Is There a Place for Asceticism in the Christian Life?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Happy Friday, everyone.
00:00:05.520 | Well, can we make ourselves more holy
00:00:09.040 | if we treat our bodies more harshly?
00:00:12.240 | It's a great question from a listener
00:00:13.400 | named Garrett in Houston, Texas.
00:00:14.800 | Pastor John, hello, I've recently been studying
00:00:16.640 | the life of St. Anthony through a book by Athanasius.
00:00:20.240 | I'm curious about your thoughts on asceticism,
00:00:22.440 | a practice of many Christians throughout the church age.
00:00:25.200 | Is this a biblical way to live and pursue holiness?
00:00:28.120 | Does it work?
00:00:29.440 | Is it biblical to hold such a rigid self-discipline?
00:00:32.240 | I ask because of Colossians 2, verse 23,
00:00:35.520 | where Paul defines asceticism as severity to the body
00:00:38.640 | and that practice being of no value
00:00:41.480 | in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
00:00:44.840 | So what are your thoughts on the place of asceticism
00:00:47.440 | in the Christian life today?
00:00:49.960 | - When Garrett says, "Is it biblical
00:00:53.120 | "to hold such rigid self-discipline?"
00:00:57.240 | I don't know what the word such refers to
00:01:00.680 | because I'm not familiar enough
00:01:02.800 | with the life of St. Anthony
00:01:04.600 | to pass judgment on his pattern of asceticism.
00:01:07.760 | So let me just speak more generally,
00:01:11.440 | especially from the text of Colossians,
00:01:14.160 | 'cause I think that's what he's really getting at,
00:01:16.640 | is there a legitimate place for severity to the body
00:01:20.400 | called asceticism?
00:01:24.200 | Whenever we hear the Apostle Paul criticizing some teaching
00:01:28.840 | or warning against some practice,
00:01:33.120 | we have to kind of piece together
00:01:36.400 | from what he says what the false teachers are saying,
00:01:40.560 | like listening to one end of the phone conversation.
00:01:43.960 | That's what we're up against in Colossians.
00:01:46.360 | There was some kind of false teaching going on
00:01:50.120 | that Paul was very concerned about,
00:01:52.800 | and it involved some kind of asceticism,
00:01:56.120 | some kind of severity to the body.
00:01:59.640 | It seemed to involve special visions,
00:02:03.960 | worship of angels, he mentions,
00:02:07.000 | the insistence upon certain religious holy days,
00:02:11.320 | days, months, and it seems that there are a cluster
00:02:16.320 | of very basic rules, elemental principles, he calls them,
00:02:22.400 | being forced upon the church
00:02:24.760 | so that if you don't follow these ascetic rules
00:02:27.760 | about food and drink and days and visions and angels,
00:02:30.640 | you're not a Christian.
00:02:32.520 | Now, Paul's main criticism of what was happening
00:02:37.160 | is that it diminished Christ.
00:02:40.240 | Christ, the all-supplying head of the church,
00:02:44.320 | Christ as the creator of the world,
00:02:46.880 | Christ, the one who upholds all things,
00:02:49.880 | Christ supreme over all things.
00:02:53.000 | The whole system of this false teaching
00:02:55.760 | was diminishing Christ in all those ways.
00:03:00.000 | So let me read some texts,
00:03:02.680 | and let's listen for those kinds of false teachings.
00:03:08.000 | First, Colossians 2:8,
00:03:09.720 | "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy
00:03:12.680 | and empty deceit according to human tradition,
00:03:15.640 | according to elemental principles of the world,
00:03:18.840 | not according to Christ."
00:03:21.240 | Now, we'll see what those elemental principles are
00:03:26.240 | in just a moment, but notice the problem here
00:03:31.000 | is that these merely human traditions
00:03:34.000 | and these basic religious elemental principles
00:03:37.120 | are replacing Christ.
00:03:39.800 | It says, "Not holding fast to Christ,
00:03:42.240 | not exalting Christ,
00:03:45.720 | not living according to Christ."
00:03:47.920 | Now, verses 16 to 19,
00:03:51.000 | "Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food
00:03:55.000 | and drink with regard to a festival or a new moon
00:03:59.960 | or Sabbath.
00:04:01.520 | These are a shadow of things to come,
00:04:05.240 | but the substance belongs to Christ,
00:04:08.800 | like a body casting a shadow,
00:04:10.560 | and Christ is the body, and the shadow is all those things
00:04:13.680 | that are being exalted above Christ.
00:04:15.720 | Let no one disqualify you insisting on asceticism
00:04:20.720 | and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions,
00:04:25.360 | puffed up," there's the problem underneath this,
00:04:28.760 | "puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,
00:04:32.840 | not holding fast to the head."
00:04:35.720 | So again, we see that the issue
00:04:37.760 | is not holding fast to Christ.
00:04:41.840 | What he's being replaced with is food, drink,
00:04:46.240 | festival, new moon, Sabbath,
00:04:49.000 | and since asceticism is mentioned,
00:04:52.240 | probably the reference to food and drink means
00:04:56.120 | don't eat them, don't drink them,
00:04:58.720 | rather than you must eat them or you must drink them.
00:05:02.200 | Either way, the elemental rules
00:05:05.760 | are replacing the way of Christ.
00:05:10.160 | Then one more text, verses 20 following.
00:05:13.440 | "If with Christ you died to the elemental principles
00:05:17.600 | of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world,
00:05:22.600 | do you submit to regulations?"
00:05:25.840 | And I think these are the elemental principles
00:05:28.320 | he's concerned about.
00:05:29.160 | "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch,
00:05:32.320 | referring to things that all perish when used
00:05:35.000 | according to human precepts and teachings.
00:05:37.320 | These indeed have an appearance of wisdom
00:05:39.640 | in promoting self-made religion and asceticism
00:05:44.160 | and a severity to the body, but they're of no value
00:05:47.920 | in stopping the indulgence of the flesh."
00:05:52.640 | So there you get something of a picture
00:05:56.400 | of the false teaching in Colossae
00:05:58.760 | involving worship of angels, visions,
00:06:00.840 | severity to the body,
00:06:02.480 | by abstaining from certain foods and drinks,
00:06:04.640 | keeping certain religious holidays,
00:06:06.720 | following these elemental principles and rules.
00:06:09.800 | "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch."
00:06:12.480 | Twice we've heard Paul say that the problem is
00:06:16.640 | these are not according to Christ.
00:06:18.840 | You are not holding fast to the head.
00:06:22.440 | And all the other defects with this false teaching
00:06:27.200 | about asceticism and severity to the body,
00:06:30.680 | all of them are of no value
00:06:33.000 | in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
00:06:35.840 | So this false teaching at Colossae is failing in two ways.
00:06:40.840 | One, it isn't glorifying Christ,
00:06:45.040 | and two, it isn't defeating sin.
00:06:48.160 | It's producing puffed up Christians
00:06:51.240 | and it is diminishing Christ.
00:06:54.640 | So here's the issue with asceticism.
00:06:57.800 | Asceticism has a legitimate place in the Christian life
00:07:01.960 | as does the thankful enjoyment of food
00:07:05.640 | and drink that God gives us.
00:07:08.440 | Eating and drinking can become gluttony
00:07:11.680 | with a loss of self-control,
00:07:14.280 | and not eating and drinking can become boastful
00:07:18.760 | and Christ diminishing.
00:07:20.720 | That was happening at Colossae.
00:07:22.920 | So the question is not simply,
00:07:25.360 | do you eat or don't you eat?
00:07:27.840 | Do you drink or don't you drink?
00:07:29.480 | Do you sleep or don't you sleep?
00:07:31.640 | Do you deny yourself certain legitimate pleasures
00:07:34.040 | or don't you?
00:07:35.040 | That's not the main question.
00:07:37.360 | The main questions are, is Christ being exalted
00:07:42.360 | or is self being exalted?
00:07:46.280 | While crucifying the sin of gluttony,
00:07:49.680 | are you feeding the sin of pride?
00:07:52.440 | Is asceticism killing sin or feeding sin?
00:07:57.440 | Those are the key questions.
00:08:00.520 | We can't just say that asceticism is bad
00:08:03.840 | because the false teachers at Colossae were using it
00:08:08.560 | because Paul himself and Jesus taught
00:08:12.720 | that we should make sure by self-denial
00:08:16.560 | that we are not being enslaved by any good thing.
00:08:20.920 | For example, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9.25,
00:08:24.080 | "Every athlete exercises self-control.
00:08:27.320 | I do not run aimlessly.
00:08:29.920 | I do not box as one beating the air.
00:08:32.560 | I discipline my body and keep it under control
00:08:36.720 | lest after preaching to others,
00:08:38.160 | I myself should be disqualified."
00:08:39.720 | And the word discipline there means
00:08:41.880 | give my body a black eye.
00:08:43.320 | I mean, it's a pretty strong word, sometimes translated,
00:08:46.320 | I palm on my body.
00:08:48.040 | In other words, Paul is hard on his body
00:08:51.400 | when he needs to be hard on his body
00:08:53.960 | in order to protect himself against sin and unbelief.
00:08:58.400 | And then in 1 Corinthians 6.12, he said,
00:09:01.000 | "All things are lawful for me,
00:09:02.560 | but I will not be dominated or controlled
00:09:04.800 | or enslaved by anything."
00:09:06.560 | In other words, the issue is not that food and drink
00:09:09.600 | or other legitimate pleasures are sinful,
00:09:13.600 | but that we ought not to be enslaved or dominated
00:09:16.800 | or controlled by anything, good or evil.
00:09:19.920 | Part of the strategy by which we discern
00:09:23.480 | whether we are enslaved is self-denial,
00:09:27.840 | called asceticism, if you wish.
00:09:30.360 | And so Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me,
00:09:32.520 | let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
00:09:36.560 | In other words, we dare not treat all asceticism as bad.
00:09:41.560 | And of course, we should not treat God's good gifts
00:09:47.680 | of food and drink and friendship and marriage
00:09:52.440 | and hundreds of other delights in this life.
00:09:55.640 | We should not treat God's gifts as evil.
00:09:59.000 | Paul was probably warning against
00:10:01.520 | the same false teaching of Colossae
00:10:04.440 | when he wrote in 1 Timothy 4.4,
00:10:07.000 | "Everything created by God is good.
00:10:09.720 | Nothing is to be rejected
00:10:11.880 | if it is received with thanksgiving,
00:10:14.560 | for it is made holy by the word of God in prayer."
00:10:18.640 | So one way to sum up things would be to say,
00:10:21.400 | one, we will glorify Christ
00:10:24.840 | if we receive his good gifts with thankfulness,
00:10:28.040 | which shows that he's the good and generous Savior.
00:10:32.000 | And two, we will glorify Christ
00:10:34.680 | by strategically denying ourselves some of his good gifts
00:10:39.360 | in order to show that he and not his gifts
00:10:43.680 | are our greatest treasure.
00:10:46.000 | And the problem of the false teaching at Colossae
00:10:49.200 | was that severity to the body
00:10:52.000 | was being put into elemental principles or rules
00:10:56.400 | that instead of exalting the worth and beauty
00:10:58.640 | and grace of Christ,
00:11:00.200 | were feeding the ego of the ascetics.
00:11:03.520 | This calls for great wisdom and insight into our own hearts.
00:11:08.520 | So two guidelines to close.
00:11:10.960 | One, enjoy God's good gifts with thankfulness
00:11:15.960 | to make much of him and his grace and his generosity.
00:11:19.920 | And two, deny yourself in order to defeat sinful bondage
00:11:25.680 | and show that the giver is more precious to you
00:11:29.000 | than the gift.
00:11:30.040 | - Amen, thank you, Pastor John.
00:11:31.400 | And great Bible question, Garrett.
00:11:33.080 | You can ask a question of your own,
00:11:34.600 | search on Growing Archive or subscribe to the podcast,
00:11:36.520 | all at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.
00:11:40.560 | We're gonna break for the weekend and return on Monday
00:11:44.240 | with an honest and pretty raw email from a hurting man,
00:11:48.080 | a hurting dad.
00:11:49.480 | He's sad over the brokenness of the world
00:11:52.240 | and he wants to know why, if God is in charge,
00:11:54.520 | sovereignly in charge of this world,
00:11:57.400 | why then is there so much suffering and violence and pain
00:12:02.400 | in our world, our nation, our cities,
00:12:06.440 | and in our own families?
00:12:08.360 | It's a really sobering email to read,
00:12:09.800 | but that is the topic on Monday.
00:12:12.480 | Next time, I'm your host, Tony Reinke,
00:12:13.960 | and we'll see you then.
00:12:15.120 | (upbeat music)
00:12:17.700 | (upbeat music)
00:12:20.280 | [BLANK_AUDIO]