Ordinary Christians in 4th century Antioch had a wide range of ideas about how to achieve Christian perfection – and whether they should even try. Some competed with each other to exceed the established fasting customs during Lent, eating only bread and water for forty days, or going for several days at a time without food. Others observed the fasting regimen but spent their afternoons attending horse races or playing dice in the marketplace. Still others argued that they could not be expected to fast or pray rigorously: “I’m not a monk, am I? [These disciplines] are not for me!” These attitudes, reported in sermons by John Chrysostom, reflect a contemporary argument among church leaders about the value of an ordinary – that is, nonascetic – Christian life.