Dead to the World
A sloth chooses to live in remote seclusion within the tropical rainforests of South America. Everything about a sloth is slow and deliberate. It is such a loner that it seldom interacts even with fellow sloths. Not perhaps quite as dead to the world as when you see a dog sound asleep on its back but, by any definition, a sloth is about as withdrawn as they come. When you consider the way some Christian groups have chosen to withdraw from society throughout history, you might think there are some parallels. Some monastic orders have withdrawn completely and other individual ascetics lived as hermits in caves – whether this was an attempt to please God or to keep themselves from temptation is unclear. Other monasteries make a point of interacting with society and might be said to be ‘in the world but not of the world’. Then there are Amish communities seeking to be self-sustainable; they are hard-working people but choose to live very differently to the rest of society as they eschew modern transport and technology. So many different approaches – that of the chameleon who blends in, the sloth who withdraws or the rhino who charges … what’s your understanding of how Jesus calls you to live?
- ‘Enemy-occupied territory – that is what the world is’ – C S Lewis