Companions for the Journey: John Chrysostom
For many Christians today, reading or watching the news can be a truly difficult endeavor. Whether it’s the latest political disagreement, a current social issue, or a recent human disaster, news items can make us think things like “Really? AGAIN?!?” or maybe “Good grief—why is this world the way it is?” or possibly “Jesus, I need you to come back now!” And we’re in good company, right? One merely has to consult the book of Habakkuk for an Old Testament example; in the New Testament, we see similar sentiments in the disciples’ question of Acts 1:6: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (NIV).
In my opinion, these questions and experiences are particularly challenging for Christians in the West because so many of us enjoy incredible affluence in comparison with the rest of the world. Further, many of us have significant influence in our communities; even if we don’t have any particular role or title ourselves, we live in a social and governmental system that permits us to contact our local government or elected representatives. As a result, we can feel somewhat guilty, believing that we might actually be able to do something about our broken world if we only had the willingness or know-how.
When we experience these feelings, we are inhabiting the view of Christianity and culture that the theologian Richard Niebuhr called “Christ and Culture in Paradox.” [1] As Niebuhr describes it, Christians with this view tend to think of culture as linked in some way with God’s kingdom—there is not a radical disjunction between the two, as in the views of a group like the Amish or some of the ancient Gnostics—but there is still tension. Yes, God created our world and even entered into it, but the world as we experience it is fallen; God’s kingdom and our world live in a perpetual tension alongside one another.
So, what should we do in a world like this? Maybe the better question is this: what can we do? The answer will vary from person to person, but if you are looking for someone to inspire you or offer an example to you, based on how he lived his life in a culture rather like ours, I would suggest the fourth-century church leader named John Chrysostom. You can read all about him online or in his classic biography by J. N. D. Kelly, but let me tell you a few things here, and I’ll try to make some connections about how John can be a companion for our own journeys. [2]
First, John was someone who enjoyed a certain amount of privilege. We don’t know a great deal about his family life, but his father was highly placed in the military, and thanks to the means and connections of his parents, he was able to enjoy one of the best available educations in his home city of Antioch. As in our world, that education was designed to inculcate skills and ideas valued by his culture. But when we look at John’s ministry, we see an example of someone who championed biblical values over common social practices. For example, he was extremely distrustful of wealth and the accumulation of possessions; we may not think of “money” as a social issue, but for John it definitely was so, in that it shaped the ways that we treat our fellow humans. His sermons on the story in Luke 16 of Lazarus and the rich man are highly instructive in this way.
Second, John is someone who was deeply involved in the life of his city. Even though he did go off into the wilderness for retreat, his location actually wasn’t that far from Antioch; he seems to have remained connected with news from the city all during that time. And when he returned and was later ordained as a priest, he became a very popular preacher, sometimes commenting on a particular book of the Bible but at other times speaking on contemporary social issues. Just to name one example, his sermons on the anti-government riots that took place when John was about 50 years old drew so much attention that, shortly thereafter, he was elected the new bishop of Constantinople—the capital of the Roman Empire at this time!
Third, he was serious about his Christianity from early adulthood. By his early 20s, he had already been baptized and was involved in ministry to the church. But rather than live life as a committed Christian while also “sowing his wild oats,” he instead chose to engage in rather extreme acts of asceticism in a wilderness retreat. In fact, he was so rigorous with his fasting and sleep-deprivation practices that he seems to have permanently harmed his body! And that rigorous attitude toward life shaped his actions as a leader. When John had been elected bishop of Constantinople, thus being in charge of all the churches in the capital city, he attempted to reform the life of the ministers there toward more ascetic ends. He seems to have known that a church only interested in gathering and wielding power will only participate in the fallenness of the world; rather, even though we are “in the world” as church leaders, and even though the world needs a “public Christianity,” that does not mean that we behave as the world does. We can serve as leaven in the “lump of dough” that is the world, in part by how we live in that world.
Finally, like us, John had opportunities to speak truth to power. Like us, he lived in a world in which Christianity enjoyed a certain amount of cultural acceptance. It wasn’t yet the Middle Ages, in which basically everyone in Christianized areas was a baptized Christian, but people did respect Christian leaders. As a result, since he was a Christian leader, John had the opportunity to wield influence over public officials. In his sermons, he sometimes discussed political matters—and the work and actions of political leaders—and that boldness both earned him respect from some people and also got him into trouble with others. In fact, it was his willingness to call out publicly some members of the royal family that contributed to his being exiled toward the Black Sea, an exile that ultimately resulted in John’s death.
I don’t know your particular context, but I am convinced that John’s life and ministry can be an example for all of us. How can you proclaim biblical values in your context while also remaining deeply connected to the people and culture in which you live? What Christian practices would leaven the world in which you live, and what hard truths do the people in your context need to hear?
The contemporary worship song “Send Me” is one whose lyrics reflect well what John Chrysostom’s attitude seems to have been; you can see the entirety of those lyrics at this link. But I’ll close with one line of the chorus: “Before You even ask, oh, my answer will be yes.” [3] May we all have the readiness to serve the Lord in a difficult world, just like John Chrysostom.
[1] H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture (New York: Harper, 1951)
[2] J. N. D. Kelly, Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom―Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop, reprint edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1999)
[3] Brandon Lake, Jenn Johnson, and Kari Jobe, “Send Me,” recorded July 2023, Bethel Music Publishing, track 10 on Homecoming, 2021.
