Jesus told His followers to be salt and light in the world that men might see their good works and glorify their Father in heaven. John defined the concept of love as having been loved by another first, and therefore we should love in the same way. James denounced those who gave preference to those who would be able to return the favor and, in line with the prophets of old, cried out that true religion is to assist the orphan and the widow and to keep oneself from the contamination of the world.

One cynic might be tempted to say, “The longer Christians think and theorize about the faith, the more complicated they tend to make it.” When we think about the extremely varied attitudes of Christian participation in the world, from the “escapists” to the “triumphalists,” we might be tempted to agree with that cynic. Another cynic might say, “I’ve never seen people more able at coming up with reasons why not to engage the world as the Christians I know.” Thankfully, these negative reviews apply only to a part of Christ’s church and not all of it.

The early church faced a similar challenge when it came to engagement with the world. Jesus told His followers to be salt and light in the world that men might see their good works and glorify their Father in heaven. John defined the concept of love as having been loved by another first, and therefore we should love in the same way. James denounced those who gave preference to those who would be able to return the favor and, in line with the prophets of old, cried out that true religion is to assist the orphan and the widow and to keep oneself from the contamination of the world.

In his voluminous and detailed survey of the influence of Christianity on the cultures it took root in, Alvin Schmidt mentions in detail how Christians, from the time of the early church, have engaged and transformed the society around them. So profound has their impact been that most people today take for granted these efforts and don’t even know that it was Christians, following their understanding of the Scriptures, who laid the groundwork. Fundamental attitudes about the value of human life came from Christianity (as opposed to the Greeks and Romans, who slaughtered people; watched gladiators rip out intestines with glee; and aborted babies, killed infants, or left them on the street; not to speak of human sacrifices practiced by so many ancient and not-so-ancient cultures). Fundamental attitudes of the sanctity of marriage and sexual fidelity and marital responsibility were natural responses to God’s Word by Christians, versus the rampant promiscuity of Roman society and the open displays of perversions such as homosexuality, pedophilia, and the denigration of women found in other societies. Basic human compassion in the form of orphanages and hospitals were all “inventions” of Christians. And when Christians practiced the ungodly sin of slavery, other Christians helped abolish it. And the list goes on and on.

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