The Eternal City was absolutely everything we hoped it would be, and more. The Forum and Palatine Hill are crazy relics of a time long passed (and way bigger than we thought!). The civilization that ruled the world from Rome was (arguably) the most influential in the history of the world.
One word that kept coming into our conversation in Rome was power. From Caesar and the ambition of government to St. Peter and Catholicism, Rome represents power. Kylie sometimes calls it gluttony, which is really the same thing – power out of control. Power for the sake of power.
The beauty and majesty of Rome is in its influence. That such important things can come from a city of seven hills is astonishing. In the midst of such an influential place, we found ourselves wondering what power really is, what it is and should be used for, and why we seek it in the first place.
Right between the Colosseum and the Forum is Constantine’s Arch, a huge stone monument that looks similar to the Arc de Triumphe in Paris. It symbolizes the battle in which Constantine, crediting a dream he had, attributed the win to the God of Christianity. One of the most important transitions in the world happens as the Roman Empire makes the Christian faith mainstream. In less than a hundred years, the culture shifted from one where you could be killed for being a Christian to one where you could be killed for not being one.
Some people would say this transition was good for the Christian faith, bringing it to the masses and setting the stage for the globalized religion we celebrate today. Others would say it is a sadness, that the Christian faith lost something significant when it became a cultural phenomena. The problem is both are right. The Church has been struggling lately to get back to an ‘Acts 2’ kind of church, a church not plagued by concession and mass.
The Vatican is an incredible monument to the power of the Christian tradition. But should the Church be a monument? Should the church be a player in the global game or one set apart from it? Should we fight for the most people and the most influence? Or should we fight to ensure the influence we have is used to accurately portray a lived life based on the worldview we profess?
Paul, a pre-Constantine citizen of the Roman Empire, surely meant to shake us up when he said that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. As Christian people, should we measure power the same way the world does?
As I mentioned, Kylie called the feel of power in Rome a kind of gluttony. And she is right. Our search for power is about trying to feed our longing for purpose. There is a fine line between playing our part in the Purpose and being the Purpose. And it is a line we are apt to confuse and cross. A moon may revolve around the Earth, but it all revolves around the Sun. Living a life centered on ‘me’ is an insatiable thirst, a never-ending process simply because it can never be filled. It is a lie and pursuing a lie can never lead to satisfaction. But, as the lie persists, so does our pursuit of it.
Of course, backing away from influence is not the same as sacrificing the gluttony of power. This is why it is so difficult. I’ve been walking through this for the last few years of my life. How do I find the balance between stepping back from the gluttony of power but walking into the call of influence? It is a tight rope with dangers on either side.
I confess that I participated in the gluttony of Rome. I ate two plates of pasta and then went for gelato on more than one night. I also felt frustrated when Kylie questioned my sense of direction – I wanted to be right and followed without question. That’s ugly, but true.
On the other hand, we participated in the influence of Rome. I watched Ky talk to a girl in our hostel about death and the meaning of a life. I told my wife about my unfair frustrations and resolved to be a better husband, a better man.
Like life, the history of Rome is a minefield of gluttony and perversion, injustice and abuses. But it is also a haven for opportunity, a chance to walk the tight balance between power and influence.
