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The Myth of Christian America  /  MCA (1 of 14): In the Beginning  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 7
Early Christian voices he quotes (Tertullian, Origen, Lactantius) say Christians declined public office not to avoid duty but to reserve themselves for “more divine and necessary service,” and because they couldn’t imprison, torture, execute, or accuse capitally; what would it look like for a church today to take that reasoning seriously in how it disciples ambitious, politically minded believers?
Another way to ask: If early Christians avoided public office because it required things like imprisoning or killing, how should a church today disciple believers who want political power? What would you tell them to pursue instead, if anything?

Direct Answer Based on Bercot’s quoted early-Christian reasoning, a church would disciple politically ambitious believers toward kingdom-first priorities: serving the church’s mission, refusing roles that demand coercion or violence, and accepting the cost of being “foreign” to state power. It would treat public office as a spiritual conflict of masters, not simply a platform for doing good.

Support from Transcript:

  • Christians answered Celsus: they decline office “not… escaping public duties,” but to “reserve themselves for a more divine and necessary service in the Church of God, for the salvation of man.”
  • They believed another “national organization” exists, “founded by the Word of God,” and urged qualified believers to “rule over churches.”
  • Bercot says they grasped the “impossibility of serving two masters,” since earthly rulership “would of necessity” conflict with Christ.
  • Tertullian’s hypothetical Christian magistrate would not “chain,” “imprison,” “torture,” or sit in judgment—showing why office was incompatible.
  • Early Christian posture: “all zeal in the pursuit of glory and honor is dead… nothing more entirely foreign… than affairs of state.”
Discussion Follow-ups If a believer senses a calling to politics, what boundaries would a kingdom-minded church require so that discipleship, not influence, remains the goal?

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