In March of 2020, just as the COVID pandemic was coming into our cultural realizations in the United States, Jeff Christopherson released a book with the odd title “Venal Dogmata”. Venal Dogmata is a short book, Christopherson even calls is a parable, about what might happen in the United States if the church were to lose its cultural approval. Perhaps purposefully, Christopherson sets this parable in the American city of Philadelphia.
This is perhaps a purposeful move by Christopherson because the church of Philadelphia during the days when John was writing Revelation was also not too keen on Christianity. The church in Philadelphia was impoverished and under the scrutiny of the government. Christians had to prove their worth to their neighbors, who might report them on suspicion of some infraction of the laws. In Venal Dogmata, Christopherson paints the same kind of picture – a picture wherein Christian churches have lost official non-profit status, governmental approval, and cultural favor.
Perhaps it is not too hard to imagine a world in which that might be the case. Maybe we feel like we have been living in an increasingly “Philadelphian” world where the church doesn’t have the same respect or influence that it once did. But Philadelphia was not only a city, it was a gateway to frontiers beyond. It was a city from which adventures were launched. That may be our case as well as we consider what the church might be in this new era.
Jesus’ promise to the church of Philadelphia is even though the world might be against it, He is for them. He promises that He will make them a pillar of the city to come. Even when we lose cultural approval and power and favor, we continue to have the favor of God for the sake of Christ and our status as His children, claimed in Baptism.