In the excellent book, The Rise of Christianity, sociologist Rodney Stark chronicles how a tiny and obscure messianic movement from the edge of the Roman Empire came to dominate Western civilization in just a few centuries.

He tells the story of this ever-growing band of believers that had—to the Roman mind—an absolutely ridiculous and absurd way of living in community and of loving their neighbors. It’s a picture of how they learned to love one another sincerely, and literally transformed the Western world.

And so it’s important, as we continue reading through St. Paul’s letter to those first Christians in Rome, to consider his instruction and ask the question, “What kind of community has God called Redeemer to be?”