Lately, I have been listening to lectures on church history by Dr. S. Fortson III from Reformed Theological Seminary. The last few lectures have been on the subject of medieval Monasticism. Beyond the spiritual benefit of such reminders, I have been thinking about the lack of contemplative time with God in American Christianity.
The word “contemplative” may make some readers uncomfortable. It seems mystical, ethereal or meditative (the Eastern, New age version, which is bad). Yet this isn’t the type of mysticism that Middle-age Christianity embraced. The monks of the medieval era committed themselves to God in an environment that allows for cultivation of this contemplative exercise. It is a bit surprising to me that Western Christianity is so critical of monasticism. It is said these individuals shirked their mission of communicating the gospel and embraced an individualistic and isolationist understanding of the Christian life, which is condemned in the New Testament.
Yet, in its purest moments, monasticism filled a need because the church had lost sight of Christ, His teachings and His holiness. The church of that day was corrupt, syncretistic and worldly. A follower of Christ could not spiritually thrive in this environment and many, out of desperation, abandoned the church for an unpolluted fellowship found in monastic life.
Now in our day a Christian would simply get trained and plant a new church or head down the road to the next one. But in that time, an ecclesiastical creation such as this would be viewed as sectarian and heterodox.
Monks then, became the spiritual voices of that generation. Many of them believed it was their responsibility to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). None of this is to say I affirm the institution of monasticism, but only to correct the heavy-handedness of some who fail to acknowledge the historical reason for such a decision.
Furthermore, I find it fascinating that secularists assert that the last few generations cannot think, nor want to think. The present culture of video games and social media reveals our desire to live in fantasy, rather than in reality. Reality is harsh and the questions that surround it require serious mental interaction, which assumes knowing the questions to ask and then setting aside time to think about it.
No doubt some readers will challenge this plea to ‘return to contemplative Christianity’ as antithetical to action. They might say that “exploring your navel never gets anything done”. This is certainly true, but “looking at your bellybutton” is not the same thing as thinking about metaphysical issues, which ought to promote effort towards this present life since our innate pull towards the eternal requires personal action in this life.
I think Christians must make a tremendous effort to get away, to think alone. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) is a good balance to imitate. He planted 170 monasteries in his life and yet still engaged the theological issues of the day. He wrote to spiritual leaders and even attending church councils to protect doctrinal orthodoxy. It is said that John Calvin quoted from Bernard most of all the medieval theologians and Luther upheld his spirituality as noble and worthy of imitation. To be clear, did he fail to embrace the mission given to him by Christ? To some degree I think he did, but let us examine ourselves before we throw the first stone.
Here are some ideas:
Take a walk (Jonathan Edwards loved to walk and/or ride his horse with his wife).
Create and maintain a garden (John Calvin and William Carey did this).
Set aside an hour once a week.
Set aside a day once a month.
A rich and profound experience with the Creator does not happen with the earbuds of distraction permanently fused to our head. A pursuit of silence before God is often awkward and revealing, but the result is a deeper communion with the God who made you. Is that not worth taking a walk?
