The church in the third century had been presented with a freedom that had never been known under the emperors of Rome. Constantine, along with Licenius, had stopped the persecution of the church with the Edict of Milan in AD 313 and made Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire in AD 323. Christians almost didn’t know how to live for Christ anymore, as martyrdom was no longer a possibility. The world entered the people of the church through the widespread freedom that the church now enjoyed. One of the biggest controversies in the church during this period was what to do with the individuals that had forsaken Christ or surrendered the Scriptures to Rome while under the persecution of the empire. Many of those that had denied Christ desired re-instatement into the church, but what did Christ have to say about denying Him during hard times and then coming back? A large schism developed. “The narrow gate of which Jesus had spoken had become so wide that countless multitudes were hurrying past it – some seemingly after privilege and position, without caring to delve too deeply into the meaning of Christian baptism and life under the cross.”[1] Since it seemed like so many were coming into the church for selfish and worldly reasons, and many in the church had the goal of obtaining power and wealth rather than Christ himself, many found their answer by living the monastic life.
Those in the monastic movement desired to live their lives totally for Christ and apart from the world. It seemed as though it would be an impossible task within the church as corruption began to spread in the middle third century. They felt that “therefore in order to live fully in the spirit it was necessary to subdue and to punish the body.”[2] The anchorites decided that the best way to obtain this was to move into the desert and get away from society completely. This term actually means to be withdrawn or to be a fugitive. These people did not desire any other human contact and avoided it as much as possible. “For these people, the desert was attractive, not so much because of its hardship, but rather because of its inaccessibility.”[3] The cenobites, on the other hand, desired to get away from the world, but not necessarily live in solitude from other people. These monks lived together in community and developed rules that would dictate everything they did with their lives totally devoted to prayer and the Scripture.
The church of today can definitely learn from the principles that started under the monastic movement. So many individuals that attend church and claim to be Christians do not fully understand what being a follower of Christ is truly about. While this is each person’s responsibility to seek God, it is also a responsibility of the church to disciple those that do not know what it means to follow Christ. A life that is devoted to prayer and God’s Word is one that can go beyond just a “fire insurance” type of Christianity. However, totally separating from the world is not what God wanted for us, either. Christ indicated in John 17 that his desire was not that we would be taken out of the world, but that we would be separate from it. We have to be in the world in order to impact it. Since God has called us to “make disciples of all nations,” we must have relationships with those around us in order to make disciples. If the church separates itself from the world completely, we completely lose any possibility of impacting that world for Christ.
[1] Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity. Volume I: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 1984), 136.
[2] Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity. Volume I: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 1984), 137.
[3] Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity. Volume I: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 1984), 138.
