New! The word is one we love. A new car, a new computer, a new song, a new… most of us love the new and the novel, convinced that new is always better, and often, it is! My latest computer is incomparably better than the MS-DOS based one I used in 1990. My 2006 model car is much more reliable than models that were built 30 years ago. Bev and I walked through a quaint little spot in NJ yesterday called Millbrook Village, where a tiny slice of 19th life is preserved at a crossroads just outside of Blairstown. As we were leaving she said, “there’s something really appealing about this kind of life.” While the pastoral setting and the closely knit community life might have been great, it was a hard life, too, with much labor from sunup to sundown! All in all, I prefer my life to theirs! But, with my life of the ‘now’ and the ‘new’ I also know how important it is to know the history on which our lives rest. Today did not spring from nowhere.
Many Christians have no idea about the rich traditions of our faith, no grasp of the treasure of wisdom that the Church has accumulated over our 2000 year history. For the last few months, I have been slowly reading through a book, Longing For God, (IVP, 2009, Beebe and Foster) that explores the thoughts and writings from which our practices and understandings have emerged. Most recently these guides have led me through an exploration of the writing of Benedict of Nursia, a monk who lived from 480 to 547.
In the world then, there were thousands of monks that drifted from town to town without accountability, stability, or anchor. They brought their message to a town then moved on leaving people to cope with their words, which often were ill informed and even heretical. Benedict created a Rule for monks that is a system that urges structure and discipline, for the purpose of building lasting community.
One of the Rules involves humility, in Benedict’s mind, with twelve degrees or steps to living humbly.
First among them is the ‘fear of God.’
Second is submission always to the will of God.
Third is seeking input from others.
Fourth is to actively submit to a superior’s instruction.
Fifth is living transparently and confessionally.
Sixth is contentment in all things.
Seventh is to put ourselves at the service of all, thinking none beneath us.
Eighth is to remain in our place within the community without seeking to climb higher.
Ninth is to govern our speech, not speaking of ourselves and our accomplishments.
Tenth is to avoid laughter! Now that one challenges our modern minds. Benedict was not against joy, but he felt that frivolity, especially that which came from ridicule of others (the source of much ‘humor’) was incompatible with Christ’s spirit!
Eleventh is a requirement to use gentle words always.
Twelfth is a summary that required a posture of humility before God and others at all times.
I can only say “Amen” to Beebe’s summary of Benedict’s rule.
He writes, “We have something of the same problem Benedict faced. Numerous present-day prophets function without any serious accountability or training. They come to a city, deliver their ‘prophecies’ and leave for regions beyond, while local Christian leaders are left to deal with the fallout of these often destructive pronouncements. Some are on the airwaves and so send out their ‘prophecies’ without even meeting the people about whom they are prophecying. … Perhaps we need a new articulation of a Benedictine Rule for our day!”
Disciple, watch out for the deception of the novel, the misinformed idea that the Christian life requires some new expression, some stimulation to excitement by a new revelation or great miracle story. While we need to be refreshed in the Spirit, renewed by a deepening love of Christ Jesus, the core values of our faith never change.
The Word says, "Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself. Don’t be lured away from him by the latest speculations about him. The grace of Christ is the only good ground for life."
(Hebrews 13:7-9, The Message)
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My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ Name.
On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
- Wm. Bradbury, public domain
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