The letter is titled, The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus; but author of this letter is unknown, “Mathetes” merely means “disciple.” Diognetus was a tutor of Marcus Aurelius, who shared the rule of the Roman empire with Lucius Verus from 161 to 180. The letter to Diognetus is one of the earliest examples of apologetics, the defense of Christianity from its accusers. This was a serious issue and it was during this period of time that the fifth wave of persecution broke out and Justin Martyr was executed. The letter answers the question, “Just who are these Christians?” Part of his remarkable answer tells us that what differentiates Christians from Pagans is the wholesomeness of their lives and doctrine, and not strange and abhorrent customs. |
Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.
And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labour under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives. They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law.[i]
The excerpt above gives us great insight into the life of the Christian in the world today. What makes us extraordinary is that while we live in the world, we are not of the world. Christians are not distinguished from others by externals. In the morning they pick up the paper from the front lawn, have an English muffin for breakfast, walk the dog, and pick up a coffee from Starbucks on their way to work. The difference is on a deeper level. In His high priestly prayer, Jesus said, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:14-16).
The Christian lives in the world, but is not of the world. His citizenship and his true allegiance is in the Kingdom of Heaven, and the nature of his relationship with the world is informed by the principles of the Kingdom. In a unique way the Christian is concerned about the basic issues of justice, integrity, fair play, and the demands of love, while the children of the world are in a different way concerned about power, control, and self-realization.
The world is also in the Church. The children of the world, loving the pomp and ceremony of the Church, have entered into the Church calling the things of the Church their own, but not owning the Lordship of Christ. Looking at the flock of the Good Shepherd nothing on the surface separates the lean sheep from the fat sheep but their behaviour and treatment of one another.[ii] By looking deeper one begins to discover just who are the children of the world, and who are the citizens of heaven.
The letter also tells us that God in His love sent His Son to redeem us, saying:
He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! . . . He desired to lead us to trust in His kindness, to esteem Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counsellor, Healer, our Wisdom, Light, Honour, Glory, Power, and Life, so that we should not be anxious concerning clothing and food.[iii]
That sweet exchange, that substitution of His life for ours, is the very core of our faith and experience; the truth that Jesus died as a ransom for us, and out of joy and love in return we give our lives to Him. Charles Williams tells us that, “By an act of substitution he reconciled the natural world of the kingdom of heaven, sensuality with substance. He restored substitution and co-inherence everywhere; up and down the ladder of that great substitution all our lesser substitutions run; within that sublime co-inherence all our lesser co-inherences inhere.”[iv] Co-inherence is that unity that all members of the Body of Christ have with their Head; Christ in us, the hope of glory, and the bond of love that binds each to the other.
We are drawn into that sweet exchange, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). With John of the Cross, the true citizens of the kingdom of heaven pray, “This life I live in vital strength / Is loss of life unless I win you.”[v] The true citizen of heaven lives in awe of the God of love and knows where the ultimate priorities lie, but the child of the world flees the way of exchange. The true citizens of the kingdom of heaven, in that bond of love and exchange, are committed to bearing the burdens of one another.
[i] http://www.vatican.va/spirit/documents/spirit_20010522_diogneto_en.html
[ii] Ezekiel 34:20-22 "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep.”
[iii] http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/diognetus-roberts.html
[iv] Charles Williams, “The Order of Co-inherence”, Essential Writings in Spirituality and Theology, Cambridge: (Cowley Publications, 1993), p. 147
[v] Roy Campbell, trans. St. John of the Cross: The Poems, (London: Harvill Press, 1951), p. 55
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