The Poverty of Love
St. Anthony's Spiritual Advice
The greatest of these monks wielded enormous power in the ancient world. Because of their reputation for humility and holiness, crowds would flock to see them. Emperors, generals, politicians, as well as the poor, would travel long distances by foot or donkey just to sit at their feet. In Syria, St. Simeon preached atop a 40-foot column, in the process converting Bedouin Arab tribes to Christ. In Egypt, John the Dwarf had an entire town "hanging from his little finger because of his humility." Some monks' characters were so transfigured by the Holy Spirit that their sheer presence was enough to effect a transformation in others.
Yet whether a beginner or a seasoned monk, everyone needed advice from a spiritual elder from time to time. The custom in the desert was to ask an elder, "Abba, give me a word that I may live!" This request was for a personal word of wisdom that would open their heart like a key to a locked door.
What if I asked Anthony the Great the same question the Christian Vision Project has asked me? If I could get on a donkey and travel to the remote deserts of Egypt to ask, "Abba, give me a word that I may live. Why is our gospel so small today?" I imagine he might answer, with characteristic simplicity: "The poverty of your love."
Bradley Nassif is professor of biblical and theological studies at North Park University and host of the Internet podcast Simply Orthodox on Ancient Faith Radio (ancientfaith.com).
Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere:
Previous Christian Vision Project themes were culture in 2006 and mission in 2007. 2008 articles include:
An Open-Handed Gospel | We have to decide whether we have a stingy or a generous God. (April 3, 2008)
The 8 Marks of a Robust Gospel | Reviving forgotten chapters in the story of redemption. (February 29, 2008)
Singing in the Chains | To be saved means more than we might think. (January 31, 2008)
The Lima Bean Gospel | The Good News is so much bigger than we make it out to be. (January 8, 2008)
Star Trek Into Darkness
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Uriel
God's purpose for humanity is Christlikeness. Here is the balanced Christian life: We are redeemed, healed and elevated so that we can influence others to pursue the same the goal: Christlikeness.
Oh No
In other words, the closer one gets to God, the MORE one is aware of one's own sins. This awareness leads to a consciousness that is characterized in "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5) in the OT and "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." (St. Paul in 1 Tim. 1:15) in the NT. The greatest Saints (including the Fathers and Mothers of the Desert) passed from this world with this type of conciousness, the very fruit of the Gospel and the mark of their holiness and Christ-likedness.
Oh No
Granny Fran, I'm troubled by your self prescribed solution based on your reading of Nassif's reading of the Desert Fathers: "I need to deny my flesh and affirm my spirit." The spiritual warfare of the Desert Fathers is more like this:"The Holy Spirit shows him all his inner poverty and weakness, and the corruption of his heart and soul, and his separation from God. To be brief, the Holy Spirit shows him everything as it really is. Then a person begins to have true humility, begins to lose hope in his own powers and virtues, regards himself as the worst of men. And when a person humbles himself before Jesus Christ,he begins to repent truly, and resolves never again to sin but to live more carefully." This is a far, far different thing than self-affirmation of one's spirit, a very strange, but typically Evangelical (read: gnostic) take on the teachings of the Desert Fathers.