The early Christians discovered this in no uncertain terms. They were under obligation to worship their government, quite literally. Unless they acknowledged the emperor as divine and declared, "Caesar is Lord," they could be tortured or killed, since anyone who didn't give final allegiance to Caesar gave it to someone else and was obviously a traitor.
But the earliest Christian "creed" of which we have any record read, "Jesus is Lord." Jesus, not Caesar. The Christian was saying, "I will not give unconditional allegiance to Caesar; but I will give unconditional allegiance to Jesus." To make a statement of faith in those days meant to be involved in politics! Charges were brought against a group of Christians in Thessalonica, for example, that "they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus" ( Acts 17: 7). Obviously, Caesar couldn't have that sort of thing going on. Luke adds, "And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard this" ( Acts 17: 8). You bet they were! Christianity was risky business in the first century.
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