Lastly, Paul was a Christian – as we see his conversion in Acts. This meant that Paul “embraced an identity rooted in Judaism, lived out in the Hellenistic/Greek world, and placed a counter-claim to Caeser’s hope for world domination ” while he maintained that being a follower of the Christ was a unique world, traced back to the character and nature of Christ. 

So the question:

What is a Christian supposed to look like?

As I study Paul, I realize a few things – he is more or less in a place far more demanding culturally than I am.

I see this present age a fairly impossible to navigate – there does not seem to be any predominating culture other than the culture of cynicism, anger and doubt – with the aspiration for personal affluence and peace. Its bound up with post-modern concepts of truth, and gated in with the reason of science.

But, I cannot help but wonder how Paul would have navigated – how he would have spoken to humanity out of our culture. 

This is the world in which we live – and I guess my question is, how do we live out of it, in light of it, and like the fourth world – be unique, tracing our identity and nature back to Christ himself.

5 Things I love about Para.

I’m wearing my red shoes. It was a red shoe day.

1. I love that I am now a part of people’s life experience. When some students look back on college, Para will be one fragment of their experience. That is pretty fantastic.

2. It is a place of learning. We have people snuggled up on couches reading philosophy, or biology, or history. I give them their coffee; I know a lot of their names. It’s wonderful.

3. I experience a whole different part of the community – college students, grad students, locals – all people I never would’ve gotten to talk to without Para.

4. I understand the cost of owning a business.

5. Para is homey and inviting – and it is like neutral ground for hang out and enjoyment.

6. (An Extra one to grow on). It brings Eric and I together with a common goal – I love that most of all.

xo,

Lora