But are you a monk?

I have been asked this question many dozens of times. Sometimes the person really means "What is a monk?", other times they mean "You are a monk?" Nevertheless the confusion is usually followed by some version or another of "But aren't monks some sort of cloistered uber-Christians?" - this might be said with a tone of genuine reverence for something exotic, or said with a tone of contempt reserved by Protestants to those who subscribe to some sort of papist works-righteousness. Both are legitimate responses, BTW, and I myself shift from one to the other like a person shifts feet while waiting for a bus on a cold day.

Here's the fundamental point of how I view monasticism, if we get this out of the way it may make the rest a little simpler - and shorter! The call of the monastic, unlike the call of the ordained priesthood, is absolutely identical to the call of every Christian. Interestingly, in the Orthodox Church lay and monastic spirituality are the same. If we must insist on differences, then perhaps there is a difference in intensity. It is likely that the average monastic prays longer and fasts more strictly then the average non-monastic in a parish. Please note I say "average" - there are those non-monastics whose prayer life and intensity of asceticism would put many a House to shame - and they are more common than is supposed. But what is critical to point out here is that in principle, the monastic and the non-monastic follow the same form of life (or should!)

I was directed this wonderful essay entitled “The Ascetical Ideal of the New Testament” by Fr Georges Florovksy which outlines quite well the equality of monastic and non-monastic lifestyles.

Sometimes it is useful to think of a "monastic" as someone who is leading a "consecrated life" - a life consecrated to the service of God in whatever way God designs for them. This might mean a life of seclusion and solitude as a hermit, or it may mean a life of social engagement as one of the mendicant orders of friars such as Franciscans, or it may mean a life of radical prayer (radical as in radix) as a Carmelite or a Carthusian. All of these (well perhaps with the exception of the solitary hermit) are lifestyles which are consecrated by the Church. In a sense all of these ways of life are missionary lives, sent by the Church to do some work in some area of society (inner or outer).

But the more I think about it the harder it is for me to discern exactly where such a call becomes the exclusive right of a monastic, and where it is public property of all Christians by virtue of their baptism. It is true that consecration is the act which clarifies the difference, but in my conversations with brothers and sisters of various colors of robes I find that the call to the life preceded the consecration, in theological language the inner grace preceded the outward sign. As it should - we are talking here about the action of God, the Holy Spirit, and the external consecration is simply a "rubber stamping" in the nicest possible way to something which God has already made clean, as Peter found out (Acts 10:13).

Although it is sometimes tiring to be asked about my robes, or the fact that I do not wear them, it is an understandable question. Yes monks wear robes (most). No I do not wear a robe. Yes I am a monk. This little piece of logic makes for a hard puzzle for some people. But let us not stop there! I must add: all I "do" as a monk is to live out my baptismal covenant, in other words, I do exactly, no more or less, than what you do. Or better, I try to do exactly what you try to do. And I fail just as badly at it, worse, in fact, since I give myself a special title.

This, of course, normally leads to various defensive postures and gestures. "Oh I don't think so, I am not a monk! I am not this or that." It is unfortunate that I do not live under a theology like that of the Orthodox tradition - such questions would not happen there!

It is quite simple really - take out whatever form of baptismal rite you are familiar with. No matter what Christian denomination you belong to, as long as they follow traditional formularies they all pretty much say the same thing: you vow to live up to God's calling, and you renounce in your life all that is not God's calling, be it the voice of your sinful nature or the luring songs of the Adversary. You further promise to live out God's calling within the pattern specifically laid out by the apostles, together with a believing community, with special emphasis on prayer.

In a nutshell this is monastic life. It is also Christian life. The question really should be "Are you a monk?"

Predestination

First one thing needs to be clear: predestination has nothing to do with fatalism or even with destiny, at least not in the sense of lightning striking you in the head or you stubbing your toe. Predestination refers to the History of Salvation, and God's Divine Right to to enter into a covenant with some people but not others, and therefore choosing them (or not) to return His love. So predestination is connected with another theological term "election" - and both point to one thing: God choosing.

3 types of wrong views on predestination - which one do you fall under?

1) Double
It is double because God chooses twice as it were: chooses some to be included and chooses some to be excluded. This is the classical Calvinist belief, and it is part, I believe, of Presbyterian teaching.

Read Romans 9:14-23. But then contrast it with Romans 11. Do you see problems?

There are a few problems with this idea, the biggest one is that it seems to work only if you take passages out of context. It is not something invented, it is in the Bible, but the theory of double predestination is probably an exaggeration in one direction: the sovereignty of God. A second problem is that it does not understand "eternity". Eternity is an attribute of God, God was, is and will be always God. There never was or will be a time when God is not God. But we take this to mean that God, outside of time, sat down and planned every little thing that would happen, every movement of every atom from the beginning to the end of time. God is with us more in the sense that the could of fire was with the Hebrews as they wandered aimlessly in the desert for 40 years trying to get to their destination (read Ex. 13:21, etc). Didn't God know the directions? Couldn't he have guided them in a straight and easy path? Instead He "led" them by staying in front of them for 40 years without interfering in their search. Finally, if some people are chosen by God to Hell, where's the Good News? Double predestination makes Jesus' sacrifice a tragedy, not a triumph.

2) Universalism
Then how about the opposite? Everyone is included in salvation, no one is left out. Christ died for everyone - whether they believe in Him or not. Let me just point that this view is officially considered a heresy since the beginnings of the church, but I think intellectually it has a lot of appeal. A loving God would want everyone to be saved right? Just read 2 Peter 3:9, for example, or 1 Cor. 15:22 where Paul says "all be made alive in Christ." All! All? It commits the same errors as double predestination: it emphasizes only one of God's attributes in lieu of the others (in this case, God's Mercifulness); it only works if you pick and choose your passages carefully and out of context. What is unique here, and I think what makes it a heresy, is that in Universalism God does not treat you as a person, as an individual. For there to be a relationship, one person asks a question the other must answer and it has to be a freely chosen exchange. God asks you "Who do you say that I am?" you need to answer, and your answer has consequences. God respects that, even if it is choosing death over life.

3) Pelagianism
Here's another great heresy, and it is pretty much THE Anglican/Episcopal heresy. we are all "natural" Pelagians. Pelagius (Google him) said, basically, that your eternal destiny is up to you. In this case, God chooses those who choose Him. Sounds logical no? If you choose God, then God will be on your side. God knows all things, and he knows already that you will choose him because he knows the future but not because he planned it that way. Again, it ends up emphasizing one thing in exchange for others. In this case it emphasizes man's free will over God's sovereignty. It also makes Love (with a capital L) impossible: it is not really Love if God asks you "I will love you if you love me first"!!

So, here's the bottom line question: Are you free?

I have talked about the False Self and the Real Self. One is free, the other isn't. But how many of us live out of our Real Selves? Furthermore, you cannot even begin to know you have a Real Self unless you are set free from your False Self. You must be set free! And who sets us free? Jesus Christ. We are slaves to sin, which means we lives within the False Self programming - we are the living dead. If so, the Pelagian position is not possible, because I cannot, while under sin, decide FOR God. It is not possible.

So what God wants, from the creation of the world, is for people to be free to have a relationship with Him. God wants this. So he foreordained, predestined, from the beginning that Jesus Christ would accomplish this. He would bring us freedom, the means to freedom. Predestination then is not the opposite of freedom it BRINGS freedom! God's sovereignty (His right to do whatever He wants) is above all the right He has to Love us regardless of how we feel about it! His love for us is primary and it is a love so deep He is willing to die on the cross for us!

God loves you so much that He will simply NOT sit idly by while you insist on your self-destructive slavery to sin. He will get involved. So He comes down from Heaven and moves into the neighborhood, and lives and dies like one of us. All so that you and me and people who never heard the Gospel can have freedom. Your heart should be burning with love and thanksgiving for this overwhelming Love of God, and you should be dying to go and shout it form the rooftops - tell someone about it tomorrow!

Does this help? Predestination is not about destiny, or karma, or the mechanical calculations of every thing that happens in the cosmos. It is about salvation history: God choosing Israel to be His people, choosing Mary to be the Mother of God, choosing the 12 disciples, choosing Paul while he was out huntin' Christians, and choosing you to be the amazing person you are.

In the end, predestination is not about you or me, it is about God - and we are in danger of grave error when we think it is about us.