So...how does one model a monastic community that is based in a commercial bar? To get some ideas I'm turning (as I often do) to the past and trying (as I often don't) to learn some lessons from it. As time progresses I'll record my musings as they unfurl, but here's where I am at the moment.I've been pouring over a number of books in search of inspiration, but the two that have taken hold of my imagination most so far are Celtic Theology (London 2000) and The Didache (London 2010), both by church historian Tom O'Loughlin. I'll start with the latter as it knocked me for six.
The Didache is an ancient Christian text that was only discovered in the 19th century by chance. This is fascinating in itself considering that it was such an important text to the early church! The word 'didache' literally means 'teaching' in ancient Greek and it was used by the first Christians (literally within a generation of Jesus' death!) to organise their church groups. It gives the context to the letters that Paul and other apostles wrote in the New Testament. Amazing!!!! But it's so much more than that. You see, in the earliest days of Christianity, one could not simply walk into a church, hear a sermon, profess faith and be baptised. Nope nope nope. The process of becoming a Christian that Paul, James, Peter and the others understood was a rigorous process of testing and learning that could last months. ONLY when a candidate (yes, candidate!) had proved (yes, proved!) her commitment could she be baptised and call herself a Christian! The Didache was a text book of 'how to be a Christian' that had to be memorised!!!
The reason for this was simple: Christianity was a brand new movement and required a brand new way of life. It was only right that before a person committed to Christianity he understood completely what was involved, hence the entrance requirements. Also, it's true that during times of persecution the authorities would try and infiltrate Christian communities. If strict controls were placed on church membership, infiltration became much harder to do.So here's my musing. In a country that no longer professes to be Christian and in which most people don't know the basic tenets of Christianity (even, dare I say, in many churches!), should a 21st century Christian community in Britain be looking once again at the ancient practice of The Didache? Having some form of course or learning period before one can truly claim to be Christian? It's an intriguing thought.
Incidentally, it's worth noting that the only Christian communites that really take this practice seriously anymore are...you've guessd it, the monasteries.
Lovely stuff. I also was bowled away when I came across The Didache for the first time!
ReplyDeleteWe certainly need to go back and to get a grip of this amazing window into the practices of the early church!
It needs to happen in every generation, and in every 'mission field'. What IS the essence of the Christian faith? This is what the struggle over the Creeds was all about! What does someone need to 'believe' to belong?
And I'm all for having some written resources and primers in each generation and for each people-group, that can be used to make disciples of Jesus.
But the Didache and then the series of 'Councils' and Creeds, led the church into more and more formal dogma and less and less Spirit-filled wonder and worship of the Fulness of the Godhead in bodily form.
It is right to wonder about the 'essence' of the Christian faith. Paul called it 'the deposit' and he was keen to pass it on from generation to generation. But what is it?
At heart, the New Testament seems to make it clear that the essence is about being 'in Christ'. The heart of our faith is a Person - The WORD incarnate. I have wondered whether the essence of what we share with followers of Jesus should be to show them and to teach them to do just that - to follow JESUS!
Imagine we kept saying to people, when they ask us about the Way, and we tell them to follow Jesus - where would that lead them? It would lead them to find out about Jesus, what He taught, how He lived, and who He was. The more they become acquainted with HIM, the more they would respond in worship and reverent obedience.
But we can see from the Gospels of Jesus that He did leave us with two or three concrete actions - maybe these are the essence of the faith, the deposit:
1. Baptism - the truth of baptism and the life-long discovery of what it means to live the baptised life. Surely, there is a whole theology in this, and, if we taught it as the NT does, it would be the death-knell to a lot of modern Christian carnality and spiritual weakness!
2. Eucharist/Communion/The Agape Meal - however you label this - the eating of meals in fellowship with Jesus and with our community of Jesus-followers. 'Remembering Him' - again His life and death, but not as a one-off baptismal act, but a life-long communion of the saints, feeding on Jesus, the Bread that came down from heaven, and the life poured out for the salvation and shalom of others! What a beautiful, relational heart there is to the community of faith!
I would also add a third - not often seen as a concrete 'sacrament' but surely in the same sense as the other two, a concrete act, and part of 'the deposit' - the Lord's Prayer, or better, the Disciples' Prayer - the prayer the Lord taught His disciples to pray - that we should go into a secret place, and shut the door, and pray LIKE this to the Father who is in secret, and the Father who sees in secret will reward us openly.
The more I study and meditate on this prayer, the more I am amazed by the simplicity and yet the magnitude of the theology contained in it.
Now, imagine, all we 'taught' Jesus-followers, were the truths of Baptism, Eucharist and the Disciples' Prayer - and asked them to memorise and meditate and follow the truth of these all their lives, what kind of disciples would they be? And how long would it take to pass on the 'deposit' of these? Not long - though admittedly, following Jesus and entering into the fulness of these 'sacraments' would last a life-time!
And once learnt the basics, it would be easy for each new disciple to go and pass on these same sacraments to other new disciple-followers.
I get the impression that this is why the early church grew so quickly, and this is maybe why the Chinese Church has done so also - because their 'didache' is simple and transferable, and straight from the mouth of Jesus!!