“When in Rome…”
Have you ever been to Rome? I am told that it is worth visiting. The city that gave its name to the expression, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” was once the epicentre of civilization. Being Roman was to have made it. And, as they say, ‘If you could make it there, you could make it anywhere!’ The smart person was the person who learned the language, appreciated the music, donned the fashion, loved the food and kept their provincial opinions to themselves. Today, Rome does not hold the same clout. Its glory days gone. But the expression remains to remind us that life progresses faster when the visitor settles quickly into the local lifestyle. It is foolishness to publicly cling to your own ways of speech and practice in a foreign land. A new frame of reference must be gladly absorbed.
The apostle Paul was a missionary. He lived his life adjusting to different cultures, without compromising his faith. He saw differences as the backdrop to his work of building the kingdom of Christ-the church. Paul was once super-ambitious, he could have been the next Gamaliel. It’s easy to imagine him settled into Jerusalem as the next greatest rabbi. However, God chose him to be the direct opposite to a stay-at-home preacher. God equipped him to work amongst Jews, Samaritans, Hellenistic Jews, Greeks, Romans, and the other peoples of the Roman Empire. He would visit anyone – anywhere – that the Lord allowed. But his purpose is specific. “To win as many as possible” (1Cor.9:19). Somebody once quipped, “Have you noticed that all missionaries are a bit strange?” “Yes,” came a wise reply, “they have to be a bit strange, because normal people stay at home.” I praise God for these ‘strange’ people. Gone forth in faith to be strangers in a strange land. To eat, drink, dress, sing, speak, sleep, travel, buy, sell, and make changes away from their ‘normal’ lives for the sake of the souls of others – All in order to start congregations of the Lord’s people. Apparently, Rome would be the literal death of Paul. If you were standing in front of Paul before his death, I believe he would have told you that the best way to present yourself as a messenger of Christ is to “consider others better than yourselves” (Phil.2:3) and, yes, since you were already there, he would have added, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
0 Comments