Preserving the Way of Jesus in a Secular World
Summary
In our journey as a church, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment, much like the early church did during the time of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. These early Christians retreated into the wilderness to preserve the essence of Jesus' teachings amidst a church that had become diluted by its association with worldly power. Today, we face a similar challenge. The church in the West has, in many ways, lost its saltiness, becoming diluted in a hyper-secular society. Our task is to become modern-day Desert Fathers and Mothers, not by retreating physically, but by living intentionally within our cities, preserving the way of Jesus.
The early church thrived under persecution, becoming a powerful force of love and counterculture. However, when it aligned with power, it lost its distinctiveness. We must learn from this history and resist the cultural compromises that threaten our spiritual vitality. The Desert Fathers and Mothers offer us a model of resistance and preservation, facing down the idols of their day to maintain the purity of their faith.
Our calling is to integrate the wisdom of the Christian tradition into our modern context. This involves not just individual discipleship but also reshaping the architecture of our churches to facilitate deep inner healing and transformation. Many churches today are designed for conversion or social activism, but we must also focus on making disciples—apprentices of Jesus—who embody His teachings in every aspect of life.
The monastic tradition provides us with practices that help us align our lives with the way of Jesus. These practices, such as prayer, fasting, and community, are not ends in themselves but means to deepen our union with Christ. They help us untangle disordered desires and create space for God to work in us, much like a trellis supports a vine to bear fruit.
A rule of life, then, is a framework that organizes our lives around abiding in Christ. It is not a set of rigid rules but a structure that helps us remain anchored in our faith, allowing us to live in alignment with our deepest desires for God. In a world that equates freedom with the absence of constraints, we find true freedom in the constraints that lead us to deeper surrender and intimacy with Jesus.
Key Takeaways:
- The church must resist cultural compromises and preserve the way of Jesus, much like the Desert Fathers and Mothers did, by living intentionally within our secular environments. [26:53]
- The early church thrived under persecution, becoming a powerful force of love and counterculture, but lost its distinctiveness when it aligned with worldly power. [24:18]
- Our task is to integrate the wisdom of the Christian tradition into our modern context, reshaping our churches to facilitate deep inner healing and transformation. [28:18]
- Monastic practices, such as prayer and fasting, are means to deepen our union with Christ, helping us untangle disordered desires and create space for God to work in us. [35:26]
- A rule of life is a framework that organizes our lives around abiding in Christ, providing true freedom through the constraints that lead to deeper surrender and intimacy with Jesus. [47:10]
Youtube Chapters:
[00:00] - Welcome
[21:23] - Spiritual Shifts and Dangers
[22:00] - Passion for the Lost
[22:34] - Lessons from the Desert Fathers and Mothers
[23:53] - The Dilution of the Church
[24:30] - Power and Persecution
[25:07] - Resisting Cultural Compromises
[26:39] - The Church in a Hypersecular World
[27:51] - Integrating Christian Tradition
[29:30] - Discipleship vs. Conversion
[31:14] - Monastic Practices for Modern Life
[32:31] - Designing a Rule of Life
[33:04] - Practices as Means to an End
[35:26] - Healing Through Practices
[47:10] - Rule of Life Explained
Study Guide
### Bible Study Discussion Guide
#### Bible Reading
1. Luke 4:1-13 - Jesus' temptation in the wilderness.
2. Matthew 5:13-16 - Salt and light.
3. John 15:1-8 - The vine and the branches.
#### Observation Questions
1. What were the key challenges faced by the early church when it aligned with worldly power, as mentioned in the sermon? [24:05]
2. How did the Desert Fathers and Mothers respond to the dilution of the church's teachings, according to the sermon? [25:20]
3. What are some monastic practices mentioned in the sermon that can help deepen our union with Christ? [31:14]
4. How does the sermon describe the concept of a "rule of life"? [47:10]
#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does the sermon suggest that the church today can resist cultural compromises and preserve the way of Jesus? [26:39]
2. In what ways does the sermon propose integrating the wisdom of the Christian tradition into our modern context? [28:18]
3. How does the sermon explain the role of monastic practices in untangling disordered desires and creating space for God? [35:26]
4. What does the sermon imply about the true meaning of freedom in relation to a rule of life? [47:10]
#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your own life. Are there areas where you feel your faith has become diluted by cultural influences? How can you address this? [26:39]
2. The sermon calls us to be modern-day Desert Fathers and Mothers. What intentional steps can you take to live out your faith more authentically in your community? [27:14]
3. Consider the monastic practices mentioned in the sermon. Which one could you incorporate into your daily routine to deepen your relationship with Christ? [31:14]
4. The sermon discusses the importance of a rule of life. What might a rule of life look like for you, and how can it help you remain anchored in your faith? [47:10]
5. How can you create space in your life for God to work, similar to how a trellis supports a vine? What practical changes can you make this week? [46:58]
6. The sermon highlights the importance of discipleship over conversion. How can you focus on becoming an apprentice of Jesus in your daily life? [29:30]
7. Reflect on the concept of true freedom as described in the sermon. How can embracing certain constraints lead to deeper surrender and intimacy with Jesus in your life? [47:10]
Devotional
Day 1: Preserving the Essence of Jesus' Teachings
In a world where the church often finds itself diluted by secular influences, the call is to preserve the essence of Jesus' teachings. This is not about physical retreat but about living intentionally within our environments, much like the Desert Fathers and Mothers did. They resisted the cultural compromises of their time to maintain the purity of their faith. Today, we are challenged to do the same by embodying the teachings of Jesus in our daily lives, ensuring that our faith remains distinct and impactful. [26:53]
"Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:28-29 ESV)
Reflection: In what ways can you live more intentionally to preserve the teachings of Jesus in your daily life?
Day 2: The Church's Distinctiveness in Persecution
The early church thrived under persecution, becoming a powerful force of love and counterculture. However, when it aligned with worldly power, it lost its distinctiveness. This historical lesson reminds us of the importance of maintaining our spiritual vitality by resisting cultural compromises. The church is called to be a beacon of love and truth, standing firm in its identity even when faced with external pressures. [24:18]
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:10 ESV)
Reflection: How can you stand firm in your faith and maintain your distinctiveness in the face of societal pressures?
Day 3: Integrating Tradition for Transformation
Our task is to integrate the wisdom of the Christian tradition into our modern context, reshaping our churches to facilitate deep inner healing and transformation. This involves moving beyond mere conversion or social activism to focus on making disciples who embody Jesus' teachings in every aspect of life. By doing so, we create communities that are not only spiritually vibrant but also transformative in their impact on the world. [28:18]
"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ." (Ephesians 4:11-12 ESV)
Reflection: What steps can you take to contribute to the transformation of your church community, focusing on deep inner healing and discipleship?
Day 4: Monastic Practices for Union with Christ
Monastic practices such as prayer, fasting, and community are not ends in themselves but means to deepen our union with Christ. These practices help us untangle disordered desires and create space for God to work in us, much like a trellis supports a vine to bear fruit. By incorporating these practices into our lives, we align ourselves more closely with the way of Jesus, allowing His presence to transform us from within. [35:26]
"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." (John 15:4 ESV)
Reflection: Which monastic practice can you incorporate into your daily routine to deepen your union with Christ, and how will you start today?
Day 5: A Rule of Life for True Freedom
A rule of life is a framework that organizes our lives around abiding in Christ. It is not a set of rigid rules but a structure that helps us remain anchored in our faith, allowing us to live in alignment with our deepest desires for God. In a world that equates freedom with the absence of constraints, we find true freedom in the constraints that lead us to deeper surrender and intimacy with Jesus. [47:10]
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1 ESV)
Reflection: What would a rule of life look like for you, and how can it help you experience true freedom in Christ?
Quotes
The early church was thriving for three centuries... The church was on fire because it was this unique counterculture growing up in the midst of an empire, living by the way of love. What seemed ludicrous at first then became attractive because these people were experiencing what Jesus called life and life to the full. [00:22:58]
Typically when the church buddies up with worldly power, the life of the church becomes diluted. When the church is powerless, when it's most contested by culture, when it's most harshly persecuted, the church becomes the most powerful because it gets formed into salt in the language of Jesus. [00:24:55]
The Desert Mothers and Fathers went literally off into the wilderness, into the desert to resist the appetites that the church had given into, essentially the cultural mistresses that the church was sleeping with. They said, "We will preserve the way of Jesus in an era of compromise." [00:25:05]
In many ways, I think I would humbly say that the way of Jesus has become diluted in the church in the West. Much of we've lost our saltiness in the words of Jesus just to name it. So where can we look? I think we can look to the Desert Fathers and Mothers. [00:26:39]
Much of what I'm trying to do and you are trying to do is take the wisdom and the best practices and the theology of the best of the Christian tradition over 2000 years on every continent now and bring the best of it to bear on how church is done. [00:27:51]
Most churches in the West are not designed to facilitate deep inner healing and transformation of their people. That doesn't mean they're designed for evil things. Many of them are designed for conversion to Jesus or for social activism or for community organizing—good things. [00:28:36]
The monastic Christian tradition has this extraordinary wealth of resources, practices, ways of being with God, ways of being together in community, ways of setting your shadow side or false self before Jesus in prayer and in community, and letting Jesus heal you and save you. [00:29:35]
Practices are a way to begin to untangle disordered desires within myself that cause me to defend myself against the Father's love so that I can experience what you're naming as theosis or union with Christ. They just they're creating space. [00:35:26]
A rule of life is a schedule and a set of practices and relational rhythms that organize our entire life around abiding and allow us to live in alignment with our deepest desires, which I think are for God and for union with him. [00:47:10]
A vine cannot bear very much fruit if you just let it run wild on the ground. It will become under threat of wild animals or disease or getting stepped on by other people or it won't get the maximum amount of light. So you put a vine up onto a trellis. [00:46:04]
What a rule of life does, what the practices that we plan to start kind of re-releasing next fall, what they do, they form a constraint in which we are set free because this is where again formation is not a Christianized version of project self. [00:50:40]
These practices are how we deepen our surrender to Jesus. They are how we practice dying. [00:53:00]
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