Before I begin, I have to make a note that when I discuss and expand upon what I’m calling ’21st century monasticism’, I am by no means trying to analyze or bring into question traditional or new monasticism…in short, I chose the title because it was both catchy (at least in my mind) and relevant to what I’m now going to propose to you.

As of late, I’ve given a lot of thought to the ideas and implications surrounding Paul’s words in Romans 12 that state, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned”

More specifically, this idea of ‘the measure of faith that God has assigned’ to each member of his body.

So there’s this God, who then calls, redeems and grafts his people into the identity and reality of this Christ, and with all that redeeming, salvation magic; he also apportions a measure of ‘faith’ to each individual.

…Strange…

What does that mean? More so, what does that look like? And why does this God choose to make himself known this way?  That he would grant you and I a different measure of faith…There are a few ways we can (and have) taken this idea.  One is similar to that of the early effects of monasticism from the early conception of the church and on.  In other words, that there are some in the body that are called to a for-lack of better words, ‘higher calling’.  These are those who are more than mere ‘common Christians’, but individuals who then somehow give up ‘more’ for the obedience commanded through Christ…but I’m not a huge fan of this understanding.

To paraphrase Bonhoeffer, the monastic movement was essentially more dangerous to the ‘common people’ than to the institution of the church in that it taught people that there were ‘levels of commitment’ in faith.  In other words, that it allowed people to observe monastic community and think, ‘Well, brother so-and-so has given his whole life to God, but I have no intention of being a monk, so I’ll just go ahead and fork over 50%’

And thus we inadvertently ushered in a brand new era of spiritual hierarchy…which in the end, didn’t so much ‘empower’ the ‘in-the-know’ crowd, as it did diminish and weaken the common crowd.

What’s more is that even though Bonhoeffer spoke these words 60 years ago, we hold many of the same misconceptions as true in our current cultural and spiritual context.

In our present context, we struggle day and night with apathy in the body of Christ…yet the root of this apathy is much more ancient than you or I might like to admit.

So allow me to give some context to this thought, so that your reading of this post is not entirely ambiguous.  Over Thanksgiving break, I got to spend a few days at home, both with my family and our extended family.  What changes most for me (and I would assume the same is true for the general population) between my ‘being’ at school and at home is that at school I am constantly surrounded by men entering the same field as myself…those who seek to become shepherds of the flocks of God; be they philosophers, counselors, theologians, or spiritual nomads (check all that apply). So it’s this environment that although it is real to me and those within the community; represents a rare reality in the world at large.

When I go home, that reality changes…no one wants to (or should) listen to my thoughts on the missional movement, absurdist Christianity or existential post-foundationalism.  Rather, home is a more common reality, where thoughts on Christ and culture aren’t normal dinner conversation.  I personally enjoy this balance as it grounds me in what true reality actually is.  But at the same time, I can’t help but wonder about what this means with regards to what I understand ‘to be true’ in Chicago.

For example, on my left forearm I have a tattoo in Greek that reads, ‘The God who wastes nothing’ (which is careful paraphrase of Paul’s letter to the Romans).  Where, while spending the weekend with my extended family, this inkage was a new reality for many, so they each asked me about it throughout the course of those few days.  And yet, as I prepared my explanation in my head for a few seconds, all I could really think about was, “Even if I explain this, are they going to get it? Will they care? Do they really want to know in the first place? Religion isn’t always the best small talk at family gatherings”

And so I find myself a slave to what I would consider our 21st century monasticism.  In that there is this idea so deeply ingrained to my thoughts that faith is somehow an entirely different reality for each person.  In other words, that there is a common spirituality and a higher spirituality at work in the body of Christ…to which this idea is both damaging to that of the so-called common spiritual people and that of the seemingly ‘higher’ spiritual people.

And how this then plays out in life isn’t much different than the effects that Bonhoeffer discusses…we’ve got a majority of Christians who think that they’ll never get the whole thing or that they’re not equipped or responsible for it, and on the other hand we have this subtle minority of ‘higher’ thinkers who feel as though they’re spiritual isolated as they call out from their ivory towers the next and greatest thought to have crossed their minds.

This is not Christianity…

21st century monasticism is fundamentally different in that it is a division of mindset as opposed to a physical lifestyle or choice. Which makes it much more subtle.  On my end of things, I might in theory subscribe to the belief in a ‘higher’ spirituality that is somehow different in nature to that of a common spirituality.

The reason for which is quite simple…I have an ego…

Instead of fixing our eyes upon the God who apportions faith according to his purposes, I am at many times (many times) guilty of looking to myself and wondering, “How did I get like this?”

There’s this idea floatin’ around my noggin’ that somehow I’ve been granted a spiritual understanding that is chiefly not that of my own.  In my selfish heart, I receive the affirmation offered to me by my surrounding communities as a validation of how ‘I’ somehow came to be like ‘this’.  I then further the lie that this apportionment of faith given is somehow for the building up of myself, rather than the body.

To put it simply…God indeed apportions faith as he sees fit.  But this apportionment isn’t really about you…to believe anything outside of this is to deny the very purpose of a body with many members and function.  So as I sit in my ‘tower’, I am humbled by the realization that any understanding or spiritual quirkiness given me, isn’t about me, it’s purpose is serve solely as a light for the nations…so that mankind is swiftly ushered in to the holy courts of this God…face to face…

To perceive this giving and allotment of spirituality with sobriety is to recognize that it is no longer I who live, but simply Christ in me…so that as the incarnation increases in the body of Christ, he might simply call his beloved directly to him…not to or detouring through me.

Albert Barnes, a 19th century Reformed theologian said of the universality of this gospel, “The idea of preaching the gospel to all nations alike, regardless of nationality, of internal divisions as to rank and color, complexion and religion, constituted the beginning of a new era in history. You cannot preach the gospel in its purity over the world, without proclaiming the doctrine of civil and religious liberty,— without overthrowing the barriers reared between nations and clans and classes of men,— without ultimately undermining the thrones of despots, and breaking off the shackles of slavery, — without making men everywhere free”

This is what the ‘priesthood of believers’ is all about…this is the mind of Christ…

So in the end…when all is stripped away…our mission is this; that the gospel is of such dire importance to the whole of humanity that it must be spoken about in the utmost clarity and simplicity…not a ‘dumbing down’ as some might like to believe, but a simple clarity…such that speaks to all men, regardless of so-called ‘spiritual aptitude’.

The gospel of this God as simple and clear is the responsibility of every Christ-follower, regardless of calling or biblical understanding.  Be it a mother, philosopher, pastor, priest or freelance urban nomad; the mission of the church is to proclaim from the very depths of the earth how wide, how deep, how far the city of God stretches in incarnational, reality-altering love.

I refuse to believe that this message of reconciliation needs any ‘dumbing down’; for to do so is to deny the creative design to which this God has apportioned faith to his people.

Although our content is surely rigid (You can’t really take the God-Man out of the picture…even if it adds a quick dose of flavor to your personal narrative), the form in which this message manifests itself is entirely flexible…which (for me) is one of the most beautiful aspects of the Christian reality.  And not simply because of the fact that we have this spectrum of ‘Hip-Hip-Hippopotamus’ to Irenaeus’ Christ hymn of the 2nd century, but that this flexibility of forms, if you will, demonstrates the utmost love, compassion and creativity of our maker.