So there's this extraordinary challenge ahead. What will the living church look like in a decade?
When Christianity first began, it was an odd sub-sect of Judaism. Rome ruled the world, and pagan practices were the norm. Most citizens worshipped Zeus, Apollo, and others. Moral constraints were few. Lower status women and slaves were chattel for whatever purpose a man might choose.
Christians were ostracized (or killed) for their strange beliefs and that they welcomed slaves, treated women as equals, and demanded husbands treat their wives with respect and fidelity. Church funds were used to buy the emancipation of Christian slaves. When Romans left unwanted children out in the field to die, Christians would take them in and defy the social norms by adding them to their family. Christians walked a different path from the mainstream and showed grace and love towards those with different beliefs. They sacrificed their own safety in the plague years to care for the sick and dying.
They changed the world, didn't they.
So what will the living church look like in a decade?
They changed the world, didn't they.
So what will the living church look like in a decade?