Love One Another

There’s a story told by a John Cassian (15th century theologian) about a monk named Hero who lived in the desert for 50 years. But unlike the other monks, Hero constantly lived in complete seclusion from everyone else. He wouldn’t join in Sunday worship, feasts or even join fellow Christians for Easter celebrations. He felt he was living the most devout, disciplined life for God by avoiding everything worldly in this way.
One day, Hero thought he heard God telling him to jump into a deep well as a test of his faithfulness. He expected that an angel would catch him before he hit the bottom, but he fell all the way to the bottom where he lay half dead. His fellow monks pulled him out and tried to convince him that it wasn’t God’s voice that had told him to jump, but he simply couldn’t be convinced that it wasn’t. Cassian writes, “He went along so stubbornly with his own deception that he could not be persuaded, even when faced with death, that he had been deluded by the cleverness of demons.”
I look at this story and I see two key elements. First, I see that this man had great devotion. He was dedicated to what he saw as important, even essential, in his life. He was undoubtedly committed to what he saw as God’s plan for him and what he was called to do.
Second, though, we see that devotion may have been misguided. Now, I’m not going to claim I always know when God is speaking to someone, but I do know that God’s plan always fits with God’s Word (aka the Bible). And with that in mind, I don’t see how we can justify Hero jumping in the well. Even a story like God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac isn’t this same type of faithfulness test (which I don’t have time to explain here).
But, my point here is this: devotion is great, but it has to fit into the overall story of God’s plan. And to put it more specifically, as great as it is to be devoted to God individually and personally, it’s just as important to have a community of other believers around you.
And that may seem a little out of left field here, but just look at Hero. He was devoted, no one would question that, but he didn’t have a community around him (and he wasn’t open to the correction of that community) that could help guide him and love him.
Which brings me to my main point: we need community as much as we need God. Seriously. Jesus tells us in John 13.34, “Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” It’s not enough to just love Jesus, we need to find ways to love others who love Jesus to help us grow. I pray we find that. God bless.