from "To Diognetus"

I am doing reading for a course on church history that I am supposed to take this fall, and came across this quote from one of the earliest Christian apologists:

"Christians are no different from the rest in their nationality, language or customs. ... They live in their own countries, but as sojourners. They fulfill all their duties as citizens, but they suffer as foreigners. They find their homeland wherever they are, but their homeland is not in any one place. ... They are in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh. They live on earth, but are citizens of heaven. They obey all laws, but they live at a level higher than that required by law. They love all, but all persecute them."

May we take up the challenge to live the way that this apologist said Christians live, and not in the lesser ways that we can unthinkingly slide into.