Questions about Christian identity have existed as long as the Church. In fact, one of the best descriptions of Christianity comes from the second century. An anonymous writer calling himself Mathetes (Greek for disciple) wrote a letter to Diognetus explaining just what Christianity looks like. He begins by distinguishing Jews and Gentiles from Christians. Jews, he says, follow legalistic "superstitions" while Gentiles have a foolish pantheon of fallible gods. What I want to look at is his description of Christianity.
"For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life."
Unlike the Jews who made a clear distinction between the circumcised and uncircumcised, Christians can be found in any land. They are people of all nations. They are universal, the literal meaning of the word "catholic". At first, it is difficult to distinguish them from anyone else. They don't wear special hats or walk a certain way. Christians often initially appear to be just like the average Joe, but reveal the Truth of their faith in how they act and treat one another.
"They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers."
Mathetes continues, writing that Christians are not citizens of any single country. They are just as comfortable in a foreign country as they are in their homeland. This is especially important for us to remember in the aftermath of an election year. Before we are Republicans, Democrats, or even Americans, we are Catholics.
Christ said that Christians are "not of the world, as I also am not of the world" (John 17:16). Christians are present in the world while remaining distinct from its sinfulness. We live in a culture of death. It is very difficult not to get caught up in the allure of our surroundings. So many movies, books, and songs promote disrespect for life and glorify sin. Christians are not distracted by the worthless promises of comfort that the world offers because we are striving for a greater prize: eternal joy in Heaven. Elsewhere, Mathetes writes that, "what the soul is in the body, Christians are in the world." We are supposed to be in the world but not of the world just as the soul is distinct from the body.
"They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh."
These words could not be more timely. In Mathetes' day, Christians "marry as do all." In these confused times, however, it is not that simple. The redefinition of marriage to include homosexual "couples" and an incredibly high divorce rate have seriously damaged the institution of marriage. We need strong married Catholics to write a testament to the beauty of married love through their lives. We need formation programs for engaged couples to prepare them for the reality of sacrificial love. We need Church officials who are not afraid to speak the Truth about marriage and who do not confuse the laity with vague language and outright lies.
Christians do not kill their children. This should be pretty straightforward, but it was not in the second century and it certainly is not in the twenty-first. As Mathetes wrote this letter, there were pagans who would "burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods" (Deuteronomy 12:31) and Romans who abandoned infants in the wilderness if they were considered "unfit" (to steal from Margaret Sanger's terminology). Today, children are sacrificed on the altars of convenience, fear, and profit. Groups like Planned Parenthood enrich themselves through ripping apart preborn babies. As Christians, we cannot tolerate the grave evil of abortion. Unfortunately, all too often we do. Only 50% of Catholic parishes have pro-life groups. Protestants are even worse with a dismal 5% of their groups promoting pro-life activities. Too many Christian women have had abortions, too many parishes have failed to address abortion, too many priests have equivocated on abortion.
This does not represent true Christian identity. We ought to be defenders of life. As Mathetes said, married Christians bring children into the world. They do not take them from it.
Furthermore, Christians are both generous and chaste, "They have a common table, but not a common bed." Jesus welcomed everyone to His table. He gave the Pharisees cause to ask Him, "Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners?" (Luke 5:30). Just like Jesus, we must be open to everyone and not just favor those who can help us or those who are respectable. Just like Jesus, we must treat the dirty beggar we pass on the street with the same dignity with which we would treat a king dressed in finery.
But this generosity does not translate into a tolerance of sin. Christians do not share "a common bed," a euphemism for sexual sin. True love means willing the good of the other. This idea is essential in our age of normalized perversity. We support marriage but refuse to redefine it. We believe in the beauty of sexuality but do not tarnish that beauty with lust and promiscuity.
"They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred."
Here we come to the crux of Christianity as described by Psalm 79, "Thou hast made us to be a contradiction to our neighbors" (Psalm 79:7). Christians contradict the behavior of the world just like the horizontal beam of the Cross contradicted the vertical beam. Though we "are reviled", we do not hate anyone. Christians respond to persecution with love, the same love with which Christ said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34) on the Cross and with which St. Stephen said, "Lord, lay not his sin to their charge" (Acts 7:59) as he was being stoned to death.
Though today we do not have to fear being torn apart by wild beasts like the Early Christians, we still face derision and scorn. Choosing to follow Christ will absolutely lead to the persecution, revilement, and condemnation that Mathetes writes about. The vast majority of the media, academia, politicians, and celebrities either openly despise Christianity like Jennifer Lawrence and Peter Singer or pretend to be practicing Christians while advancing policies diametrically opposed to the teachings of Christ like Tim Kaine and Nancy Pelosi. I hate to say it, but there are even members of the Church hierarchy who hold beliefs antithetical to the Magisterium and who censure faithful Catholics.
This is the essence of what it means to be Christian, being spit on, mocked, beaten, and even killed, all for the greater glory of God. Being Christian means carrying the Cross.
What is beautiful about this excerpt from Mathetes' letter to Diognetus is how it captures Christian identity. Christianity is not just a checklist of facts to believe in or a political orientation, it is a way of life. It is a radical way of life that provokes the world to hatred because we refuse to believe its lies. Being a Christian is both life-changing and revolutionary. It's simple really. All you have to do is pick up your cross and follow Jesus.
Deus Vult!
