I, for better or for worse, am a company man...I don't gossip about my employer or grumble about taxes. I posses a peculiar empathy with the system and those that run it, and for some reason, I find myself defending them often. I don't make waves and generally label those that do as "rebelious" :)
Now, I'm not exactly sure where such a good natured disposition towards the establishment came from...but it appears to be here to stay. So like with all unchangeble personality traits, my job is to capitalize on it's strengths and manage it's weaknesses.
Weaknesses such as a contentment with the status quo, and a propensity to 'overlook' all that is wrong in favor of maintaining my relationship with, and view of the establishment....This is where our friend Athanasius comes in.
For one hundred years he fought for orthodoxy and the divinity of Christ. Though, of course the doctrine is universally accepted now; it was almost completely lost in the 3rd century due to the Arian heresy. He was banished 3 times by two emperors and was repayed in this life only by suffering and persecution; he died not knowing if his fight was in vain...But he kept the faith.
It was said of him that, "while the world was going left, Athanasius went right". He saved the Church, almost singlehandedly, from paganism. After his death the Church slowly moved in the direction of the tide he had swelled and eventually gave him this title,
"Athanasius Contra Mundum"
It means "Athanasius, against the world". One writer put it this way, "He stood for truth, when the world stood against him."
Athanasius reminds me of another man. A man named Jesus. In the 2nd and 3rd chapter of Mark's account, we find 5 consecutive accounts of Jesus ruffling people's feathers and challenging the status quo. Everything from healing on the Sabbath to hanging out with sinners. Now since I know that Mark's gospel isn't written chronologically, I'd say that Mark is trying to make a point about Jesus. He's trying to tell us that Jesus was a revolutionary; he's trying to tell us that Jesus was out to change the world, not blend in.
Jesus was after a life that mattered, and cared little about how that would make certain people feel. I am reminded by the lives of such men, that there are greater values to be had than normalcy; and, I am reminded that there is a better world to be had, and that that world lives on the other side of change and those who will make it.
So may we live "contra mundum" , and may the memory of our Fathers invite us out of our passivity and into the world of passionate abandon; mission at whatever the cost; and when the world is going left, I pray that God will give us the courage...to go right.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Augustine The Confessor
Transparency...
For me, like many things in my walk with God, it is a truth previously discovered, but not continuously lived. As of late, I have been on a journey of rediscovering this quality in my own life. My natural bent towards introspection and time alone has, I think, caused me to drift from transparency into a nice, comfy, secluded area of my heart, and to be frank...I like it here :)
Mind you, I'm not hiding in the mountains, with my Bible and a large stockpile of MRE's; it is not an external exclusion of people, but an internal one. I have no troubles including people in what is happening with my life, or at work, or with what I saw on the news the other day; but we all know that these topics shield us from talking about our true selves; they protect us from ever having to unveil the true nature of our struggles and wounds.
The problem with this is that in community, safety is not the most important thing...sharing is (koinenia: lit. sharing all things in common).
The Confessions of St. Augustine (his autobiography), were not as much of a theological masterpiece (though it was one), as it was a literary one. The Confessions was the first autobiographical work of note *. People in the ancient world, quite simply, did not write about themselves.
Augustine in his raw style, talks about his conversion, his doubts, and even his sexual addiction. Such confessions, would take bravery in our culture, let alone in one where there was no precedent for it. What a noble example for us who follow, of a man who was weak, yet that was great.
I am reminded of the command to "confess your sins one to another...that you may be healed". Now, there is usually no redemptive work being done in these conversations (meaning they are unnecessary for forgiveness from God,) but what we are doing, is experiencing for the first time the biblical reality that "no temptation has seized us except that which is common to man". We find that we are not alone in our struggles; and we begin to tread lightly and not without fear into the struggles of another man or woman's heart, and this not to judge...but to heal.
It is in this way that we enter into community; it is in this place we discover that we weren't "alone at being alone", and it is in this circle that we, with boldness, will make our true confession.
For me, like many things in my walk with God, it is a truth previously discovered, but not continuously lived. As of late, I have been on a journey of rediscovering this quality in my own life. My natural bent towards introspection and time alone has, I think, caused me to drift from transparency into a nice, comfy, secluded area of my heart, and to be frank...I like it here :)
Mind you, I'm not hiding in the mountains, with my Bible and a large stockpile of MRE's; it is not an external exclusion of people, but an internal one. I have no troubles including people in what is happening with my life, or at work, or with what I saw on the news the other day; but we all know that these topics shield us from talking about our true selves; they protect us from ever having to unveil the true nature of our struggles and wounds.
The problem with this is that in community, safety is not the most important thing...sharing is (koinenia: lit. sharing all things in common).
The Confessions of St. Augustine (his autobiography), were not as much of a theological masterpiece (though it was one), as it was a literary one. The Confessions was the first autobiographical work of note *. People in the ancient world, quite simply, did not write about themselves.
Augustine in his raw style, talks about his conversion, his doubts, and even his sexual addiction. Such confessions, would take bravery in our culture, let alone in one where there was no precedent for it. What a noble example for us who follow, of a man who was weak, yet that was great.
I am reminded of the command to "confess your sins one to another...that you may be healed". Now, there is usually no redemptive work being done in these conversations (meaning they are unnecessary for forgiveness from God,) but what we are doing, is experiencing for the first time the biblical reality that "no temptation has seized us except that which is common to man". We find that we are not alone in our struggles; and we begin to tread lightly and not without fear into the struggles of another man or woman's heart, and this not to judge...but to heal.
It is in this way that we enter into community; it is in this place we discover that we weren't "alone at being alone", and it is in this circle that we, with boldness, will make our true confession.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Lessons From Our Fathers: A Series
The mysterious author of Hebrews in his 6th chapter, speaks of "not laying again the foundations".
I get the feeling that much of the learning in the Church today, including that from our mistakes, is not a true learning, but a re-learning of many things previously taught to us by history. It is a sort of re-invention of the Eclessiastical wheel.
For example: The blight of televangelism and the proponents of the prosperity gospel in the Church today, are a real problem to be sure, but are no different from those described in the New Testament who used "Godliness as a means to financial gain" (I Timothy 6:9).
In dealing with the issue, I wonder if anyone has taken the time to ask the question, "How was this problem dealt with in the early Church?" Surely we could avoid their mistakes or repeat some of their successes; surely there's something to be learned from their experience.
It is in this light, that lately I've been revisiting our commandment to "honor our father and mother". It is our imperative not only to honor those Fathers that are immediate, but also those Patriarchs which are historical. When I read the classics, I am always astounded that the instructions of men that have been decayed for millennia, can be so acutely relevant today!
So it is with this reality in mind that I embark on this series. I feel as if it would do us well, who have lived so briefly, to heed these "Lessons From Our Fathers". Again, the writer of Hebrews, makes these "Lessons" from lives of Heroes long dead, the literary climax of his opus in the Eleventh Chapter. It is a reminder to us that there is still wisdom to be mined here, that there is still water in this well of knowledge, and it would bode well for us to drink it.
I get the feeling that much of the learning in the Church today, including that from our mistakes, is not a true learning, but a re-learning of many things previously taught to us by history. It is a sort of re-invention of the Eclessiastical wheel.
For example: The blight of televangelism and the proponents of the prosperity gospel in the Church today, are a real problem to be sure, but are no different from those described in the New Testament who used "Godliness as a means to financial gain" (I Timothy 6:9).
In dealing with the issue, I wonder if anyone has taken the time to ask the question, "How was this problem dealt with in the early Church?" Surely we could avoid their mistakes or repeat some of their successes; surely there's something to be learned from their experience.
It is in this light, that lately I've been revisiting our commandment to "honor our father and mother". It is our imperative not only to honor those Fathers that are immediate, but also those Patriarchs which are historical. When I read the classics, I am always astounded that the instructions of men that have been decayed for millennia, can be so acutely relevant today!
So it is with this reality in mind that I embark on this series. I feel as if it would do us well, who have lived so briefly, to heed these "Lessons From Our Fathers". Again, the writer of Hebrews, makes these "Lessons" from lives of Heroes long dead, the literary climax of his opus in the Eleventh Chapter. It is a reminder to us that there is still wisdom to be mined here, that there is still water in this well of knowledge, and it would bode well for us to drink it.
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