Widows and orphans in particular became the recipients of special financial support and respect. This created a most favourable impression upon the pagan world. The sick, the infirm and the disabled also became an integral part, wherever possible, of the Church's obedience to Christ's commandment to love (Matt 25:35-36). Indeed in times of contagious epidemics raging through the cities of the Mediterranean world, ancient documentary evidence suggests that Christians were more likely to stay on to care and visit the stricken rather than attempt to flee as the pagans were often inclined to d0. Indeed it is recorded that at the time of the great plague which struck the empire during the reign of Maximinus (235-38 AD), Christians practiced the Gospel of love perfectly by taking care of pagans as well as Christians...<ref name="adamopoulo"/>}}
== Christianity and the 22nd century ==
''See also:'' [[Global Christianity]] and [[Growth of evangelical Christianity]] and [[Growth of Christianity in China]]
The Gospel Coalition declares:
{{Cquote|But if we were to jump forward into the 22nd century, I wonder what we would see.
Most likely, we would see a world in which the explosive growth of Christians in South America, China and Africa has dwarfed the churches of North America and Europe. And the lesson we learn from a century ago will probably still be true: The churches that thrived were those that offered their world something more than the echo of the times.<ref>[https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/which-churches-will-thrive-in-the-21st-century/ Which Churches Will Thrive in the 21st Century?]</ref>}}
== Promises of Jesus Christ ==