Early Church Contextualization

I’ve really been thinking about contextualization. For another class, I recently read Patient Ferment of the Early Church by Alan Kreider. The book seeks to answer the question: How did the early church grow? Kreider does not use the words of entrepreneurship, but I think he may have some insight that can relate to the things discussed in class. In his book, Kreider provides four reasons for the growth of the church in the Roman Empire. One of those reasons is patience.

I think patience is how the early church contextualized to the culture of the Roman Empire. Roman culture did not view patience as a virtue. However, because their religion, politics, and economics were so intertwined, anyone not participating in one of those things would be viewed with suspicion. If one was not a faithful worshipper of the gods, then one would not be a loyal subject of the state. Because Christians refrained from participating in religious rituals and emperor worship, they were viewed with suspicion and suffered socially and economically. However, I believe that their patient endurance, by being faithful to the Gospel, turned into how they contextualized the Gospel into their culture.

Consider how Paul tells the Roman church to submit to the Roman authorities in Romans 13. Regardless of how the state behaves, good or bad, God uses them for his ultimate good. The church, the ones following the immediate footsteps of the Apostles, contextualized by remaining faithful, praying for their enemies and the good of the state, and continued about their work and daily lives. They showed through their actions that they were indeed good citizens of whatever place they happened to be. And after much suffering and patience, the church filled the empire. I have no real evidence for this theory, but from what we have discussed in class, I believe the early church contextualized by patiently working for the good of their community while remaining faithful to the Gospel.