MATHETΩN

I have seen a certain bulletin plastered on churches by Mathetai so often that I think I must quote at least part of it:

… His [Jesus's] most commonly-repeated command was:

Follow me.

Follow him to where? To his Kingdom of life, through death. Here is a list of questions that ask, Am I following Jesus?

“Have you left your home, your family, and your income?”

“Are you proclaiming, or teaching about, the Kingdom? Are you healing? Are you everywhere doing good?”

“Have you been, or are you soon to be, houseless or arrested?”

“Are you soon to be killed?”

(Once, attached to some Youth Camp caravan, I saw the list limited to the last two questions — but added to them, I think, toothlessness and jailtime — concluded with something flippant such as: “If not, you aren’t doing it right.”)

I want altogether to stop saying terms such as “biblical”. I do not believe in a Holy Bible. The book — or really the concept of the book — is for Christian hierarchs a cunningly-used talisman and tabu. It is not a true thing.

What I believe to be true is that there is a Word of God who is Jesus.

When Jesus was alive on earth, the words he said were words of God. Before, in heaven — and now from heaven — he by his Spirit said — and says — words of God.

These latter words of course are said in people’s spirits. But some of them are written down. The ones that are written down are true scriptures. Paul Envoy said: “Every writing that is divinely inspired is also useful for teaching, for argument, for correction, for education in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.” Himself in these ways used sayings of Jesus; and some passages of Hebrew scriptures, for which he always argued relevance and took care to say the Spirit was speaking the meaning he saw in them; and a few ancient poems of the Hellenes.

And now I will sum up my thinking:

“Biblical” is an Evangelicalist construction used as a weapon or tool; “scriptural” can refer to any writings a religion calls scriptures, but true scriptures are written words the Spirit of Jesus uses to tell me some true words of God.

And, of neccesity and as my own Teacher, oftener he tells me true words of God that are not written anywhere but my heart.

And, above all, Jesus personally is the Word, and the Truth.

I would like therefore to speak of an idea’s or word’s or action’s being of Jesus; or of his Holy Spirit, of his Kingdom; or of simply right and truth.

John Climacus’s “thirty steps to heaven” go something like this:

• Renounce the world
• Detach oneself from one’s habits, wishes, &c.
• Exile oneself from one’s career, family, &c.
• Become wholly obedient to God’s orders
• Repent and learn always to be repenting
• Remember, every moment, one’s death
• Shed tears for one’s evil, others’ suffering
• Abandon: anger, maliciousness, judging others, talkativeness, lying, depression
• Overcome: lusts for food, sex, money; cynicalness, fears; looking good, egoism
• Live frugally
• Desire humiliation
• Discern right and wrong for oneself and others
• Be still without
• Pray
• Be still within
• Love

Here are descriptions of a follower of Jesus by two churchmen; I quote rather-randomly from the first few chapters of their principal works.

Rick Warren, ca. 2000

The disciple:

• makes “a difference in the life of a relative or friend”
• will be “remembered after death”
• “owes it to himself” to accept God’s rewards
• will be more physically, psychologically “well”
• anticipates a reward “too good to be true”
• “balances his earthly concerns with his heavenly values”
• becomes “more responsible”, “more energetic”
• “attends church on a regular basis”
• attains a superior “reputation”
• is now “on a team”; “connected”, “comfortable”
• becomes “healthier, more-capable”
• “respects the ruling political system”
• runs a business “on spiritual principles” and so runs “simply a better business”, for “these things work in the real world”
• is “getting the pie right now because he is following an eternal recipe”
• “sticks to a task” and thus “builds character”
• has his “questions answered”
• has “Someone to help him hold on, in life”

John Climacus, ca. 600

The disciple:

• “freely accepts death”
• bears “a chastised heart”, “unrecognized wisdom”, and “an unnoticed life”
• is always “striving to be humble”
• “wishes for poverty”
• “longs for what is divine”
• “pours out love”
• “denies himself empty pride”
• dwells in “a depth of silence”
• endures “hardship, simplicity” in his “chosen route of great grief”
• is “separated from everything”
• is “set on fire, in the darkness”
• “sits like someone of foreign speech among people of other tongues”
• “drives out his love for family”
• “is a fugitive”
• “mortifies his appetites” and “constantly toils”
• drinks “the bitter cup of dishonor: derided, mocked, jeered”
• “denies his will; he must patiently endure opposition, suffer neglect without complaint, put up with violent arrogance”
• “has undertaken to travel by a short and rough road” of “self-mistrust up to his dying day”
• “turns away from earthly concerns, from human ways, from family; cuts his selfishness away”
• must “never grieve the loss” of these things

I’m reading such a difference from Christianity now in the ca. A.D. 600 The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Here are some examples:

1.

“God is the life in all free beings. He is the salvation of believers or unbelievers, of the just or the unjust, of monks or those living in the world, of the educated or the illiterate, of the healthy or the sick, of the young or the very old. He is like the outpouring of light, the glimpse of the sun, or the changes of the weather, which are the same for everyone without exception. ‘For God is no respecter of persons.’ “

I can hear the snort with which a Christian now would greet this description — a Christian used to hearing and saying “ethics aren’t situational”, “but those people worship a different God”, “God bless America.”

2.

“Do whatever good you may. Speak evil of no one. Rob no one. Tell no lie. Despise no one. Show compassion to the needy. Be satisfied with what your own wives can provide you. If you do all this, you will not be far from the Kingdom of heaven.”

Contrast this with “Accept Jesus as your Lordnsavior; do it today!”

3.

“The true teacher is one who has received directly from heaven the tablet of spiritual knowledge inscribed by God’s own finger, that is, by the active working of illumination. Such a one has no need of other books. … Do you imagine that plain words can describe the love of God? Do you imagine that talk of such matters would mean anything to someone who had not experienced it? If you think so, then you are like a man who with words tries to convey the sweetness of honey to people who have never tasted it.”

To which a Christian now would shout, as he shouts at everything either soulful or intellectual: “The Bible is the repository of knowledge!”

4.

I can’t think how often I’ve heard Christians bemoaning their prayers: “I ask for thus-and-so and He does not give it”; “I desire that this-or-that be removed and He does not remove it.” Instead:

“Prayer is the mother, and then the daughter, of tears. Prayer is an expiation of sin, a bridge across temptation, a bulwark against [later doing others harm]. Prayer wipes out conflict. It is the work of angels and the nourishment of everything spiritual.”

A recent bard has lamented that he has not the requisite central digits to salute the world as it deserves to be saluted.

Now, where he would employ a finger I would employ a sign of the cross—however, that requires even more digits and makes me even less able to do the task.

We are told that Jesus shall return with ten thousand angels—let us not waver in a belief that this will be as many as can adequately curse the world.

( 1 ) And as they journeyed along the way, a man said to him: I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him: Foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. ( 2 ) And he said to another: Follow me. But the man said: Give me leave first to go and bury my father. But he said to him: Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and announce the Kingdom of God. ( 3 ) And another man said: I will follow you, Lord; but first allow me to take leave of the people in my house. But Jesus said to him: No one who has put his hand to the plow and then looked back is fit for the Kingdom of God.

I just finished studying Francis of Assisi’s first Rule (he rewrote the Rule years later for confirmation by papal bull) and taking notes, and I think I will sum my interpretation of it:

I. Live the whole gospel of Jesus Christ in its most obvious and simple way, all His teaching, all His footsteps. First, sell your property and give all you possess to the poor. Seek out the conversation of the poor, despised, sick, and beggars and show joy in it. Judge none, but judge your own self severely. Observe the Golden Rule toward everyone; love one another, in works and then words, which is Christ’s Commandment; resist no evil fate but accept violence, even from nature, and expect martyrdom. Never become depressed, never complain, but show forth joy, contentment in the Lord, and merriment. Show chivalry and courtesy.

II. Revere all churches, ordinances, and clerics. Study the gospel and pray in a regular pattern daily; seek repentance in a regular pattern daily; fast regularly and during holy seasons. Yet if it become necessary, to further the work of the Kingdom, fasts or any other constraints may be abandoned. Expel a brother or sister who is proved a heretic. Among unbelievers, or in the countries of unbelievers, do not contend but only freely confess you are a Christian. Then, when there is opportunity, explain the gospel of Christ to who will listen. When God is blasphemed, respond with a word of praise of God. Any may preach, but none may call himself a preacher, make of it a career, or preach in an aggrandizing way. Confess sins and faults to one another. Confess all sins before taking the bread and wine.

III. Wear poor clothes and have very few. Neither own nor use private transportation. Own nothing but food and clothing and perhaps the tools of your trade. Work at an honest, preferably manual, trade you knew before you were converted to support your own needs. Do not become a businessman or a manager; do not take a morally-ambiguous job; do not take a job for the money. Do not borrow, save, or invest money. If you discover money or a money-making opportunity, let it lie as though it were nothing but a stone. Ask boldly for donations for the poor, or for your work or yourself if necessary; remember that insults are a shame only for the insulter; remember that every person’s wealth will perish except the wealth of charity. Never claim a space as home, and always welcome any who comes, even if he is a thief. Never be idle, but always be doing a job, your good work, or your devotions. Travel everywhere doing good work; lodge in pious households as you come to them; accept attacks on the way and give to any who asks. Yet, if you become ill, you may instead seek care from your brothers and sisters, and these constraints may be abandoned. Do not let illness make you morose or angry, but learn from it as from the chastisement of a Father.

IV. Do not ogle the opposite sex and do not dally with them alone. Offer them spiritual counsel and encouragement. Expel immediately a brother or sister who is proved a fornicator; afterward, urge him or her to repent.

V. Establish servants who will arrange the brothers and sisters throughout the country to best effect and others who will visit them often with admonishment and comforting. Remember that such servants are not masters but slaves, for the first shall be last. Never shall any among you be called Prior. Let all watch the servants carefully for any wrongdoing, and, after three private admonishments, let nothing prevent you from reporting them. Also, let all watch each other, and admonish wrongdoing three times, and then report it openly. Yet let no such discovery make you angry or sad but at peace with God and apter to judge yourself. All shall obey all. No one who does any conscious sin is being obedient; no one who follows the gospel is being disobedient; and no one shall obey against his soul. All shall hold all in reverence. No one shall argue, be angry, or accuse others, but shall be silent or offer a humble, ready answer. Everyone in the country shall meet yearly, and everyone in the world shall meet tri-yearly. Wash one another’s feet.

VI. [Francis offers a very short benediction and sermon that a brother or sister may use anytime in any company.]

VII. [Francis concludes with a long and beautiful summation of the gospel of Christ, admonishment for the brothers and sisters' souls, and praise of God.]

Principle rather than principality.

What is the point of doing anything that is not impossible?

A girl’s name: Skirmish
A boy’s name: Heart
A girl’s name: Volante
A boy’s name: Chaste
A girl’s name: Emperatriz
A boy’s name: Embrace