Lesons from a Desolate Place Pt. 6 by Chris White

Hikers to St. Antony's Cave

     Christ was tempted by Satan when he was physically weakened from fasting and at a time when He had gone out to be alone in the desert in preparation for His public ministry.  This should not surprise us in the least.  The loneliness and hardship of the desert is a great revealer about the true state of our souls and our enemy knows we are very vulnerable on that point.  Fallen human nature would rather hide from God or flee from His presence than own up to failure.  This translates into our relationships as well.  Have you ever noticed how easy it is to be angry towards somebody who has criticized you rather than to actually examine yourself and consider that they may be right?  The lesson we can learn from those who went out to the desert is what they called a vow of stability.  A great many of them lived alone in caves or simple shelters (naturally cool and easy to find) but naturally formed into communities for mutual protection, safety, and spiritual encouragement.  What they did is promised God and each other that they would not run when life got hard, they would not move away when they got bored (an affliction we all seem to think is fatal), and they would not flee if they were criticized.  In essence, they were willing to face the truth about what they would quite naturally do and put themselves in a position of not turning back.  We are all prone to running away when life gets hard.  If we don’t do it physically, we do it a thousand other ways for we are all masters of escape.  But the Lord does His best work when we stay put, stand firm, and stick together.  In our next installment we’ll consider the discipline of silent thought and silent prayer as was practiced in the desert.

Lessons from a Desolate Place Pt. 5 by Chris White

     Christians of previous centuries have held the notion that there are three kinds of martyrdom a believer may undergo for the sake of Christ.  Red martyrdom obviously relates to the shedding of blood as a witness for Christ while white martyrdom was associated with boat sails where the believer would leave family, friends, Church, and homeland to spread the Gospel without ever returning home.  Finally there was green martyrdom.  Green martyrs were people who did battle with Satan but also with their own flesh.  Their goal was to die to the world and the flesh in an extraordinary way that they might serve Christ in a greater fashion.  Those who entered the desert thought of themselves as martyrs whose chief aim was unceasing prayer and deep purity of soul.  One would think that moving away from civilization and living in a place of low visual stimulation like the desert would make it very easy to live such a life but most people who attempted this had a constant battle on their hands.  The voice of God does seem louder in quiet places and quiet times, but at the same time the voice of our true inner soul becomes much louder too.  As Christians we are very much aware of the presence of our old nature but many of us do a good job of concealing the really ugly parts from others and ourselves.  Life in the desolate places simply didn’t allow this to continue.  Every believer who did this successfully came into a great awareness of God but also themselves.  Some became so discouraged they gave up, but many, many more looked at their reality, considered the grace of God, and then took some radical steps of towards deep transformation.  But that we’ll save for next time.

Lessons from a Desolate Place Pt. 4 by Chris White

Coptic Monk in Egypt

     In the 4^th Century the deserts of Egypt received a reverse exodus of Christians desiring to leave the general population and seek God in solitude and silence.  As I discussed in my previous installment the physical geography of Egypt was such that a sort walk from any city put you in the land of the “red earth” but beyond the simple practicality of being close by, there was also a spiritual viewpoint that had long been attached to the desolation of the desert.  If you’ll remember the chief motivation for this migration was seeking a deeper and greater Christian commitment in a time of spiritual shallowness.  It was the common perception that after Constantine, Christianity had conquered the city.  But now it was time for the committed to launch a new war and attack the stronghold of the Devil.  Why did they think Satan lived in the desert?  Because that is where Jesus was tempted by Satan (Mt. 4) and where Jesus said demons go when they have been cast out of a man (Mt. 12:43).  To the Christian mind of this time, the desert represented a key place to engage in battle for the sake of God’s Kingdom.  But the desert was more than a battleground against the devil, it was also a proving ground of the truth.  That will be our topic next week.

Lessons from a Desolate Place pt. 2 by Chris White

St. Antony Monastery in Egypt

     You would hardly know it today, but in the fourth century Egypt was one of the most Christian places on Earth.  This should come as no small surprise since Egypt is so frequently intertwined with the story of Israel and even Jesus Christ Himself.  By the 4^th Century normalization of Christianity under Constantine, the Churches of Egypt were large, powerful, and very influential among the Churches throughout the world.  But many in their ranks were disturbed by the fact that while prestige was at an all time high, it seemed the spiritual temperature was falling to new lows.  Out of this sense of spiritual discomfort came what might be considered a “reverse Exodus” where Christians began leaving their prosperity and comforts in the city to seek the Lord out in the wilderness.  One by one Egyptian Christians began to do this until one Christian writer described the deserts of Egypt as a city of God’s people.  Why these Christians chose the move to the desert will be discussed next time.