The famed Victorian wit and amateur theologian G.K. Chesterton once wrote that: “spiritual power has been precisely this, that [humanity] has distinguished between custom and creed. He has broken the conventions, but he has kept the commandments” (Manalive). Chesterton’s insight here is that authentic spirituality is able to separate what is important within Tradition from what is simply dressing or habit. If this is indeed an example of ‘genius’, it is a genius that must be discovered anew by every seeker, every would-be disciple. In an environment that had as many customs and local rules as the monasteries of the Egyptian Desert, it’s no surprise that this theme is a common one in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers.
Rarely is this theme as clearly stated as it is in the Saying we’ll be looking at today:
One of the Fathers told this about Abba Theodore of Pherme: ‘One evening I came to him and found him wearing a torn habit, his chest bare and his cowl hanging in front of it. Now it happened that a great man came to see him. When he had knocked, the elder went to open the door, and having met him, sat down at the door to talk with him. Then I took one side of his cape and covered his shoulders with it. But the elder put out his hand and snatched it off. When the great man had gone, I said to him, Abba, why did you do that? This man came to be edified, perhaps he will be shocked.’ Then the old man said to me, ‘What do you mean, abba? Are we still the slaves of men? We did what was necessary, the rest is superfluous. He who wishes to be edified, let him be edified; he who wishes to be shocked, let him be shocked; as for me, I meet people as they find me.’ Then he said to his disciple, ‘If someone comes to see me, do not say anything out of human respect, but if I am eating, say to him, “He is eating”; and if I am sleeping, say to him, “He is sleeping.’“ (Theodore of Pherme 28)
In this story, Abba Theodore receives a visitor but without taking any care to his appearance or modesty. His clothing is torn and ill-fitting, and his chest and shoulders are exposed. One of his brother monks is concerned and tries to cover him up but Abba Theodore brushes off his efforts, then rebukes him for them, saying “Are we still the slaves of men? We did what was necessary, the rest is superfluous.” His argument was that he did his duty towards his guest; he welcomed him, provided hospitality and conversed with him. The state of his clothing was not a sacred responsibility, and should not be confused for one. The real wisdom, though, comes in what he says next: “He who wishes to be edified, let him be edified; he who wishes to be shocked, let him be shocked.”
At the end of the day, being shocked or scandalized is our choice. If we see something we are uncomfortable with, we can clutch our pearls and make a fuss, or we can simply let it be what it is and go on with our business. I remember something like this from a number of years ago. There was a wonderful family in my church who loved to provide hospitality and often invited me and other younger singles over for dinner or games nights. But their attention to their guests was not matched by an attention to the state of their house; it was always cluttered and often dirty. This certainly did not mesh with how I’d been raised! I had a choice of whether to be scandalized by this, or simply accept it, and thereby accept the wonderful gift of love and hospitality they offered. Life is a lot like that.
In the same way, someone being shocked or scandalized by us is their business, not ours. Other people’s opinions of us are not our business. In fact, they often have nothing to do with us at all. Now perhaps Abba Theodore took this to extremes, but his point is sound. It’s always important to remember what’s really important and to live out the teaching of Christ as much as possible in all of our day-to-day interactions. But all the stuff around that, all the customs, cultural baggage and assumptions, and conventions, are superfluous.
So the takeaway today is to remember to keep first things first, to separate the Stuff from the stuff, and to keep the commandments, but break the conventions. It’s the Jesus way.
Matthew Root 