The Tectonic School Philosophy - Part 4

A series of posts outlining the background and purpose behind Tectonic School

This series of posts come out of the draft document that, combined with a sizable number of devotionals, will eventually comprise a book to help launch Tectonic School programs.

It outlines particular problems that are present in our society, our local churches, and in the lives of individuals and families. The solution offered is a plan to integrate a severely disenfranchised and undervalued group - young men - into meaningful involvement in local communities through training and employment in trade jobs and the life of the local church. This will be accomplished through cooperation in mutually beneficial relationships with local businesses, local churches, and local families. 

This is the fourth post in a series. The first post is available here: 

2: Searching For Solutions

The Trade-Offs of Turning To Answers from the Past

There is nothing implicitly wrong with returning to the traditional forms of Christianity, but to avoid the same problem experienced in the lives of those disillusioned by the modern church, an individual must decide to let the practice of their faith take a more central role, and many historical traditions will guide a person towards doing this in a specific way. The oldest traditions have developed a communal lifestyle for those who want to make their faith the guiding principle of their lives. In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, this is most fully exhibited in the monastic community. These communities can vary in their specific purposes; some are more academic and intellectual, others are more oriented towards serving others, while the most insular may be almost completely devoted towards the specific spiritual activities of prayer and worship. 

In many of the low-church traditions, the fullest expression of total lifestyle devotion is displayed in communities such as the Amish and the Mennonites. There is a strong impulse for many people to return to this lifestyle, with many new communities forming around a desire to protect children and families from undue influence, and stem the ever encroaching impact of technology on our daily lives. 

The problem is that these communities also make central some particular point of the spiritual life of the Christian, while downplaying or eliminating others. The monastic tradition foregoes the necessity of natural reproduction, the first command given by God to all mankind, elevating an exception above the normative practice. The first command was never rescinded in the text - it still reflects part of God’s original hope for mankind, and the only means through which the total population of souls comes to increase. 

For this reason, the monastic orders can only perpetuate their own existence by asking others to make the same sacrifice of childlessness. During the times when the Catholic/Orthodox church was the only church, the teaching that a life of celibate devotion was the highest calling led to a two-tiered class distinction that caused serious harm to society. 

In the case of the other communities, the lack of emphasis on evangelism of any sort causes them to be insular. Within the community, all may be well, (although that is rarely the case,) but with everyone sequestered away from the rest of the world, they provide little benefit to the greater community, and they fail to complete the great commission by reaching the lost. Moreover, these communities are often difficult for outsiders to join, creating an additional barrier to entry. 

Of the few instances where communities were both closed off and celibate, such as the shakers, the predictable outcome of extinction is no surprise. Groups like this are usually formed after yet another central principle, that the return of the Lord is so near at hand, and the corruption of the world is so complete, that there is no point in devoting energy to evangelism or family life. When either a predicted date of destruction comes and goes, or the lives of the initial founders end, the community tends to dissolve shortly thereafter.

There is a term that describes all of these issues, whether they are of the secular or Christian variety, and that term is idolatry. Idolatry can be described as the mistake of confusing the created thing for the creator, or to make something central which is meant to be peripheral. 

In all of these worldview examples, some object, aspect, or ideal of God’s creation has replaced God Himself as the central point of focus within the worldview. Not every single individual is guilty of this, but the societal thrust that emphasizes a particular aspect of creation as being central tempts us to place that thing in the central role that only God can rightly occupy. 

The difficulty in diagnosing this problem with idolatry is that those individuals whose hearts are centered around the worship of the true God will still embody their worship through these secondary means. 

Thus, one man can rightly focus his heart on God, and the fruit of this will be a re-emphasis on evangelism in his community. Another man with the same correct posture of worship will bear fruit that calls people back to a focus on their roles within the family. Yet another man may bear fruit by helping those around him rediscover the traditions of spiritual formation and liturgical worship. Still others may manifest their love of God through the very things that secular people are trying to center their lives around - integrity in the workplace, care for the health and stewardship of the physical body, or a desire to beautify and protect our natural environment. 

God can be, and is, present through all these different movements, and He will continue to bear fruit and grow His kingdom through various individuals in these very different domains. To some degree, failure and imperfection are inevitable as long as God chooses to move through flawed and broken people. But instead of focusing on eliminating the particular failures of various traditions and communities, our goal should be to highlight their strengths and uses for particular times and places. 

Imperfect tools and imperfect workers are not obstacles to God building the Kingdom He desires.   

The next post in this series is available here: