Good Morning friends,
What if Jesus didn’t come to teach us anything new, but to remind us of all the things we already knew?
Hm.
Time for more ☕️,
Glenn || PATREON / BUY ME A COFFEE
Pelagius was another Celtic teacher who rattled some cages, so much so that in the year 418 he was banned from the Roman Empire, in 421 all of those who followed his teachings were banned from coming within 100 miles of Rome, in 428 Pelagius was banned from entering into or being anywhere near Italy, and in 529 his teachings were condemned by another church council.
Did any of those bans work?
Apparently not because in 629 the bishop of Rome complained that the teachings of Pelagius were still running wild in Ireland and demanded that the Irish "expel the venom of this wicked superstition" from among them.
Why were his teachings so "dangerous", SO DANGEROUS that they were banned AT LEAST 5 times in a 200 year period?!
There are many things we could say about Pelagius, but one of the biggest issues that BOTH the church AND empire had with Pelagius was his firm belief that the truth of how one should live ...
Was NOT found in the church.
Was NOT found in a book.
Was NOT found from the sermon of a preacher.
Was NOT found in a Bible study.
BUT.
Was found within an individual, written on his/her/their heart.
Do you see how "dangerous" this was to the church and to the empire?
Why?
Because if people started to look WITHIN to find truth and to discover how to live their lives as opposed to the CHURCH or to the EMPIRE ... then people wouldn't rely on the church and the empire ... and if people didn't rely on the church and the empire ... then people could rebel, people could leave ... and if people rebelled and left then the church and the empire would lose control, would lose money, and would lose their power.
Yes.
The grotesque marriage between the church and empire would no longer benefit either of the 2 and so Pelagius needed to be stopped.
His teaching is best seen in a story, which is what really caught my attention this morning. I've been reading "Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul" by John Phillip Newel because he'll be coming on the podcast in January and he's got a whole chapter dedicated to Pelagius, and in that chapter he shared this story.
It seems that a young woman named Celantia went to Pelagius and asked him to tell her how to live.
"Tell me how to live my life, Pelagius - I want to know what is the best way!"
Pelagius responded and told her that she shouldn't ask him such a question, but that she needed to learn how to "read her own heart" for the truth and wisdom of God was written upon it. Once she learned what that inner truth was and once she discovered how God wanted her to live her life, he instructed her to write it on her hand so that she would always see it and remember it.
"BUT."
Pelagius added, "if what you read within yourself is in conflict with the teachings of Jesus, then you have misread your heart and you must go back and read it again."
This is a beautiful story, isn't it? When Celantia asked Pelagius how to live ...
He didn't give her instruction.
He didn't say, "go ask your pastor."
He didn't say, "go to church on Sunday and find out."
He didn't say, "read this book."
He didn't say, "get yourself a mentor who is wiser than you."
Instead, he told her to go home, to look inside of herself, to see what her heart told her to do, and to make sure that what she found lined up ...
Not with the teachings of the prophets.
Not with the teachings of Paul.
Not with the teachings of her church.
BUT.
With the teachings of Jesus.
This story encouraged me today because a lot of times the old evangelical soldier who lives inside of me will remind me that I haven't been to church in 4 years and that I can't truly know the will of God for my life if the church doesn't tell me what that will is.
I came from a world where ...
I went to church every Sunday.
I went to Bible study every week.
I went to Sunday School (adult Sunday School, too) when possible.
I read my Bible every morning.
I met with a mentor on a monthly basis.
I volunteered at various church events and in various church roles.
... I came from a world where I did all of these things so that I would know God's will for my life, and know how I was supposed to live, what I was supposed to do.
I mean.
To be honest.
Looking back.
I didn't know who I was apart from the church. Like, once the church was out of my life ... I felt a mini-crisis at times because the church and my role in it really defined who I was as a human being.
And so now that all of those things are pretty much cut off and gone, the soldier inside of me very often raises his voice to warn me that I'm in danger of not really knowing what God wants me to do with my life and, therefore, missing out on all that my life could be, all that God intends for it to be.
"You need to go back to church."
"You need to read your Bible."
"You really should call up your old professor and get his advice."
This morning, though, the Spirit of Pelagius showed up at my kitchen table and showed my inner evangelical soldier the door, and reminded me that I don't need a church or a book or a mentor to tell me who I am or what God would have me do with my life because all of those things are written on the tablet of my own heart and all I need to do is be still, access it, be reminded of it, and then trust what I find.
The same is true for you.
Written on your heart is the truth of who you are, the dreams that the Divine has for your life, the gifts and passions and abilities that you can do like no one else can and you don't need a church or minister or book or anything else to tell you what that truth is.
Can they help you access it? Sure.
Can they support you in your journey to find it for yourself? Yes.
Is the church and Bible studies and books and mentors bad? NO.
BUT.
What I'm saying is that you don't NEED those things to the extent that those things very often want you to think that you need them.
Read that again: they are helpful and they can be extremely useful, BUT you don't NEED those things to the extent that those things very often want you to think that you need them.
YES: you are free to do your own self-discovery for the truth of who you are is already inside of you, and so today may you feel the freedom to look within and dig through the baggage and rubble of your life's journey, and as you dig may you come to remember how to live, remember the truth of who you are.
John Philip Newell says that "the teachings of Jesus are like a touchstone for our soul, a measuring rod of inner wisdom. Jesus does not embody a truth that is foreign to us. Rather, he discloses to us the essence of our soul, from which we have become distant. It is about waking up to what is already there."
Read the stories of Christ.
Dwell on the stories of Christ.
Meditate on the teachings of Christ.
... Because those stories and those teachings aren't there to teach you anything about yourself or your place in the world that you don't already know, to teach anything that is new or revolutionary.
Instead.
They are there to "wake you up" to the truths concerning yourself and your place in the world that you have forgotten after years of living your life and journeying through the world.
May you and I take Pelagius' instruction to Celantia and make them our own today.