Modern Day Monks

You can live however you please today. All the doors of enjoyment, fun and pleasure are open right before your eyes. Glossy magazines and reality TV exposes you to how others are living the life.

Yet, this abundance of hedonism, really, leaves people empty. Shockingly more young people are interested in a disciplined and pious lifestyle. In the UK a monastery  offers weekend-long monastery experiences in the hopes of recruiting new members. I am amazed that young people would want to do that.

In Germany there is a community of people who live a monastic lifestyle with their families. (Watch the short film.) In America Christianity Today wrote about The New Monasticism a few years ago. Shane Clairborne has further publicized the idea of living simply and loving the unloved.

I think this is just one example of how young people today desire purpose and reality into their lives. They’ve seen their parents work hard at earning money without having the time to enjoy life. This new generation has had it easy and longs for a real challenge and purpose outside of themselves.

This is where a lot of churches are missing the point. They are offering “Christian entertainment”, when really they need to offer a challenge. Asking someone to give 5 dollars to the poor is not a challenge. Asking someone to give their life away to the cause of Jesus is a challenge.