Anchorage Baptist Temple

Living as Christians in a Pressure-filled WorldGreetings, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Today, I'd like us to ponder upon an age-old adage, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Although an anachronism to cite in the context of the Early Church in Rome - it hadn't been coined at that time - it effectively captures the intense social pressure faced by early Christians.The Roman government, alongside the Christians' own families and friends, beseeched them to fit in, to follow the crowd, to conform. And if they resisted, if they sought to live a Christ-centered life, it came with grave costs. As one historian describes, they faced social ostracism, verbal abuse, rejection, shame, and even economic persecution leading to the loss of property. That was the backdrop against which the Apostle Peter penned his first epistle.Interestingly, Peter's advice to the Roman Christians did not resemble the Roman adage in the slightest. Instead, he offered guidance that stands just as relevant to us today as it was two