“A time is coming when men will go mad, and whey they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, ‘Your are mad, you are not like us'” (The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Benedicata Ward, SLG, 5). Imagine the Body of Christ choosing to live a contemplative life of Daily Offices, Sabbath keeping, meditation on Scripture throughout the day, simplicity of life, a commitment to purity of heart (watching our intake of information/media/etc. for the sake of seeing God) – yet all the while activing serving others and making Christ known to others. Imagine the impact of our evangelical churches around the world filled with people who are not consumers of religion for a better life but men and women filled with passion for God and delivered from this present evil age! How can we escape the illusory Christian identity proposed by the world (that is our present worldly church mindset) and choose a a “white martyrdom” so that we can see the root system of the illusion itself? How do we bear witness to the tension of living in this age and yet being members of another kingdom that is not of this world? I like Karl Barth’s comments on the “way of the desert,” so far from being an escape, may be seen as a “highly responsible and effective protest and opposition to the world, and not least to a worldly church, a new and specific way of combating it, and therefore a direct address to it.” (quoted from Rowan Williams The Wound of Knowledge 103). Hope I am not getting too lofty, but what might a protest to the worldly church (which I love and of which I am a part) look like in our day that might bring glory to Christ?
11
Jul
