Christian Living

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Everyone has heard the phrase, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do." It is usually shortened down to just “When in Rome” these days. This quote turned proverb was the most famous of Ambrose, a 4th century bishop. The currently used phrase stems from his quote, "When I am here, I do not fast on Saturday; but when I am at Rome I do: whatever church you may come to, conform to its custom, if you would avoid either receiving or giving offense.” I am sure when Ambrose wrote such a quote he could not even begin to imagine how far from church business and dealings his words would eventually reach.

But before going over its present meaning, let's look at some of the Roman practices during the early church period. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Ambrose wasn’t referring to these practices that were happening in Roman society outside the confines of the church, but it is important to note that these things were common then and they have also become common now.

Paul wrote to the Romans concerning their evil and worldly practices. In Romans 1: 24-32, Paul writes, "God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."

Wow, that sounds kind of like where we are today in our society. Every time I read Romans 1, I think of our debased state as humans in general and how we should be turning sharply from our current sinful course. Paul wrote this book so that we could see clearly the dire consequences of a life of blatant sin. But many people who use and are familiar with the phrase “When in Rome” today are actually referring to acting out in these sinful ways listed here. It is as if all someone has to do is say, "When in Rome...", and boom!, you must follow suit with whatever action follows that phrase no matter how evil or wrong. Are we so whimsical as humans that the masses have become like sheep to the puppet masters of sin, performing every evil deed uttered publicly, in an attempt to fit in? If you are a Christian, this concept should be chilling as it has many spiritual implications. We, as Christians, are to be different and set apart from the worldly system operating around us. Wikipedia’s definition of the phrase is also scary to say the least, it says to conform to the larger society and to behave like those around you do. How could God ever be seen through the multitudes of humans living and acting out their sinful desires and selfish mandates with zero examples of holiness?

The Romans were a very sinful group of people. God saw this and gave them over to their own evil desires, which ultimately leads to a hardened heart and then to hell. The irony is, when He quit convicting them and let them be “free” to sin, they became haters of God. Because deep inside all of us, we know that God is calling us to be righteous and holy. He is jealous of us and His love is deserving of everything we can muster to be closer to Him and to honor Him. Not to be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we will be able to clearly see what His will is for us. When simple words such as “When in Rome” at the beginning of a sentence condoning sin can instantaneously block out our good conscience, we have a major problem to address. We sincerely need to become a light unto this dark world or it is only a matter of time before we too will be succumbed by its power. As Christians, we have to remain vigilant and sober-minded to fight off the attacks of the devil. This means NOT doing as the Romans do, but doing as Jesus did. He is the only example of a way of life or culture that we must adhere to and follow. And we must do so at all cost. Leaving behind our own sinful desires and wills to become examples for our King while here on Earth. No one says it will be easy, probably quite the opposite, but our reward is worth so much more than the carnal and temporal pleasures that sin can produce. So keep your eye on the prize and keep fighting for God as He carries us through these foreign lands.

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