On The Spot - Deacons Arrested By Pliny

AD 112

The governor had a problem. He didn’t want to be a tyrant—and yet he had an illegal cult meeting in his district—the Christians. Should he crack down on this group? He wrote to the emperor for official guidance.

The police were getting lots of tips about secret Christian meetings. Some tips were just gossip, but others proved true. Officials had arrested two women who were called “deacons,” apparently with some sort of responsibilities in this forbidden sect. Under torture, these women added to Governor Pliny’s developing knowledge of the church.

“On a certain day they get together before dawn,” he wrote to Emperor Trajan, “to offer hymns to Christ as God, and to take vows together—not to commit crimes but to abstain from theft, adultery, and cheating. Then they gather again to eat, and it’s just ordinary, harmless food.” Reading between the lines, we might understand Pliny’s plight. These are good people! Why are we arresting them? That attitude was supported by the emperor’s response—basically, “Don’t bother the Christians if they don’t bother you.”

Consider these two anonymous women. We might assume they were simply doing their jobs when they were nabbed. Were they planning the next meeting or just cleaning up after the last one? Perhaps they were sticking around to pray with someone who proved to be a snitch. In any case, they were suddenly “on the spot,” interrogated by the governor’s henchmen.

Were there any secrets they needed to withhold under torture? Maybe. But it is the nature of Christianity to share freely with others, so we might guess that these women eagerly told their captors all about their weekly meetings. We are so excited about Jesus that we can’t stay away! Why don’t you join us next week?

Nowadays it’s easy for Christians to feel embattled, fighting for our rights as believers, but we don’t get that attitude from these two deacons. It seems that their winsome response to interrogation confirmed the good feeling that the governor (and emperor) already had about Christianity—and it might have given their fellow Christians some breathing room.

In the same way, the women [wives of deacons or women who serve as deacons] are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

1 Timothy 3:11, NIV