Cross Training - Agents of Faith - Polycarp

For the next several weeks we are going to investigate the individuals who were responsible for carrying on the message of Jesus Christ and the Apostles, and who were responsible for assisting in the establishment of the church.  Without these individuals we would not exist as a church today.  One of the individuals that was an early influence on the fledgling church was a man by the name of Polycarp.  History tells us a great deal about his life and ministry.  For instance...

· Tradition holds that he was a disciple of John -- “Instructed by Apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ.” (Polycarp – “To The Philippians”)
· Polycarp was a teacher to another Church Father, Irenaeus.
· Tradition states that he was a Bishop to the church in Smyrna (One of the churches John writes about in the book of Revelation).
· He held strong disdain for any type of heresy.
· He confronted the heretic Marcion.
· He was a direct but uneducated man.
· He was born just 4-years after Peter and Paul were martyred.
· Some claim that he was the first martyr in post New Testament church history.

Christian History magazine states this about Polycarp -- "He lived during the most formative era of the church, at the end of the age of the original apostles, when the church was making the critical transition to the second generation of believers. Tradition has it that he was personally discipled by the apostle John and that he was appointed as bishop of Smyrna (in modern Izmir in Turkey) by some of the original apostles.” (Christian History; 8/8/2008).

If you were to study Polycarp's life and ministry you would find a reoccuring heartbeat that described what was truly important to him. First, he spoke a message of encouragement within the ranks of the church.  Second, he believed that a simple faith would reflect itself in lifestyle, and finally, he fought against the heresies of his day with the truth of God’s word.

I think I can summarize his ministry easily - Polycarp loved the church and would defend her even to his own death.  Historically we know Polycarp was burned at the stake because he would not recant his faith in Jesus Christ and turn his attention to the Roman emperor.  I love the fact that here is a man that stood against the heretic Marcion, stood against Rome, all because he loved the church and the people that made up the church.


Now, I find this fascinating, because there are times I wonder whether I would die for some people I know of in the church.  Don't get me wrong, Polycarp died for what I would call the macro-church, the church as a "whole," but he loved the micro-church, the people that made up the whole.  I believe I would die for the macro-church, but there are times I question whether I would die for the some of the individuals that make up the community of the church.  

Polycarp loved and encouraged and defended the individuals of the church, and continued to preach the message of Christ as it was handed down to him by the Apostles, for the glory of God.  His example is what I hope to be my example.  You see, we live in an environment today that has become limp in its defense of values and moral obedience.  But then someone like Polycarp comes along, a hero in defense of the gospel.  


So why do we need hero's? Because we live in a world that holds on to nothing. Listen to what Peter James Lee said concerning how to handle heresy in the church today, quoted by Chuck Colson in "Break Point" - "If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy."  Like we have no other choice!  But we do, the choice to stand for truth at all costs even when it doesn't fit well with our immediate culture.

Randy