When it was decided that “neo-monasticism” would be the topic of this month’s synchroblog, I almost backed out. Though I was raised Roman Catholic, I only had passing brushes with traditional monasticism. As a Presbyterian I was introduced to “The Imitation of Christ" (written by a monk centuries ago), which I loved and used regularly for devotional reading for quite a while.
As my faith has been “re-booting” over the past couple of years I’ve undergone a deep realigning of values and commitments that has changed my perspective in ways that I am still discovering. One apparent outflow of this is that I’m not so fond of “The Imitation of Christ” any more. A few months ago I picked it up to begin using again, and after a couple of days had to put it back down. It is simply too introspective.
So, when I hear about “new” monasticism, I hesitate because I’m thinking about the “old” monasticism. My recent reading on the topic, including an article in Christianity Today, is convincing me that I am wrong to associate one too closely with the other, but allow me to lay out my thoughts on the subject in general here.
As I see it, the church has historically erred in one of two directions. One is towards withdrawal from the “evil world,” and the other seeks to directly impose God’s agenda on the world by force of law and arms. Neither is the appropriate methodology for the reign of Christ.
To begin, the Scriptures do not call us to withdraw from the world into enclaves. Though there are many places where we are told to avoid the idolatry of flesh, mind and stone that pervades our fallen world, we are never told to remove ourselves from the scene. In reality, we are called by Christ himself to missional engagement.
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18:20 NRSV).
Having affirmed his Lordship over all nations (v. 18) Jesus goes on in the following verses to commission his disciples to carry the message of his lordship to the entire world. There is no way that a Christian can be faithful to Jesus without accepting his commission and doing whatever is possible to promote the addition of people to Christ’s reign. The “Great Commission” forces the church of Christ out into the world, not away from it.
Unfortunately, the church has at many points in history given in to the temptation to collaborate with civil power, the “rulers and authorities” of this present age in order to bring about obedience to Christ. The consequences have included Inquisitions, Crusades and “the burning times.” Freedom of speech and conscience has been abridged in various places and times because the powers that be were operating with the institutional church in advancing an agenda. Since no power on earth exists without the threat of force, and since threat and coercion is the force of the law, this use of militarism and “rule of law” by the church is at odds with the tenor and teaching of Scripture. The apostle Paul, when speaking of methodologies, referred to a different type of weapon:
“Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards; for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:3-5 NRSV).
Coercion, which is use of force to achieve political ends, is incompatible with the reign of Christ. We do not use “carnal weapons,” as some translations render it, in carrying forward God’s purposes in this world.
So, if the answer isn’t monasticism in the traditional sense or militarism for the advance of God’s kingdom on earth, then what are we supposed to do?
Missional communities are forming around the world, apparently out of a collective sense on the part of many that the work of God isn’t being done, or that it can be done better. Some of these groups are calling themselves churches, and others aren’t, but as near as I can tell they are mostly acting like “church” in the biblical sense.
People may want to avoid using the word “church,” and some even see their communities as monastic rather than ecclesial, but in reality they shouldn’t be trying to escape being seen as churches, but rather re-discovering (as they are) what Christ’s church is really supposed to be about, and showing that to the world instead of whatever less helpful images it associates with us.
“…and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rules and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:9-11 NRSV).
The church is God’s “missional order” in the world. While I applaud the efforts of missionally committed disciples in this generation, and personally hope that my words and actions are putting me into that category, it must be remembered that past generations and other contemporary models also have labored to make the Good News known. Humility is vitally necessary as we join together to find fresh vision for the future of Christ’s reign on earth.
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Check out these other Synchrobloggers writing about neo-monasticism:
Phil Wyman at Phil Wyman's Square No More
Beth at Until Translucent
Steve Hayes at Notes from the Underground
Adam Gonnerman at Igneous Quill
Jonathan Brink at JonathanBrink.com
Sally Coleman at Eternal Echoes
Bryan Riley at Charis Shalom
Cobus van Wyngaard at My Contemplations
Mike Bursell at Mike's Musings
David Fisher at Cosmic Collisions
Alan Knox at The Assembling of the Church
Sam Norton at Elizaphanian
Erin Word at Decompressing Faith
Sonja Andrews at Calacirian
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