Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. [2 Corinthians 6:17-18. KJV]
In the Old Testament, God’s requirement for the Israelites was separation from the people of other nations whose lifestyles and practices would influence and corrupt His chosen people. In the New Testament, God still requires His people to separate themselves from the world as we see above in 2 Corinthians 6:17-18. But New Testament commands are not for separation from nations but separation (1) from world systems (by which is meant the “beliefs, lifestyles, and God-defying ways of doing things”), (2) from those in the church who are disobedient and defiant toward God and refuse to turn from their own ways, and (3) “from false teachers, churches, or religious systems that promote ungodly beliefs and deny the truth of God’s Word as revealed in the Bible.” [1]
The books of the New Testament were written in the first century following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Soon thereafter began the Christian diaspora throughout the world. There could no longer be a physical separation of God’s people from the nations of the world. Rather, they would reside within the nations of the world. Christ addressed this new paradigm of separation in John’s gospel.
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. [John 17:14-16. KJV]
In the New Testament model of separation, there is a dynamic tension in which the individual Christian and the church must live—being in the world but not of it. We cannot avoid this tension for it is an inherent part of every Christian’s walk and every church’s ministry. To attempt to lessen the tension is to fall into one of two ditches that parallel the narrow path. The first ditch is that of worldliness, and the second is isolation similar to the separation demanded in the Old Testament. These Christians attempt to established isolated, self-contained islands of Christianity in the midst of a hostile culture. But to do so is to disobey Christ’s command to model and share His message in our daily walk. The Christian life is a balancing act of being separate and at the same time being salt and light to the world. [See: Matthew 5:13-16.]
The Benedict Option – Neither “in” the world or “of” the world
Yet, Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option substantially follows this second path of neither being “in” the world or “of” the world. Dreher has chosen the option of building islands of Christian life (faith, family, church, work, etc.) amidst an increasingly hostile and anti-Christian culture. This is somewhat akin to the Old Testament separation model of being an island among nations. Dreher’s book makes this obvious.
Could it be that the best way to fight the flood is to…stop fighting the flood? That is, to quit piling up sandbags and to build an ark in which to shelter until the water recedes and we can put our feet on dry land again? Rather than wasting energy and resources fighting unwinnable political battles, we should instead work on building communities, institutions and networks of resistance that can outwit, outlast, and eventually overcome the occupation…In the first centuries of Christianity, the early church survived and grew under Roman persecution and later after the collapse of the empire in the West. We latter day Christians must learn from their example—and particularly from the example of Saint Benedict. [2] [emphasis added]
Dreher is not suggesting surrender to the culture but rather a strategic retreat. But the New Testament establishes different marching orders for Christ’s soldiers of the faith.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. [Ephesians 6:10-12. KJV]
“Strength, power of his might, armour, and wrestle” are words that point to the Christian’s mandate from Christ. These words are not descriptive of those Christians who choose isolation from the world in the secure confines of an ark.
Dreher is correct that Christians should “work on building communities, institutions, and networks of resistance that can outwit, outlast, and eventually overcome the occupation.” This was the example of the early church before its corruption by the dying Roman Empire. But these communities, institutions, and networks cannot be built on the foundation of Catholic monasticism and the Rule of Benedict. As we saw in Part II, monasticism was a reaction to the corruption of the early church which had been infiltrated by the Roman world system. Monasticism’s quest for renewed spirituality in the church during the Middle led to asceticism and not a return to the pure teachings of the Bible. [3] The varying degrees of corruption in the Catholic Church for over a thousand years led to the Protestant Reformation in 1517. Monasticism, asceticism, and adherence to the Rule of Benedict were not and cannot be a life preserver for a corrupt church or a substitute for the pure teachings of the Bible.
The merit of Dreher’s book is that it offers, with some modifications, several specific ways for Christians to live separated and insulated lives amid an increasingly hostile culture. The biblically literate and astute reader is left to separate those bits of wheat from the remaining tares in Dreher’s book.
Separation through isolation
A major flaw in Dreher’s book is the isolation of the Christian, his family, and close community from the surrounding worldly culture. The American fundamentalists of the early twentieth century retreated from the culture and circled their wagons after their defeat by the liberal/modernist churches to become the recognized although vapid voice of Christianity in the various spheres of American life. Just as the modernist had lost their saltiness, the fundamentalists hid their light as they abandoned the culture and its institutions. Aided by the liberal church, the forces of secularizing humanism were no longer challenged in their efforts to wreak havoc in American culture.
Dreher is recommending the same type of disengagement from the culture which is confirmed by his rhetorical question, “Could it be that the best way to fight the flood is to…stop fighting the flood? That is, to quit piling up sandbags and to build an ark in which to shelter until the water recedes and we can put our feet on dry land again?”
But this is not the message of the Bible. Near the beginning of His Sermon on the Mount, Christ instructed His disciples about their mission in a dark and desolate world.
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. [Matthew 5:13-16. KJV]
When considering Christ’s instruction that the church should be salt and light to the world, His words appear to conflict with His instruction at the end of His Sermon on the Mount in which the church is commanded to walk a separate path from that of the world. [Matthew 7:13-14] Throughout its history, the church often has had difficulty with balancing these seemingly contradictory commands. The early church was no exception.
In reality, it is not a choice between the church’s separateness from a wicked world or spreading salt and light to a lost and dying world. Sin is sin in whichever camp it resides—failure to be separate or failure to be salt and light. The absence of one shall surely sound the death knell of the other. The point is that the church must declare the eternal truth of God and His relationship with man. This was done in every generation from the first century church to the present in cultures that were uniformly hostile to the message of the church. As the church becomes salt and light to the world, it must do so without mixing with world systems through accommodation and compromise.
To be clear, Christian communities, institutions, and networks must be built on separation and insulation from world systems but not isolation from the lost souls therein. The reality for Christians that choose to follow Christ’s example is that they may eventually find themselves isolated and marginalized by the world to the point of persecution and possibly death. Christians who board Benedict’s ark of isolation will not be spared by a rapacious, satanically inspired culture.
Larry G. Johnson
Sources:
[1] Donald Stamps, Commentary – Spiritual Separation for Believers, The Full Life Study Bible – King James Version – New Testament, Gen. Ed. Donald C. Stamps, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1990), p. 2210.
[2] Rod Dreher, The Benedict Option – A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation, (New York: Penguin Books, 2017), p. 12.
[3] B. K. Kuiper, The Church in History, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1951, 1964), p. 92.
