Thousands upon thousands of Christian books are published each year. Naturally skeptical, I typically look on each one with a raised eyebrow, and from a safe distance. With very few exceptions, it seems that everyone is looking for the next new idea that will help them make their mark on Jesusland. Sometimes, though, the best new idea is an old idea.
You won’t often see me advocating for a return to the old-time religion. I’m dubious of those who preach about the need to get back to the first-century church. What we need is to figure out how to be a faithful church today, in 2009 (though I’ll rant about that another day). Being a student of history, however, I do see immense value in learning from our foremothers and fathers. In the same way that a constitutional scholar tries to get inside the heads of the first Americans, we do well to peer into the minds (and lives) of the first Christians.
Tony Jones has written a book on the Didache (did-uh-kay) that relaxed my raised eyebrow and drew me in. The Teaching of the Twelve is a picture of the way one of the earliest communities of Christ-followers lived their lives – a manual for new followers of the Way of Jesus – untainted by a couple of millennia of muddying. The fascinating thing about this little manual is that it’s not surprising. There’s nothing shocking for anyone familiar with the teachings of Jesus. It’s a pure and primitive picture of the Christian life as best as the early followers understood it.
In the epilogue, Tony betrays his motivation for studying and writing about this ancient text:
Our brothers and sisters in the faith who lived in the Didache community call us away from the marginalia that consumes us today. They call us to simple community in which righteous living is taught and expected, sharing life is a way of life, visiting preachers are welcomed but not given any power in the community, baptism and Eucharist are practiced regularly, and Jesus’ return is expected and hoped for. Just a few activities, done well, shaped the Didache community. How can we simplify our church settings, our church language, so that our gatherings can be understood by all? How can we develop church structures that are not intimidating but welcoming, even to those who are wondering about the reality of God? The Didache is our ancient church diet manual. It reminds us that a simple diet of holiness, Eucharist, and love are the key ingredients for Christian community, and a focus on those will bring the community together in the way that Jesus prayed in John’s Gospel.
Sometimes the best new idea is not only the old idea, but also the simple idea. For those of us who are interested in how to simplify our religious practices, for those of us who are looking at how to keep the baby when we discard the bathwater of religious systems, The Teaching of the Twelve is a must-read.
The book can be purchased via Paraclete’s website, or at amazon.com. If you’d like to see what others have said about the book, you can click here.
