Prayer Tip-- Is Christian Nationalism Christian?

In one of my seminary classes, I was introduced to the writings of the Desert Fathers (and mothers). These ancient hermits moved to the desert during a time of persecution under the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian in the early part of the third century AD. Much of this persecution ended with Diocletian’s successor Constantine, but still thousands of people flocked to the desert of ancient Egypt and Syria to form communities that held loving God and neighbor as their foremost mission. Some of their practices would strike us moderns as bizarre, but we can appreciate their efforts to love God and each other as fully as they could possibly muster.

Most of the ancient sayings they left us to read are in the form of proverbs—short stories and parables that give us a glimpse of their struggles to live out this vision. Some of the sayings are funny, many are powerful, and some we would take with a big grain of salt. Their way of living was a rejection of the power of all the “things” of the world that grip us so. Without the weight of possessions, wealth, anger, resentment, guilt, and the like, their hearts were freer to love God and each other.

You and I may not be called to be sell it all and become a hermit, but the Desert Fathers invite us to consider the power that love of God and neighbor can have when it is our ultimate goal. Here’s an example of their writing: “A brother at Scetis committed a fault. A council was called to which Abba Moses was invited, but he refused to go to it. Then the priest sent someone to say to him, ​‘Come, for everyone is waiting for you.’ So he got up and went. He took a leaking jug, filled it with water and carried it with him. The others came out to meet him and said to him, ​‘What is this, Father?’ The old man said to them, ​‘My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the errors of another.’ When they heard that they said no more to the brother but forgave him.”

The times we live in are divisive and we are pulled in so many ways. The Desert Fathers remind us that loving God and others—equally and ultimately—can change lives and even the world.