T H E O L D P A T H S
Thousands of years ago, the prophet Jeremiah exhorts: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16). For him, there is a peace which accompanies the “Old Ways.” In a similar vein, righteous Job commands to “inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out.” (Job 8:8) Monthly in the singing of the Psalms and thrice weekly in the praying of the Great Litany we declare: “O God, we have heard with our ears, and our forebears have declared to us, the noble works that you did in their days, and in the time before them.” (Psalm 145:4) Do we recite these words honestly? Do we recite them at all? Has even this noble tradition been forgotten among us? The truth of the matter is that recounting the faithfulness of God in every generation is a Christian obligation; and abiding in the ceaseless current of the Church come before us is our great inheritance. Standing in the “Old Ways” is our worship according to the Psalmist, our duty according to Job, and it is our rest according to the Prophet. Christianity – unlike other forms of spirituality – is one of continuity.
So why then does it not feel this way? The Church of the Modern period in her desperation to remain relevant has jettisoned much of her own heritage. In the words of the 20th Century Anglican Theologian, Percy Dearmer: “The one thing that she [The Church] had never tried to do was to carry out her own laws, and to apply her own principles.” (Loyalty To The Prayer Book, 1904) To put it simply: Christians today are willing to try anything and everything except that which first gave Christianity success to begin with. Although the instinct is understandable, it is not – no matter how much rhetoric it is couched in – consistent with the Gospel we have received from our Lord Christ and His Apostles. It is a sad set of events that has caused immeasurable damage to the worship of Almighty God and a great danger to many souls. The Church of the Modern West has emulated Esau and sold her birthright for a measly bowl of lentils. It is no surprise then that today there are so many who have “deconstructed” the faith. Perhaps their “faith” which is so easily dismantled was never the Faith to begin with. Perhaps the Gospel has felt like a blunt instrument because we have filed down its razor edges to be more easily handled. We have made the Word of God which is naturally “sharper than any two-edged sword” into a club used by the inexperienced to bash over the heads of our rivals. As unforgivable as this is, I can empathize. Part of “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) is letting it divide you: “piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow.” (Hebrews 4:12) Submission to such a painful process as Christian discipleship is uncomfortable, and I understand why it is so fiercely avoided.
Should we then seek the way back to former more pristine times in our history? This is an understandable and good question, but there is one that is even more important which must be asked first: do you want to go back? The truth of the matter is that we live quite comfortable cozy lives with religion on our terms. What many of us lament in the decline of Christianity in the West is not the decline of Christianity itself, but the loss of what is comfortable. In England, I met a woman who told me daily how sad the state of the Church was and how she would do anything to see it remedied – anything except go to Church herself. If Covid has taught us anything, it is that a generation who has been taught that they may have spirituality on their own terms does not miss the Church in the least – and this is perfectly consistent. I cannot blame those who have been indoctrinated into thinking that the Church is simply whatever you want it to be for leaving an institution that refuses to be precisely what they want it to be. Those who had been conditioned to believe that “Church” is simply what is comfortable quickly realized they will always be more comfortable at home. The Church, however, is none of these things. The Church, rather, is none other than the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ mystically united by His Holy Spirit throughout all ages – it is the continuation of His glorious incarnation still persisting today through simple women and men who humbly conform to His methods of worship. Christianity will never be on our terms, it will always be on His – and His terms always include a cross to bear.
So that said, do you still want to go back? I promise you that it is costly. The Church of our Lord will cost you everything you hold dear. It will cost every idol, every sacred cow, every hill you hoped to be martyred on. It will cost you your pride, your self-love, and even your dignity. Every petty feud, every self-righteous and indignant thought. It will require the sacrificing of your learning, your “good taste,” every preconceived notion of what it means to follow after God. To follow Christ is rife with longing for the meat pots of Egypt, of envying those other churches who appear to be more successful through more convenient means. It is accompanied by the temptation to cut corners, to hoard, and to lay “only a part of it” at the Apostles’ feet. (Acts 5:1-11) It will require every piece of you because that is precisely what the Church is commissioned by Her Lord to save: all of you; every single part. So again, I ask one more time: do you want to go back? If you do, I promise you that it is all worth it. Again as the prophet Jeremiah has spoken: these old paths lead to your rest.
At the end of the day, the way back is quite simple: it is heeding the words of our Mothers and Fathers in the Faith. It is refusing to give into what C.S. Lewis has titled: “Chronological Snobbery” (Surprised By Joy) – the belief that because we are later in history, we possess more intelligence and insight than those that came before us. It means participating in rituals and ceremonies which seem superfluous and silly. It is giving up the Church on our own terms and thereby receiving the glory of participating in its worship according to Christ’s terms.
Friends, we have a prestigious heritage in the Faith; we have spiritual treasure upon treasure. This heritage is built upon the firm foundation of a quiet, humble, and consistent Christianity. It is founded upon simple Sunday and Holy Day attendance. It is keeping the fasts. It is saying the prayers. It is giving tithes and alms. It is this Christianity which has toppled empires and raised Saints. It is this Christianity which has been feared by monarchs and lauded by angels. It is this Christianity which causes hell to shriek and all of heaven to rejoice. It is this Christianity – when done in the right spirit – which is the hardest.
–Rev. Brandon J. LeTourneau
Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, 2023
So why then does it not feel this way? The Church of the Modern period in her desperation to remain relevant has jettisoned much of her own heritage. In the words of the 20th Century Anglican Theologian, Percy Dearmer: “The one thing that she [The Church] had never tried to do was to carry out her own laws, and to apply her own principles.” (Loyalty To The Prayer Book, 1904) To put it simply: Christians today are willing to try anything and everything except that which first gave Christianity success to begin with. Although the instinct is understandable, it is not – no matter how much rhetoric it is couched in – consistent with the Gospel we have received from our Lord Christ and His Apostles. It is a sad set of events that has caused immeasurable damage to the worship of Almighty God and a great danger to many souls. The Church of the Modern West has emulated Esau and sold her birthright for a measly bowl of lentils. It is no surprise then that today there are so many who have “deconstructed” the faith. Perhaps their “faith” which is so easily dismantled was never the Faith to begin with. Perhaps the Gospel has felt like a blunt instrument because we have filed down its razor edges to be more easily handled. We have made the Word of God which is naturally “sharper than any two-edged sword” into a club used by the inexperienced to bash over the heads of our rivals. As unforgivable as this is, I can empathize. Part of “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) is letting it divide you: “piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow.” (Hebrews 4:12) Submission to such a painful process as Christian discipleship is uncomfortable, and I understand why it is so fiercely avoided.
Should we then seek the way back to former more pristine times in our history? This is an understandable and good question, but there is one that is even more important which must be asked first: do you want to go back? The truth of the matter is that we live quite comfortable cozy lives with religion on our terms. What many of us lament in the decline of Christianity in the West is not the decline of Christianity itself, but the loss of what is comfortable. In England, I met a woman who told me daily how sad the state of the Church was and how she would do anything to see it remedied – anything except go to Church herself. If Covid has taught us anything, it is that a generation who has been taught that they may have spirituality on their own terms does not miss the Church in the least – and this is perfectly consistent. I cannot blame those who have been indoctrinated into thinking that the Church is simply whatever you want it to be for leaving an institution that refuses to be precisely what they want it to be. Those who had been conditioned to believe that “Church” is simply what is comfortable quickly realized they will always be more comfortable at home. The Church, however, is none of these things. The Church, rather, is none other than the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ mystically united by His Holy Spirit throughout all ages – it is the continuation of His glorious incarnation still persisting today through simple women and men who humbly conform to His methods of worship. Christianity will never be on our terms, it will always be on His – and His terms always include a cross to bear.
So that said, do you still want to go back? I promise you that it is costly. The Church of our Lord will cost you everything you hold dear. It will cost every idol, every sacred cow, every hill you hoped to be martyred on. It will cost you your pride, your self-love, and even your dignity. Every petty feud, every self-righteous and indignant thought. It will require the sacrificing of your learning, your “good taste,” every preconceived notion of what it means to follow after God. To follow Christ is rife with longing for the meat pots of Egypt, of envying those other churches who appear to be more successful through more convenient means. It is accompanied by the temptation to cut corners, to hoard, and to lay “only a part of it” at the Apostles’ feet. (Acts 5:1-11) It will require every piece of you because that is precisely what the Church is commissioned by Her Lord to save: all of you; every single part. So again, I ask one more time: do you want to go back? If you do, I promise you that it is all worth it. Again as the prophet Jeremiah has spoken: these old paths lead to your rest.
At the end of the day, the way back is quite simple: it is heeding the words of our Mothers and Fathers in the Faith. It is refusing to give into what C.S. Lewis has titled: “Chronological Snobbery” (Surprised By Joy) – the belief that because we are later in history, we possess more intelligence and insight than those that came before us. It means participating in rituals and ceremonies which seem superfluous and silly. It is giving up the Church on our own terms and thereby receiving the glory of participating in its worship according to Christ’s terms.
Friends, we have a prestigious heritage in the Faith; we have spiritual treasure upon treasure. This heritage is built upon the firm foundation of a quiet, humble, and consistent Christianity. It is founded upon simple Sunday and Holy Day attendance. It is keeping the fasts. It is saying the prayers. It is giving tithes and alms. It is this Christianity which has toppled empires and raised Saints. It is this Christianity which has been feared by monarchs and lauded by angels. It is this Christianity which causes hell to shriek and all of heaven to rejoice. It is this Christianity – when done in the right spirit – which is the hardest.
–Rev. Brandon J. LeTourneau
Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, 2023