blog 12

Wednesday's reading and class have left me considering a concept that I have not thought about before. Once Christians' were not persecuted anymore, they had to struggle more intensively to be active, convicted, and ethical in their Christian practice/lifestyle. I have thought about the shift before, when Constantine declared Christianity a state religion, and have always viewed it in a somewhat negative light, because at that time so many pagan traditions were incorporated into Christianity in order to appease those who did not want to change. It seems that this was exactly what God warned against--I often grapple with this, wondering about the legitimacy of some of the things we do as Christians, and even whether we are truly following God's will, or just conforming to the popularity of Christian customs that aren't necessarily theologically sound. At any rate, I had not considered the aspect in which a system of ethics had to be developed once Christianity was the accepted norm. I think it is so interesting and logical that in a time of persecution, people who identified as Christians did so with great intention and great risk, and their lifestyles reflected their faith in a dramatic way, so that they acted out and confirmed their ethics daily through living as professed Christians. However, when people began converting to Christianity at a rapid rate, reflecting not necessarily true conviction but rather participation in a popular trend that seemed to be reasonable and righteous, they did not bring with them the knowledge, faith, and ardent lifestyle that was required of Christians previously. Therefore, a set of ethics had to be defined. I have been thinking about how we live today, and it seems as though we comply with the very minimal amount that we can in order to avoid breaking the rules--completely missing the point of grace, responsibility, and love. Rather than governing our lives by the principles at the heart or root of every action, we end up only half-heartedly worshiping God and acting out our Christian faith in a feeble way.