Conformed to Christ and the Crucible of Culture

Perpetua's Story

Some time around the year AD 203, Roman soldiers arrested five new converts to the Christian faith. Among them was a young mother named Perpetua. She still nursed her son when the Romans arrested her and her companions. The account of her trial and execution provides us with a model for the Christian faith.

Although we know little about Perpetua's life beyond this story, she apparently came from a family of some means. One of her companions is described as Perpetua's slave. As a young mother and new convert, Perpetua had accomplished nothing that would ordinarily concern the Roman Empire. Yet, she found herself imprisoned anyway.

The Roman Context

Perpetua and her friends were just a few of those who faced imperial persecution during the reign of Septimius Severus. While many Christians imagine the era of the early church as a time of rampant and empire-wide persecution, the historical data paints a different picture. For most of the first two centuries in Christian history, persecution against Christians was local and sporadic. Roman rulers were more concerned with the economic repercussions of Christian beliefs than with the content of the Christian faith. Since Christians frequently did not eat meat sacrificed to idols or participate in many pagan activities, they typically contributed less to the local economy, which was thoroughly intertwined with these activities. As more people in a community converted to Christianity, the economy suffered. An exchange of letters between Pliny the Younger and the Emperor Trajan illustrates how the Romans thought of and dealt with Christianity for much of the first two centuries.

The localized and sporadic nature of persecution changed after Septimius Severus consolidated his power and ended a series of civil wars in Rome. In an effort to reunite the empire, Severus sought to gather the different religious practices under a larger umbrella of the Roman Empire. While he allowed local populations to continue worshipping their gods, he expected them to agree that they each worshipped the same gods just by different names. Additionally, he instructed everyone to recognize the sun god, Sol Invictus, as the head of the pantheon of gods.

Severus's plan faced two significant obstacles: Christians and Jews. Most people living under Roman rule were polytheists. Since they believed in many gods, they could accommodate Severus's religious syncretism with relative ease. Jews and Christians, however, were monotheists. Worshipping another deity violated their core religious beliefs. Their opposition to Severus's agenda proved problematic because both religions were growing. To curb their growth, Severus focused his persecution on new converts and those seeking to convert others.

Perpetua's Conformity to Christ

It was in this context that Perpetua and her friends ended up in prison. A key factor in her arrest was her recent conversion. Yet Perpetua faced pressure from more than just the Roman Empire. Her father came to her trial and begged her to renounce the faith. Perpetua's response and her conduct leading up to her execution are challenging and inspirational.

When Perepetua's father implored her to recant her faith for the sake of her infant son, Perpetua explained that such an action would be impossible. She pointed to a pitcher for drinking and asked her father whether it would make any sense to call the pitcher something other than what it was. In the same way, she argued, she could not deny her identity as a Christian. Faced with imperial persecution and familial pressure, Perpetua reveals the depth of her conformity to Christ. As far as she could tell, the Gospel transformed her core identity.

Pereptua's ability to stand firm in the faith, even though it meant separation from her son, is challenging. As a father of three daughters, I tremble at the thought of facing that ultimatum. But Perpetua models the kind of faith Christ demands. Having put her hand to the plow, she refuses to look back (Luke 9:62). According to worldly standards, she seems to hate her son (Luke 14:26). Undoubtedly, she had counted the cost of following Jesus and considered it worth it (Luke 14:28).

When Perpetua goes to the arena to face her death, she provides further evidence of her conformity to Christ. Her biographer notes that Perpetua maintained her modesty and dignity during torture. She would not even allow her hair to be down because she viewed that as a signal of despair. Far from a moment of defeat, Perpetua believed her execution was her great moment of triumph. When they pulled her from the arena after her initial time of torture, she reportedly remained unaware that she had even gone into the arena. It was not until she saw the wounds on her body that she realized what had happened.

While the Christian value system is meant to counter our culture, I'm not sure my worldview is as diametrically opposed to my culture as Perepetua's was to hers. She saw her moment of execution as her greatest success. I imagine some future moment of public success to be my greatest achievement. This kind of inclination in my heart is not the way of the cross, the way of Christ. I would do better to adopt Perpetua's perspective. Hers is conformed to Christ. Mine is malformed by culture in numerous ways.

The clearest comparison between Perpetua and Christ occurs at the moment of her death. After walking boldly to the center of the arena, the executioner prepared to kill her. Perpetua's biographer reports that the man's hand trembled in hesitation before Perpetua helped him lift the sword to her throat. Rather than resist martyrdom, Perpetua embraced Christ in her moment of death. In a dream in the days leading up to this moment, Perpetua realized that her battle was not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers opposed to Christ (Ephesians 6:12). So, when Perpetua died, Christ showed again how powerless the spiritual powers are. Her biographer wrote, "Possibly such a woman could not have been slain unless she herself had willed it, because she was feared by the impure spirit."

Perpetua was so conformed to Christ that the enemy could not kill her without her permission. Now obviously, this is an extraordinary story and claim. It is not scripture, and no one is obligated to believe the events happened as described. Even so, the story is inspirational and challenging. Certainly, we are called to a life that surrenders all to Christ in exactly the way Perpetua surrendered hers.

Implications

Like Perpetua, we must be conformed to Christ as fully as possible. Like Perpetua, we find ourselves thrust into the crucible of culture. Lurking around every corner are temptations that threaten to malform us into shapes that resemble political parties, mirror celebrities, or match the consumer profile created by professional marketers.

Christ calls us to something different, and Perpetual provides an inspirational and challenging model. She demonstrates the singular affection for Christ that he demands of us all. To be honest, I find her willingness to lose her child astonishing. The only way a person could make such a decision is if he or she is persuaded, like Paul, that our current sufferings are light and momentary when compared to our coming glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). She did not fear those who could only kill the flesh (Matthew 10:28).

I have much to learn from Perpetua and those who demonstrate similar conformity to Christ. I pray I may withstand the crucible of culture and prove myself conformed to Christ. Lord, have mercy on me.