• Empire church is a church that enjoys privilege and power in society. It was brought from the margins to the centre of imperial power by Constantine in the fourth century. There it gained status, immense wealth, and privilege. Bishops became powerful in wider society; clergy were exempted from taxes; laws were passed to diminish paganism and extol Christianity. But this new-found status was not based on the actions of a gracious God, but on the use of worldly power by the Emperor. Laws were enacted; banishments were decreed; compulsion through physical force was exercised. Such dependence on the state to defend Christian perspectives led the church to depend less on God in prayer and spiritual warfare.

• Empire church is a church where Jesus is on the margins.  There was little room for the radical figure of the Gospels who called on followers to love their enemies, to live a simple and humble life, and to be generous with the poor. In order to justify some of its practices the church turned to the Old Testament and marginalised Jesus.

• Empire church is a church with little tolerance over doctrinal differences. In order to maintain unity in his empire, Constantine insisted on unity within the church. Where differences in belief used to cause much debate between the great thinkers of the church, a new element was introduced: force. Dissenters could be banished from the empire, could have their assets stripped away, and could even face death for their views. While there is an emphasis on right belief in the New Testament – notice Paul’s strong words to the Galatians as an example – empire took this to whole new level which was not helpful.

• Empire church is a church where mission is ignored. Once the faith was made the official religion of the empire and strong connections made between church and state, the empire came to be seen as ‘Christian’. This led to the church believing that there was no need to preach the good news within the empire since it was already Christian.

• Empire church is a church that allows syncretism between Christian and pagan beliefs. Constantine happily included pagan and Christian practices in his life. This had already begun to affect the church well before the fourth century but became a settled aspect from this period onwards. Viola and Barna’s Pagan Christianity is a great study of this syncretism.

As we look at today’s church in the west in most if not all of the various traditions we will be able to see many of these characteristics in play. The institution we know as ‘church’ has been shaped over many centuries by Christendom values and getting the NT shape back will not be an easy thing to do.