Dr. Carla Sunberg: Jerusalem II: Contemplating Evangelism 1700 Years After Nicaea

Jerusalem II: Contemplating Evangelism 1700 Years After Nicaea

By Dr. Carla Sunberg

In the year 325 the church’s first ecumenical council was held in the town of Nicaea, not far from today’s city of Istanbul. An ecumenical council is a worldwide gathering of bishops and other church leaders, recognized as representing the universal church, convened to deliberate and make authoritative decisions on issues of doctrine, discipline, and practice. Between the first council in Jerusalem and the first ecumenical council in the year 325 the church had grown, stretched, evangelized, and eventually become recognized by the government. It was the secular leader of the day, Constantine, who chose to bring the church together in Nicaea.

As we gather for this Jerusalem II council, we are again grappling with the question of evangelism, but also with some of the same questions that they had 1700 years ago in Nicaea. Where do we go from here? What is the Spirit saying to us?

Contemporary society questions whether evangelism is dead. In reality, that question may be more about methodology than the spirit of evangelism, or the sharing of “good news” that originally led to the expansion of Christianity. Therefore, I invite us to reach back 1700 years, into the fourth century, and there we may discover a wellspring of understanding that informs and provides a paradigm for practice that may bear fruit today.

Michael Green’s work, Evangelism in the Early Church explores the period from the ascension to the middle of the third century. Interestingly, Green hypothesized, the Church grew as a result of the Christocentric focus of its message. In a rather simplistic way, the early Christians presented Christ and their faith out of a sense of gratitude. They testified to the work of Christ in their lives, the gift they had received, and they lived with an obligation to share that gift. Green concluded, “In the first two centuries or so of the Church’s existence we find many faults, [and] much which dishonors the name they professed. But we also find an evangelistic zeal and effort, exerted by the whole broad spectrum of the Christian community to bring other people to the feet of their ascended Lord and into the fellowship of his willing servants.”

Much changed from the time of the early church to the world of the fourth century. It is in the transition between the third and fourth centuries that Christians were no longer persecuted, and Christianity became an acceptable religion within the Roman Empire. In the year 250 A.D., after more than 200 years of “evangelistic effort, Christians still made up only 1.9 percent of the Empire. However, we discover that by the middle of the next century, more than 50% of the population of the Roman Empire claimed to be Christian.

Initial growth was not exponential, but continued at a steady rate of approximately 3.42% each year. That steady growth led to astounding numbers by the end of the third, and beginning of the fourth, century. In the year 200 A.D., there were approximately 200,000 Christians in the Empire. By the year 250 A.D., there would have been 1.1 million, but by the end of the century, there were six million. The convergence of multiple factors seems to have led to the explosive

expansion of Christianity within the Roman Empire. As a result, the middle of the fourth century saw Christianity reach more than 33 million people.

Particular factors intersected synergistically to create the expansion of Christianity in the fourth century, and a similar confluence may prove consequential for evangelism in current society. The impact of culture, conversion, church structure, adaptation to a life of virtue, and the role of women all emerge as components of evangelism that is deeply Christocentric. Christ, himself, engaged with his culture and the needs of the day while modeling a life of self-sacrifice and denial. The church, founded on the day of Pentecost, infused by the presence of the Holy Spirit, was to reflect Christ through the ways in which it engaged with world. Jesus, and his successors, like Paul, reached out and employed women in mission in ways not previously seen. These principles are also all found in the church that gathered in 325 in Nicaea.

Many point to the “conversion” of Constantine as the turning point in the evangelistic efforts of Christianity in the fourth century. Others might argue that it was actually the final persecutions, from 303-312 A.D., under Diocletian, that plowed the fertile ground of faith development. In Emperor Diocletian’s desire to eliminate Christianity, he actually prepared the way for it to become the preferred religion of the Empire. During his rule, Christians were excluded from leadership roles in the government, as well as military service. As a result, they flourished

within their own communities, where the common people became evangelistic through their own faithfulness. Harnack tells us, “The most numerous and successful missionaries of the Christian religion were not the professional teachers but Christians themselves, in virtue of their loyalty and courage.” These were ordinary men and women who “propagated the Faith, lived the life, formed the communities and raised their children in the Church.”

1. The church was made up of racial and ethnic diversity — people from every tribe and nation of the known world were welcomed into fellowship in the church.
2. There was economic diversity within the life of the church community. The church took responsibility for the poor and cared well for those within the Christian community.
3. The church cared for babies and children who were abandoned by their parents.
4. The church had a moral vision of marriage for a lifetime between one man and one woman.
5. The church was non-violent.

Therefore, a theology for and of the church was developed, along with practices and preaching, which helped to reinforce the faith of Christianity.

By the early fourth century, Christianity was having a direct impact on the culture of the Roman Empire. Due to the sheer number of converts, the Roman government could no longer control the Christian population. More than likely, this is why the final persecutions failed, for far too many people within the government were now averse to participating in those persecutions.

It is into this milieu that Constantine stepped and embraced the faith of these Christians. His motivations remain unknown, whether he was sincere in seeking Christ, or whether he saw Christianity as a way in which to unite the Empire. Some have suggested that his approval of Christianity became pivotal in the explosive growth the Church experienced in the next half-century. Others believe that the explosive growth of Christianity may have made it prudent for

him to embrace the faith.

What we glean from the church 1700 years ago is that a convergence of factors led to the explosive expansion of Christianity. The slow and intentional growth of the church over the years, and especially during the persecutions, came to a head in this particular moment in time.

Some would suggest that the church today, at this time may be facing a new wave of persecutions. Rather than impeding evangelism, persecution actually forged the church in the crucible and it came out stronger and more resilient. It is in times of persecution that the people of God have to determine how they will live and express their faith, and this leads to greater evangelism. The church has always had good news to share with the world, and as society places stresses upon Christianity, we will discover that we still have good news.

There are some truths that we can glean from that early church, the one that met in Nicaea. The fourth century saw a conversion to a way of life. The last half-century has seen the church in the West seeking acceptance and approval from society. At the same time, there are those who have pushed back against the idea of a Christian, or holiness lifestyle because it has been seen as being too legalistic. While legalism may have been a problem, there remains the possibility that there has been an over-correction and the church no longer appears different from the world. Evangelism must include conversion to a lifestyle that is dedicated to spiritual formation, prayer, and personal practices of self-denial that will be deemed counter-cultural. These actions echo a Christocentric lifestyle that became vital to evangelism in the early church, for it became a visible testimony of the transformed life.

A lifestyle committed to spiritual formation resulted in a holy life. There was no distinction between being a Christian, and being a holy Christian. It was understood that Christ had come to transform humanity into his image, which is holy. This emphasis on holiness led to the monasteries becoming centres of holiness. The shift from the home and local church to the monastery made the experience of holiness much less accessible to the ordinary Christian. Holiness is evangelistic when it remains at the heart of the Christian life, for the clergy and laity alike. Jerusalem I wrestled with this question, wanting the Christian life to remain accessible for all who were becoming believers. We cannot allow the spiritual centre of the church to become out of reach for those who need to come to Christ.

Ecclesial factors are a bit more troublesome. From the year 325, the church found itself in a much more acceptable position with the secular government. While the relationship between the church and the state may have made things easier for the bishops, it also led to syncretism. The bishops no longer worked as itinerant missionaries, but became leaders over territories that were defined by the Empire. For better or worse, this put them into direct relationship with the governing authority of that region. On the one hand, the church gained power, but on the other, it was tempted to compromise to retain that power. Evangelism did ensue, but potentially more so because it may have been expedient to convert to Christianity. The church is always in danger of losing its God-ordained power through the dunamis of the Holy Spirit, when it compromises with governmental authorities.

Interestingly, evangelism did result from the theological work that was done by the bishops. The church engaged in council meetings where it hammered out the Nicaean faith. The clarity of the faith was evangelistic, and this is something that ought to be considered. Currently, there is a rush to put people into positions of leadership in the church because they appear to be successful by the world’s standards. Those with charismatic personalities, who are able to draw a crowd, may be elevated to leadership positions without the necessary theological education. The church of early Christianity had been charging on for three centuries, but there continued to be a need for clarity about theological matters. Those who chose to participate in the theological debates of the day spent much time in personal study and spiritual formation. These were not simply intellectual theologians, but individuals who endeavoured to bring Christocentric expression to what had been experienced by themselves and the Christian community. This exercise of articulation became a form of apologetic and way of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. We have an ever-increasing need for an educated and Spirit-filled clergy, at all levels of leadership, with a passion for leading the world to Christ.

While the emphasis on holiness resulted in the establishment of new monasteries, women continued to play a vital role in evangelism. It was mothers who were evangelizing in the home, and raising up children who were committed to following Christ. Other women, established female monasteries where they could exercise their spiritual gifts. One of the great Cappadocian Fathers, Gregory of Nyssa had a sister, Theosebia who served with him in Nyssa and was a deaconess of the church and who participated in the sacraments. Church history is lined with mothers who poured themselves into the education of their children. These children were not only evangelized, but also prepared to lead a new generation of Christians. Significantly, women were also used to provide catechesis during the season of rapid expansion. Throughout history, Christian women have stood in the gap and ensured the continuation of the faith. Unleashing

women for service fuels evangelism.

As a result of early evangelistic work, the Roman Empire was transformed. Julian, the emperor who attended the school in Athens with the Cappadocian Fathers, Basil and Nazianzen, became frustrated by this growth. He encouraged his governors to have a greater positive impact on society than the Christians, but secular society simply could not keep up with the good will of the now overwhelming number of Christians. There is an apocryphal report of Julian’s dying words, “νενίκηκάς με, Γαλιλαῖε,” — “You have won, Galilean.” If the Galilean is to win today, the church must reclaim these practices from the past. The only roadmap we have to the future comes to us from the past, but by reclaiming these practices and standards, the church may be able to unleash another wave of evangelism and Scriptural holiness.

We encourage you to invite those around you to step into the beginning of The Church Of The Third Millennium.

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