I was reading again the story of Polycarp the other day and it got me to thinking about the way Christians seem to play fast and loose with their faith these days. You may not know his story so let me enlighten you and I’m pretty sure that it will have the same effect on you that it had on me. Polycarp was the pastor of the church in Smyrna. Around AD 155 or so, he was put to death by the Romans because he refused to swear an oath of allegiance to Caesar as lord. (Caesar was real big on being identified as a god.) He was an old man of 86 years and had served Jesus Christ for decades. Polycarp was arrested and brought to a stadium where a crowd had gathered to watch the gladiator games. As he was bringing him to the stadium, the irenarch, the equivalent of our chief of police, asked Polycarp, “What harm is there in saying, Lord Caesar? Respect your years.” (meaning “You’re an old dude. What’s the big deal?” Once inside the stadium, Polycarp was brought before the proconsul, the governor of the province, who said, “Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent… I will set you at liberty, reproach Christ.” Continue Reading »