04.06.03 A Biblical Story of a Value-Adding Church Member

Lydia of Thyatira and the Early Philippian Church

Before we delve into how to add value to your church, let us look at a biblical woman, Lydia, who added value to hers. Apparently, Lydia means ‘Lydian woman’ indicating that she was born in ‘Lydia’, a place in ancient Asia Minor. However, we shall refer to her as ‘Lydia’ in our discussion, just the way the bible does.

Lydia was a high-status businesswoman dealing in expensive purple clothing. Writers suggest that she must have belonged to the ‘equestrian class’, a social rank of wealthy, politically and economically influential people.

The lady lived in Philippi which is modern-day northeastern Greece. The city, situated in Macedonia, was under Roman rule at the time. Philippi was known as a centre of rampant worship of gods and goddesses such as Isis the Egyptian goddess; Dionysus the Greek god and Silvanus the Romanian one, to mention a few. Although Lydia’s business interests were in Philippi, she actually hailed from Thyatira, a city that was famous for the production of highly pricy purple dyes and fabric.

Lydia’s experience in adding value to her church started when ‘the Lord opened her heart to want to hear the gospel’, as preached by Paul on his second missionary journey. That was when she converted to the Christian faith (Acts 16:12-15). In fact, she was Paul’s first convert at Philippi (Acts 16:40). Interestingly, Lydia was so devout that the bible reports her as a ‘worshipper of God’ even before her conversion (Acts 16:14). Some writers suggest that she could have been a former polytheist, a term which refers to believing in many gods and goddesses. Others say that she was one of the Jewish Proselytes, a designation given to devout men and women who feared God. Some claim that by the time Lydia encountered Paul, she was already behaving as a Jew without becoming one.

Lydia was baptised immediately after her conversion then drew all members of her household which could have included servants, dependents, and her extended family, to follow suit. Thereafter, the bible reports how she begged Paul and his team to stay in her home (Acts 16:15) which then became the base of their operations and meeting place for the first church in Philippi. Bible scholars assert that the Philippian church was the first one to be established by Paul in Europe.