Evaluating Our Options

In John 16, Jesus is teaching His disciples about coming persecution. But, He also tells them about the power source Whom He would send:
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

Later in the chapter, He says:
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

We live in an age where Christian principles are not respected by many, much less upheld.  There are threats to our freedom to speak out for the gospel and to live out our faith in the public square. This can be discouraging, but we can remember that Jesus has entrusted to us a call to follow Him, no matter what, and He's given us His Spirit to help us, to empower us, to direct us, and in some cases, to protect us.  Later in John 16, Jesus says that in the midst of tribulation, we can walk joyfully, or be of good cheer, because He has overcome.   Overcome what?  The power of sin and death, the power of the enemy who is at work powerfully in this earth, but whose power is far inferior to that of Almighty God.

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In 1st John 4, we find a passage that addresses discernment and overcoming the spiritual influences that are not lined up with Christ:
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

It can be frustrating for a believer in Christ when we see examples of degradation across the culture. We await a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that could be a watershed moment in this decline - the attempt to redefine an institution that God has established.

In this age that has been described as "post-Christian" or "anti-Christian," we still have to remember that we belong to the One who is greater that he who is in the world.  We serve the One who has overcome the world, who calls us to be of good cheer.  But, silence, solitude, or surrender are not options for devoted followers of Christ.

Rod Dreher, who writes for The American Conservative, is attempting to come to grips with how we as Christians should live in and interact with our culture.  He has suggested the "Benedict Option." Recently, he was a guest on Breakpoint This Week, with host John Stonestreet, which is heard Saturday mornings at 11:30 on Faith Radio.  In a summary, Stonestreet writes:

A phrase borrowed from moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre's classic work “After Virtue,” Dreher describes the Benedict Option as “the way...to prepare a culture of resistance for the church to live in these post-Christian, indeed, these anti-Christian times.”

It takes its name from Benedict of Nursia, a Christian saint who, during the collapse of the Roman Empire, founded independent communities of believers who preserved virtue, literacy, and civilization through the Dark Ages. These communities, of course, became what we know today as monasteries, and Benedict became the namesake of the most famous monastic order.

Stonestreet points out that Dreher "...isn't proposing we don habits and cloister ourselves in monasteries. But he is proposing that we recognize our civilization’s decline, disentangle Christian identity from secular culture, and prepare the Church to preserve that identity for future generations."

Dreher is quoted as saying:

“The time is going to come when we Christians will have to separate from the mainstream—not head for the hills, let me underscore that—not head for the hills, but live in some sort of separate community so we can be the church. Not so we can keep ourselves pure but so that we can remind ourselves of who we are and be a light to the world, called to fidelity to Christ.”

In a recent piece on the website of The American Conservative, Dreher, who begins his piece quoting from Montgomery pastor Alan Cross' review of the recent Southern Baptist Convention, gives a nice summary of the Benedict Option:

To recap: The Benedict Option is about both retreat and engagement.

It is retreat in the sense that it requires a) an honest and sober recognition of the condition of our post-Christian culture, and the relationship of the church to it; b) a realistic understanding of how radically Christianity opposes the mainstream post-Christian culture; c) a clear grasp of how radically Christians have to live, in community, to “push back against the world as hard as it pushes against you” (Flannery O’Connor), and d) implementing these new, and renewed, ways of living, in part to build resilience for the trials to come, and to guard against assimilation.

It is about engagement in that the church has a mission to serve the world, through evangelism and works of charity. The church can only fulfill its mission if it knows who, and what, it is. The early Benedictines lived in community, behind monastery walls, so they could pray as they were called to pray. But they also served the people outside the monastery walls. The former had everything to do with how effectively they did the latter.

WORLD Magazine has featured the Benedict Option recently on its website, including some analysis from writer and professor at The King's College D.C. Innes.   Here is a powerful paragraph from a recent piece:

It explains much of our present condition that we can speak of this proposal as a radical departure from ordinary Christian practice. Much of this is nothing other than a full-orbed, consistent Christian life. But most churchgoers are only faintly aware of this culture clash, this conflict of kingdoms, and what it should cost them in their discipleship.

He did ask the question, "But what does the defensive cultural and political stance of the Benedict Option look like in practice?" He mentioned that the goal of The King's College is to prepare students to help shape and perhaps lead strategic institutions. He refers to various areas of influence in the culture where graduates are working. He writes, "In these settings, grads will conduct themselves Christianly and bring the mind of Christ to bear on their governing responsibilities with, God willing, transformative effects."

He continues:

Should we dissuade Christians from seeking elective office? If they succeed, should they not advocate godly policies as best they can? As voters, should we not make God’s voice heard in the public square—His square, after all—as we have learned it in His Word? God gave His people a Jeremiah Mandate for their exile in Babylon, “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile [in our case, internal cultural exile], and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7, ESV).

Dreher is right that we have entered a new phrase of Western history and there is no going back anytime soon. We should labor faithfully in our callings and labor in hope, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13, ESV). But at this point, especially given the last 35 years, we can have no reasonable hope of “taking back America” for Christian culture. But there is always hope in the gospel itself and the cultural fruits that follow.

So, there is a real pragmatism here that Innes is bringing out.  I don't sense surrender, but a careful appraisal of where we are.  And, that doesn't preclude attempting to make a statement into our culture about the power and truth of the gospel.  The other two words I mentioned earlier - silence and solitude - are also not reasonable for Christians who are seeking to live out the dictates of and principles of Scripture.

But, there is something to be said for refocusing our attention to personal discipleship and living and functioning together as the body of Christ, encouraging one another in discouraging times.  And, the call upon each of us to live out and speak about the things of God has not diminished; in fact, it is more important than ever before.  Cultural change can come through heart change, and you cannot underestimate the power of God as He sends revival in the hearts of His people.  But we have to want it - if the desire is there and the devoted followthrough is there, then we can trust God to send His Spirit in a fresh way to move powerfully through our lives.