In the seventh chapter of the book of Acts we have our first known martyr for the Christian faith. The death of Stephen, a newly emerging leader in the local church, begins a long history of disciples dying for their faith in Jesus as the Son of God. This tradition would mark the world wide Church ever since, even to this day. However; the Roman government would not participate in Empire wide persecution until a few hundred years after Stephen died. 

A particularly harsh moment came during the reign of Decius around 250 A.D. during which we see the Empire wide command that unless Christians worship the Roman gods, including the emperor, then they would face death. Decius believed the economic, military, and ethical problems he inherited from the previous emperor were due to citizens not worshipping the right gods. The edict, (manifested in a certificate called “libellus”), was pronounced to force Roman cult worship. Religious tolerance was no longer up to local magistrates to discern, but was to be controlled Empire wide. Either you signed the document and worshiped Roman gods, or death. Fabian, the very beloved and famous Bishop of Rome, would be killed during this two year execution period for not “liberllus/lapsi (lapsing)” from his faith. Many Christians capitulated toward worshipping the Roman gods. Many died, and still others went into hiding to escape. Often those who lived in the remote countryside or had wealth were privy to staying out of the Romans way. 

Eventually, Decius was usurped and persecution wained, then dissipated all together. Many Bishops and congregation members had either succumbed to the threat of persecution or were killed. This left the local churches with a relational and logistical dilemma. Those who remained faithful through persecution, often called “confessors”, had lost family members or loved ones, businesses and livelihoods. They were respected and had immense influence. Their question was how to welcome others who faltered back in the church? Should they? Would they? Could the Bishops who “lapsed” from their churches, who signed the document, be restored? Perhaps God would show them grace, but should their church? This was a problem all over the Roman Empire but many looked to the church Rome for their response. The presbyters (elders) in Rome chose Cornelius to replace Fabian, but there were some led by another theologian, Novatian, who thought Cornelius was too soft on the “lapsi” Christians. Novatian claimed to be his own Bishop of Rome, those of the pure/undefiled church. The church in Rome faced fracture. With this standard, would this break all the churches fellowship throughout Christendom? 

Cyprian of North Africa, a massively respected Bishop and theologian, stepped in to support Cornelius. There were some who thought Cyprian, a wealthy man who escaped much persecution, should not have a say. Yet, Cyprian defaulted to the Biblical doctrine of grace. It was by grace that the Church was birthed, by grace that the Church will stay unified, and by grace that the Church will be kept until our Lord returns. His argument won, and Novatian did not shatter the church into schism. Persecution, war, famine, governments, communism, humanism, materialism, greed, all of these the Church has faced and will continue to face. Yet nothing will destroy the witness of the Church, because it is by the grace of Jesus that we live, move and have our being. He reigns over all the earth with grace and truth. This Sunday, let us not look to Stephen as the point of the story, but rather as a witness of how God’s grace works in the lives of those who trust in Him. “I see the Lord, HE is seated on the throne…” – Isaiah

Rev. Ben Melli