Asceticism and Legalism
This year, I have been thinking a lot about Christianity as an ascetic faith. I've been thinking about it particularly as I've heard some of my own faith speak on the furthest right extreme of contemporary issues, and thought about how much differently I see things, and how much differently many clergy see things. I've also been hearing a lot lately, both within and outside the Orthodox community, about Protestantism and its failures, and I think these things all go together in an important way.
First, Christianity, that is to say, the Gospel of Christ (and not just one denomination or practice), is an ascetic religion. It asks believers to practice self-denial, continual prayer, and spiritual growth. Many believers, both in and out of the Orthodox Church, take this to mean that we have rules, and that anyone who does not follow those rules is a Bad Christian. This view holds that we have rules prohibiting everything from extramarital sex to foul language. This, however, misses the point, and I believe misses it seriously. It's not so much a matter of having rules or checkboxes: If I do x, I am a Good Christian, and if I do y, I'm a Bad Christian. Rather, the Church offers guidance as to what Christ himself preached: these things are difficult, and we do them because they draw us closer to God. They are a matter of discipline, very personal and private discipline which is aided and supported by the advice and participation of the community of believers, rather than an opportunity to look down one's nose at others or say that their morality is not up to our high standards.
This is what Fr. Alexei, my childhood priest, referred to as the "you keep your eyes on your plate, I'll keep my eyes on mine" rule. Later in my life, Fr. Mel Webber gently chastised me for paying more attention to my roommate's supposed moral wrongs, which in no way hurt me, than to my own actions (good or bad).
Asceticism requires us to do things that are not easy, normal, or natural. Thus during this season of Great Lent, I don't eat any animal products, I don't drink alcohol, I limit my oil intake, I cut myself down to almost zero sweet treats, and I don't read novels. It also requires us to be courteous, kind, and respectful to those who do not follow our disciplines. Jesus himself said, "When you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites... but... anoint your head and wash your face." Smile, in other words, and be all the nicer for your ascetic discipline, less judgmental, kinder, and more inclined to look for and at the image of God in others.
It's a huge temptation for people to simply make asceticism into a simple set of rules: do this, that, and the other. Don't eat animal products, confess, go to church on Sundays, attend Presanctified Liturgies, and you'll be good with God. Or, depending on the believer or denomination, oppose candidates who support legal abortion, tell people to "pray the gay away," support abstinence-only education, and teach Creationism, and you'll be a Good Christian and saved.
I've had bad Great Lents in which I have followed all the rules and good ones in which I have followed only a few or none of them. The goodness of the Great Fast doesn't depend on how closely we adhere to the rules; it depends on how sincere our prayer is, how effectively we use this season to draw closer to God and improve our response to life, and how well we care for the people around us. Likewise, the goodness of a Christian doesn't depend on how completely he or she agrees with or follows your particular interpretation of how the Gospel should be put into practice.
Personally, I strongly support legal abortion because I know that illegalizing abortion leads, not to fewer abortions or a kinder and more family-friendly society, but to more maternal death and a greater hostility (and less support) to women. (And by the way, why do so many churches have services for the "victims of abortion" and so few for people who have been executed unjustly? Is a person only precious and worthwhile before birth? I smell sentimentalism...) I know that it is impossible to "pray the gay away" and that I felt much further from God, and did a lot more lying, in the periods when I tried to cover up. Abstinence-only education was not the model used at my (Catholic) high school, and I bless the Sisters of St. Louis often and openly for giving us honest information and a perspective from which to make good choices. As to Creationism, I truly do not understand in what way it belittles God to marvel at the almost incomprehensible lengths of (human) time he used to accomplish our Creation. How could a search for truth, via science, be other than a holy endeavor? How could it in any way diminish the power of the two Creation stories in Genesis, which were written to help our moral (not scientific or historical) understanding, and which do a far better job of that than a scientific text?
For some, the criteria for being a Christian have gone from being a thoughtful, prayerful, Jesus-loving member of the community of believers to being a person who fasts the way I think is right, believes in the social issues I agree with, and goes to church every week dressed to my taste. We need to re-center our attention and realize why these external things are important to us personally. They are important because the ascetic discipline can, if we let it, bring us closer to God. These are tools and they are there for a very good reason. We need to be careful to use them patiently and seek guidance and a lot of support, and not to use them carelessly, as a bludgeon with which to mutilate our fellow creatures.
First, Christianity, that is to say, the Gospel of Christ (and not just one denomination or practice), is an ascetic religion. It asks believers to practice self-denial, continual prayer, and spiritual growth. Many believers, both in and out of the Orthodox Church, take this to mean that we have rules, and that anyone who does not follow those rules is a Bad Christian. This view holds that we have rules prohibiting everything from extramarital sex to foul language. This, however, misses the point, and I believe misses it seriously. It's not so much a matter of having rules or checkboxes: If I do x, I am a Good Christian, and if I do y, I'm a Bad Christian. Rather, the Church offers guidance as to what Christ himself preached: these things are difficult, and we do them because they draw us closer to God. They are a matter of discipline, very personal and private discipline which is aided and supported by the advice and participation of the community of believers, rather than an opportunity to look down one's nose at others or say that their morality is not up to our high standards.
This is what Fr. Alexei, my childhood priest, referred to as the "you keep your eyes on your plate, I'll keep my eyes on mine" rule. Later in my life, Fr. Mel Webber gently chastised me for paying more attention to my roommate's supposed moral wrongs, which in no way hurt me, than to my own actions (good or bad).
Asceticism requires us to do things that are not easy, normal, or natural. Thus during this season of Great Lent, I don't eat any animal products, I don't drink alcohol, I limit my oil intake, I cut myself down to almost zero sweet treats, and I don't read novels. It also requires us to be courteous, kind, and respectful to those who do not follow our disciplines. Jesus himself said, "When you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites... but... anoint your head and wash your face." Smile, in other words, and be all the nicer for your ascetic discipline, less judgmental, kinder, and more inclined to look for and at the image of God in others.
It's a huge temptation for people to simply make asceticism into a simple set of rules: do this, that, and the other. Don't eat animal products, confess, go to church on Sundays, attend Presanctified Liturgies, and you'll be good with God. Or, depending on the believer or denomination, oppose candidates who support legal abortion, tell people to "pray the gay away," support abstinence-only education, and teach Creationism, and you'll be a Good Christian and saved.
I've had bad Great Lents in which I have followed all the rules and good ones in which I have followed only a few or none of them. The goodness of the Great Fast doesn't depend on how closely we adhere to the rules; it depends on how sincere our prayer is, how effectively we use this season to draw closer to God and improve our response to life, and how well we care for the people around us. Likewise, the goodness of a Christian doesn't depend on how completely he or she agrees with or follows your particular interpretation of how the Gospel should be put into practice.
Personally, I strongly support legal abortion because I know that illegalizing abortion leads, not to fewer abortions or a kinder and more family-friendly society, but to more maternal death and a greater hostility (and less support) to women. (And by the way, why do so many churches have services for the "victims of abortion" and so few for people who have been executed unjustly? Is a person only precious and worthwhile before birth? I smell sentimentalism...) I know that it is impossible to "pray the gay away" and that I felt much further from God, and did a lot more lying, in the periods when I tried to cover up. Abstinence-only education was not the model used at my (Catholic) high school, and I bless the Sisters of St. Louis often and openly for giving us honest information and a perspective from which to make good choices. As to Creationism, I truly do not understand in what way it belittles God to marvel at the almost incomprehensible lengths of (human) time he used to accomplish our Creation. How could a search for truth, via science, be other than a holy endeavor? How could it in any way diminish the power of the two Creation stories in Genesis, which were written to help our moral (not scientific or historical) understanding, and which do a far better job of that than a scientific text?
For some, the criteria for being a Christian have gone from being a thoughtful, prayerful, Jesus-loving member of the community of believers to being a person who fasts the way I think is right, believes in the social issues I agree with, and goes to church every week dressed to my taste. We need to re-center our attention and realize why these external things are important to us personally. They are important because the ascetic discipline can, if we let it, bring us closer to God. These are tools and they are there for a very good reason. We need to be careful to use them patiently and seek guidance and a lot of support, and not to use them carelessly, as a bludgeon with which to mutilate our fellow creatures.