Early in the second century, Pliny the Younger served as the Roman governor of Bithynia. The apostle Paul had been killed by Nero about 50 years earlier, but his missionary journeys had been effective, and the budding Christian church was expanding into Europe. During Pliny’s rule, the Roman government first recognized Christianity as a religion distinct from Judaism.
During that time, many were arrested for being among these so-called “Christians.” For Pliny, this religious upstart posed a legal dilemma, which he outlined in a letter to Emperor Trajan.
“This is how I have dealt with people accused of being Christians. I asked them if they were Christians; if they confessed, I asked them a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment. If they continued to confess their faith, I ordered them to be put to death. For I reckoned that whatever it was they were confessing, I ought to punish them anyway for their obstinacy and unbending perversity…
As for those who claimed they were not Christians, and never had been, I thought I should let them go. They said a prayer to the gods which I ordered them to recite, and offered worship before your statue with offerings of incense and wine, which I had ordered to be brought into the court, along with images of the gods. They even cursed Christ. People say that real Christians cannot be made to do such things.”
At this point in history, many important New Testament doctrines had not been formally recognized in the church. There was much that early Christians didn’t understand, yet their faith was unwavering. When all that was required to secure their release from custody was a few words of denial and the burning of some incense in the emperor’s name, they refused. They saw no moral conundrum. Persecuted believers didn’t play the “God will understand” card to save their skin.
Pliny wrote that, under interrogation, Christians admitted to getting up early to sing hymns and to swearing an oath “not to commit theft, robbery, or adultery, never to break their promises, and always to return property entrusted to them when it was demanded.” He added, “I thought I should find out more about the truth of this, by torturing two female servants who were called ‘deaconesses,’ but I discovered nothing else than a perverted and wild superstition.”
Even while being tortured, Christian women refused to deny their Savior’s name! Loyalty to Christ ran so deep among these saints that unbelieving observers concluded that “real Christians cannot be made” to deny Him. Their unfaltering commitment to Christ made it easy for Pliny to devise a straightforward “deny Jesus and live” test.
You will probably never know how you would respond to those dire circumstances, but perhaps you’re tempted to distance yourself from His name when you find yourself in the world’s cultural crosshairs. You may not be dragged into court or asked to burn incense, but society creates its own “tests.” Others observe how you work and parent, and they listen to what you say (and what you don’t). Denying Christ isn’t always a life-or-death scenario. It’s not difficult for others to sense the ease with which you speak about Christ or how awkward it is (if it happens at all).
So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven. (Mt. 10:32–33)
Christianity is a matter of the heart and mouth. “With the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Rom. 10:10). God is not unsympathetic to the difficulty because the next verse contains assurance for struggling Christians when it says, “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”
Sing morning hymns, live a righteous life and openly associate with Jesus. Choose to live shamelessly!
“I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.” (Rev. 3:8)