Entries (RSS)Ascetic- “a person who renounces the comforts of society and leads a life of austere self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion.” There are not too many people in our society in danger of being classified as an ascetic. Being an ascetic is just not cool. Some of us may occasionally think about it for a bit but the best remedy is to lie down until the feeling passes, and then go to In and Out Burger for a #2 and shake. And no, starving yourself in order to fit in a pair of jeans does not count.
But in the medieval world of Christianity people thought about religious devotion in terms of self-denial. They thought about it a lot because they were continually concerned about their spiritual condition. Life in medieval Europe was uncertain at best and making plans for your eternal security was an ever present worry for the average person. Joining a monastic community was one way a person could obtain hope that at death they were more likely to go up rather than down. In effect, becoming a member of a monastic community also meant becoming an ascetic. In fact, becoming an ascetic for Jesus was at the heart of Medieval Monasticism’s mission. All monks focused on achieving what was called the vita apostolica or the life of an apostle. They were trying to emulate the life and faith of those early followers of Jesus. There were three main characteristics that defined an apostolic life: obedience, poverty, and preaching. Over time, the monks found obedience and poverty to be the toughest of the three and, of those two, poverty was really tough. Why you ask? Well that is the dilemma and the irony of it all. It was tough because the very act of fulfilling the apostolic life resulted in many things, poverty was not one of them, but no self-respecting ascetic could be successful without maintaining the state of poverty.
You see, living a truly apostolic life meant doing everything, and I mean everything, to the glory of God. You did everything with excellence for the Lord: prayer, worship, scholarship, confession, and work. Everyone worked and work was spiritual. Monastic communities were self-contained, self-sufficient entities. Everyone had a job that helped contribute to the life of the community. In many monastic communities monks worked to build and maintain the monastery, prepare the fields, plant the crops and vineyards, harvest the crops and vineyards, make cheese and wine, bake bread, etc. etc. So what happens when a bunch of ascetics practice self-discipline and self-denial together while doing everything with excellence to the glory of God? Are you able to maintain your poverty, not likely. Instead you are steadily improving your condition. You are in fact achieving material prosperity even as you continue to promote ascetic self-denial/poverty as one of the hallmarks of following Christ. Most attempts to reform monasticism were begun by those who sought to regain the lost ascetic practices that maintained a firm commitment to poverty.
So what’s the point? Is an ascetic life-style essential in order to truly follow Jesus? Can one demonstrate the characteristics of an apostolic life in the absence of literal poverty? Are asceticism and poverty prerequisites for doing everything for the glory of God? Did monasticism end up confusing its methods with its mission?
So what was the answer to the ascetic’s dilemma? Would it have required them to stop interpreting poverty as a personal spiritual state to achieve and started treating it as a human issue to address by doing everything for the glory of God out of their wealth and prosperity?
So what is our dilemma?