Kim Gentes

The gift of the some of the early church writings is their ability to introduce us more clearly to the world of the church and community of Jesus that existed in the first, second and third centuries.  It is a world in which we might initially find little to relate with. But the echos of powerful life and community sing brilliantly through the writings of the early church fathers.

One such letter is the First Letter of Clement to the Corinithans. The letter is a warning focusing on avoiding jealousy and urging repentance of the listeners. Clement doggedly cites numerous Old Testament references and instructions from Christ's (and the then recently written) gospels.

He sums this up well when he says:

Now it is not we alone who have been made better men by the self-effacement and humble submissiveness of all these famous personages, but generations of our predecessors as well... Thus there exists a vast heritage of glorious achievements for us to share in. 1

An extended reflection on the witness of both history and nature become important points to Clement in appealing to the Corinthian church.  He uses language of both the creational reality and historical facts and people to persuade the Corinthians of their responsibility to contend for humility in their personal and community lives.

Sun, moon and the starry choirs roll on in harmony at His command, none swerving from its appointed orbit. 2

Examining the creational order and integrated operation of the natural world (wilderness, solar system etc) as an example of God’s order and the interdependence of natural things, Clement posits that all this is a prototype of God’s plan to fits and holds us together.  Clements argument centers around the key musical phrase of “harmony”.

This is interesting and decidedly contrast to our North American worldview that pervades of the highlighting of the fantastic melody brought forth from an individual life. Rather than ascribe to harmony, we garner to search out, and make “stars” of those whose singular sound, tone and pitch are so uniquely captivating that we all stand, be silent, listen and enjoy their aria.

But in the first century Christian church, Clement’s fixation on heritage (people), history (acts), and creation (nature and heavens) is clearly meant to evoke a heart response from the reader (the Corinthians). Clement is tugging, skilfully, at the drawstring of their first century civilization- community.

He knows that community does not just speak of an individual’s locational and relational connections or geography. For all those in the church (and in that society), community meant a deep connection to the people who had gone before- the historical figures and groups whose work and efforts had blessed generations after them, including some of Clement's contemporaries who had already suffered a martyrs death. In a mirror image of Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith” characters, Clement labors through ancient Hebrew heros and archtypes, explaining with each, how the lessons of humility and unity gained them success in battles, kingdoms, freedom and loyalty. Clement also doesn’t seem to mind talking about people who struggled and suffered, but represented glory in doing so. He even includes those who were claimed by death or pain, yet clearly stood for wholly moral and Godly principles whilst being stripped of human life.  Both Hebrew legends and first century Apostles and martyrs are mentioned by name, showing a succession of human history that has a lineage, not of ancestry, but of faithfulness, hope and humility.

Clement also knows that community relates to the a broad definition of creation and nature and its interdependence not just with each other, but with its Creator. He uses descriptions of celestial and solar bodies and activity, motions of the elements such as water, earth and winds, and the power of the changing seasons to archtype the communal provision supplied by God through nature. Clement paints a verbal picture of God feeding us through the breasts of mother earth.

...ever-flowing streams, created for our well-being and enjoyment, offer their breasts unfailingly for the life of man; and even in the minutest of living creatures mingle together in peaceful accord. 3

Lastly, Clement, pulls the final tug on the drawstring of community by speaking of the family and home interconnections which are being lived out in the here-and-now. Quite crisply, and much in the tone of Paul’s epistles, he draws on the activities of child-raising, the honoring of elders, and the submissiveness of women in the home as flesh and bone recipients of the patience and kindness of God’s kingdom message. While it may sound pedantic in the language of our current culture, Clement is simply arguing for the unity of the local family as an example from which the reader should draw inspiration. Clearly, he is also giving instruction on family matters of the day, but it seems obvious that he is also using that important theme as another touch point to call the reader back to their responsibility to the church community in which they find themselves.

...let us be respectful to those who have been set over us, honor our elders and train up our young people in the fear of God. 4

All of these themes of history, heritage, nature, and family are carefully chosen waters of community for Clement to reflect his thesis to the Corinthians. And across those waters he skips one message, like a flat stone bouncing across a pond.  That message is harmony.  He is saying that the history, heritage, creation, nature and family expressions of our community show us implicitly that we are to carry a harmonious pitch to our lives- for doing otherwise would mean certain destruction to both the individual and the community. So to call the Christians in Corinth back to obedience in Christ, removing jealousy and selfishness from their ranks, Clement appeals to their already established sense of community, and need for harmony throughout, as his his thesis points.

And while all this is clearly discovered in Clement’s writings, what strikes me as particularly incredible is that he asserts these concepts with a clear intention of them changing the hearts and actions of the Corinthians. This, more than anything, convicts me and should convict our 21st century church.  Clement is convinced that by merely using examples of historical legends of faith, creational interdependency and family unity that those things alone will be so resonant in the hearers life that they will respond with thoughts and actions of repentance- in effect, to bring themselves back into harmony with the community of heritage, nature and family to which they belong.

Would similar calls be heard in the 21st century Christian church?  Would we heed Clement’s recitation of the heros of our faith as a call for unity? Would we listen to his plea for the interdependence of nature and created order as a validation of our need to stay interdependent and humble with one another?  Would we respond with joy by using the examples of our family relationships as an archtype for deep abiding unity within our churches and across our cities of faith?

Sadly, I would say that all three points of Clement’s in his letter to Corinthians would fail miserably in our 21st century churches. For on every point, I find our western modern churches to be sadly lacking in such articulate realities of harmony as those described by Clement. Let me explain.

How do we treat those who have gone before us? Do we venerate King David, but tear down the character of a leader who has worked among us in ministry and yet had failures?  Do we quote the Apostle Paul, but speak slanderously about the Christian leader and speaker whose words we didn’t agree with?  Do we honor John, the Apostle of love, but treat with contempt those who ministering outside the walls of our buildings in attempting to love others by reaching into the darkness and caring deeply for those still mired in sin?

Where is our understanding of place in the creation of God? Do we probe the wonders of the galaxies with orbital satellites, but fail to recognize that God has placed the stars in the sky by his own hands. Do we enjoy the sizzle of a lobster dinner, but pour our carbon fuels into the very waters that provide them?

And what of our understanding of the family and its amazing power as a core community? Do we hope that our children will love us as adults, and so we fear to discipline them as children? Do we hope that “respect for elders” makes a comeback only once we have grown old? Do we love our spouses so deeply and faithfully that the language of separation, divorce and betrayal is not even present in the vocabulary of the generation we are raising?

How we treat our heritage, our earth, and our families reflects a great deal about our ultimate concern with living in harmony with God and our communities.

Perhaps the reason that some of the writings of Clement and others in the early church do not impact us deeply, as they should, is not because the message is not important or well said, but because we lack the foundational sense of reality to which Clement is calling us.  We might lack even the clarity of perspective to see what God envisions for our communities because we do not understand a place where the people care about their heritage, where they love and understand the creation in which God placed them, and where they hold as commonplace a family unity that is steeped in care for one another more than care for one’s self.

So, if Clement was looking to ultimately gain harmony by bringing these important elements to light amongst the Corinthian church, we appear not just to be singing the wrong notes, but to be singing the wrong song and in a completely different key.

Walking together,
Kim Gentes 

1. Clement, Bishop of Rome (trans. Maxwell Staniforth), The Apostolic Fathers- Early Christian Writings (London, England: Penguin Books, 1968), pg. 31
2. Ibid, pg. 31
3. Ibid, pg. 31-32
4. Ibid, pg. 32