Love in the early church

Jonathan at Galatians 2:10 has a great post about the importance of love to the early church. He introduces his quotes about love by saying,

I knew that the command to love our enemies was clearly stated in the gospels and New Testament epistles. But I didn't realize how important it was to the early church. Recently, when I began reading the earliest documents of the Christian church, I came to see that loving our enemies was pivotal. Not only was it taught in church documents, sermons, and letters, but the visible fruit of Christian love for their enemies was a major point that Christians made when defending their faith to non-Christians.

The early church fathers who he goes on to quote were members of a minority religion. They were sometimes considered atheists because they did not believe in the gods that most people believed in. They were persecuted, often to death.

Yet they preached a message of love. They risked their lives because they believed that message of love so deeply. When Bishop Polycarp says,

Pray also for emperors and magistrates and rulers, and for those who persecute and hate you, and for the enemies of the cross, that your fruit may be manifest in all, so that you may be perfected in him.

He is saying this in a context where the persecution and hatred is much more real than any experienced in the affluent, Christian majority united states.

These early church leaders understood that it was not right beliefs that set Christians apart. When they were writing, the so-called right beliefs we take for granted were still being formed. The early church fathers realized that living a life of love that can only be explained by the uplifting power of God in our lives was the distinguishing mark of a Christian. Love for their enemies, love for their persecutors, love for those that would take away everything they held precious, that is what proved the power of God.

It is no wonder that Christianity is so easily dismissed today. When Christians in the US are so quick to call minor inconvenience persecution, when a religious agenda is used for hate, they make a mockery of a true Christian life. No Christian is perfect in their love, I fail more often than I acknowledge even to myself, but we can do better than this.

To love is harder than to hate. Are we up for the challenge?