Moving beyond this first six months with Covid19 and the extra time spent at home for millions of us I see a real danger. At first we tidied and many of us decluttered, improving the space we have, making it feel and look bigger, more useful space. We had many discussions about why we stored stuff in the loft, stuff we never really use but keep for sentimental reasons. Now of course boredom can set in. For me that will mean looking with longing at the biscuit tin for others it might mean buying more things!
As we travel through this strange part of global history I notice that the marketers have adapted quickly their sale pitch. Last year I needed to buy this gadget or that new item of clothing for my visits to friends, clubs or a mini break by the sea. Given the nature of Covid19 and the restrictions we live with my needs have changed, so the sales ads say! Now I need to improve my life inside the house – a bigger TV, comfortable slippers and faster laptop.
In the New Testament Paul the apostle says ‘Everyone who competes in a race goes into strict training’. These words strict and training speak of a struggle even scrambling. We know that sport people are serious, disciplined often restrained. In the days leading to a big race some runners reduce their daily lives to a simple routine.
Reading of the lives of men and women who seem to excel in their desire to know God we can often detect a high level of asceticism. Some characters in church history are even described as ascetics, another Greek word very similar to the one Paul uses for athletes which carries seriousness about it. The word has connotations of training, discipline, restraint or simplicity. We see this in people like Anthony of Egypt born just 250 years after Christ. Anthony went into the desert becoming a founding father of monks. His life was what we might think of as an extreme attempt to gain and experience a deeper spirituality. We can track this approach all the way to the church on the corner and people in our street.
Just a week ago the local New Life, Elim Pentecostal Church spent some days in fasting and prayer. The congregation experienced a level of asceticism or restraint as they took serious their faith. I’m not sure how possible it is to rise at 4 am and pray for 3 hours, live on bread and water or abstain from films, radio and TV. But I do know Paul was right, if I’m to compete in this walk toward a life of knowing God more deeply, then I might need to be more serious and restrained. One way to start this journey could be to distrust what we are told by the market will make our lives better. Jesus made a good suggestion here – ‘…store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…’ Some of us have replaced the word heaven with loft!
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training – 1 Corinthians 9:25
Rob Wykes 