McMahon Life

Part III

Having thought through how a modern-day monastic community might look, I am left with two questions: what would be the point of living life this way, and how would this type of community impact culturally expected aspects of life (work, finances, children, school, marriage, church, etc)?

Why would anyone want to live this way?  What’s the point?  Well, the point for St. Patrick and his people was to bring Jesus to Ireland, to live in such a way that those around them watch, wonder about, and join in.  How can the point be any different for us than to live in such a way that invites others to join in our community and eventually find themselves believe what we believe because they see the truth through our lives. If the Christian church in the United States was living consistently this way already, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, but instead we find the very real need for a model of life that enables this to happen!  Let us remember that using this model, St. Patrick was able to change the culture of Ireland in just one generation.  That is an incredible accomplishment.  So the possibility of a model of living that can lead to the changing of our culture in a generation is worth considering.  It could be that there are other models of life that could accomplish the same thing.  If that is the case then let us acknowledge, applaud, and participate in them to see our communities reached with the redemption of the kingdom of Jesus Christ!

What would be the implications of this type of lifestyle on many aspects of life that typically engage in (this is not to say that the practice of that behavior is right or wrong to begin with)?

Well, life would definitely look different.  Perhaps the biggest impact on life is the use of time – and this impacts everything else.  The way the monastic communities of Ireland functioned were time-intensive.  Communal times of prayer and worship, of serving, of hospitality, and solitude severely cut into work hours.  If this type of lifestyle requires more time, then work must be diminished and this in turn will impact finances, financial security, and person feelings of self-worth (for those who allow finances to impact their personal identity).  The intentional communities of Ireland functioned far more like what it sounds like the Acts church did – they held all their resources in common, shared life together, and met the needs of each other and of the community together.

So living this way would require living on less.  But if we were to live together, wouldn’t we need less?  Think of how many fewer cars we would need if we became focused on our communities.  Think of how much less food we would buy if we had community gardens to grow our own.  Think of how much less we would pay for child-care and day-care if we were living in communities that valued children and worked together to raise them.  Maybe that’s just the tip of the ice-burg.

Ultimately, for there to be a group of Christians in the United States who desired to live this way, it would take a drastic change in lifestyle, and a re-structuring of values.  Maybe that’s not all that bad of an idea.  Difficult, yes.  Most definitely.  But not impossible.  Maybe even good.

I’m not making some claim that all Christians in America need to begin living this way, but I’m just inviting you to begin thinking about this.  What if, when you begin to consider buying a house, or moving to a new city, or changing neighborhoods, you invited ten other people to consider it with you?

How much would we impact our communities if we had actual pockets of Christians living an alternative lifestyle.  Christians in America are invisible.  Maybe we say something about morality, or vote by different standards (not always God’s standards), or speak with a little less vulgarity.  But what if we stood out because we lived together and we lived different!?  How much greater of an impact could we have!

Think about it.  And let me know what you think.

These are my thoughts regarding endurance, mine in particular.  This is a portion of my lifejournal entry from 12/15/2009.  To see the entire thing, go to http://mcmahonlife.com/life-journal/december-life-journal/12-15-2009.

The Master of the Universe (a very Jewish way to describe God), has been showing me lately just how much I have to learn, how much I must learn, about endurance.  I am very aware of the traits of the generation that I am apart of.  I am very aware that I carry many of them.  One of the traits that influences me through in through is my dislike for discomfort.  This makes endurance a very difficult thing.  Endurance is all about being uncomfortable for an extended period of time.  If there was no discomfort there would be no endurance because it would be called “enjoyment” instead of “endurance.”  But this theme is found weaved throughout this letter that James wrote – in fact he bookends this letter with thoughts on endurance.

Right at the beginning, in chapter 1, he makes a plea for his brothers and sisters in the faith to find joy in suffering.  The entire reason he gave for them to find joy in suffering was because they were to understand that, “the testing of your faith produces endurance,” and that the “full effect” of endurance would be that they, “may be mature and complete, lacking nothing” (verses 2-4)  So the whole reason why Christians should rejoice in suffering is so that they can have a place to practice endurance which will lead to being completely mature.

The next place James mentions endurance is just a few verses later, when, in verse 12 he says, “blessed is anyone who endures temptation.”  Why?  Well this ties into what Jesus said on the sermon on the mount (matthew 5:10), “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  This continues the first theme of endurance in the face of suffering for the name of Jesus.

In James 1:25 he addresses a different form of endurance, the kind of endurance that is persistence in doing the right thing.  ”But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act – they will be blessed in their doing.”  I have chosen to join “persevere” and “endure” together, because the concept is the same.

These two concepts of endurance through suffering and persecution and endurance in doing what is right are brought together into a final encouragement toward endurance in general.  James 5:7,10-11 says, “Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord… As an example of suffering a patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  Indeed, we call blessed those who show endurance.  You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”
Here James gives us two examples to model our endurance after: the prophets (many of whom were killed for the sake of the message of God, and all of whom experienced persecution and hardship), and Job (the story found in the book of Job – if you’re not sure what he endured, just read the first 2 chapters!).  The point is very clear: endurance is something that God calls his children to.   We are to endure “until the coming of the Lord,”  for God blesses those who endure (Mt.5, James 5:11).

All of this does not change my reality that I suck at enduring.  I am just really bad at it.  I don’t think I have a negative perception of myself, I just think that I am part of a generation that has had fairly comfortable lives (comfort does not mean easy, for very few of our lives have been easy).  When something uncomfortable happens, there is almost always some way of escape, or something we can turn to to either block out the pain or to bring pleasure.  We are a people that pursues pleasure and I think we often pursue it, not simply because we want it, but because we are so aware of the pain in the world and want to avoid it as much as we can.

So what do I do, now that I clearly see my deficiency in “enduring”? I turn to God and ask for help.  Will he give me endurance straight up?  Probably not.  But he might bless me with small opportunities in which I can succeed in enduring.  There are big things in my life that I desire to endure, but every time I face them I fail.  I must believe that God is bigger than my discomfort.  I must run to him instead of pleasure.  I must being to recognize and rejoice in the small endurances, because when I recognize and rejoice in the little, I will begin to believe that I can endure the big.

Savior Jesus, Holy Spirit, God my King,
Give me grace to endure,
Give me strength to stand on your word and in your presence.
Give me truth to speak against the deceit that seeks to destroy.
Give me hope that you are bigger.
Give me joy the endurance you bring me through.
And give me comfort in my failures.
You are my God, my Savior, my King.
Thank you.