A Ramble about Renunciation

I wish I had some clever story or some clever allusion to a sci-fi movie or television show for this one. But I don't. I'm sure that one exists somewhere, but I can't think of one right now, and that's not what engendered this line of thought. Now that I think about why I started writing this down, there really wasn't a straight path to it.

I started off by reading a short work from the Philokalia by St. Gregory Palamas from the fourteenth century. Then on a sudden inspiration, I looked again at Acts 2:42-47 (in English even, go figure), and came to realize something about the Acts 2 Church. The Acts 2 Church practiced what the Orthodox monks of the mountains and the deserts wrote about in the various works of the Philokalia; namely regular Sacraments, voluntary poverty, self-control, and obedience to the Apostolic teaching. And then I came to see something that I know I've seen before in passing as though out of the corner of my eye (and even wrote about). This time it slapped me upside the head. Besides the Sacraments, everything they practiced was a form of renunciation.

When the wheels in my head started grinding to life and began smoking from disuse, it dawned on me that almost everything which Jesus taught and the Apostles taught and practiced could in fact be distilled down to this single concept: renunciation. The letting go or abandonment of the things you hold on to. It doesn't have to mean physically separating yourself from them as much as it means they no longer have a hold over you. Think of it this way, an alcoholic, in order to become healthy must renounce his alcohol because it stands in the way of his health (among other things). A drug addict must renounce his drugs. A mortally obese person must renounce his gluttony (assuming there is no genetic problem). And so on. Jesus told us to go further than this because we have addictions and dependencies which stand in the way of a healthy growth towards union with God, and we are so inebriated with them that we don't even know that they are there. Renunciation colors and covers everything in the Christian practice which Jesus and His Apostles taught.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and then all these things will be placed before you,” means to renounce everything else, all of one's addictions, desires, and everything to which one clings. Only when you are no longer ruled by such things can they be safely placed in front of you. Jesus promised that if we asked anything in His Name He would do it, but God can't safely put anything in front of us that we would cling to or abuse any more than a responsible friend would offer a glass of wine or even Listerine to a severe alcoholic (Listerine is 40 proof or so). We have to renounce our dependence on them first. We must seek union with God through renunciation first.

God loves us and is on our side, but we feel like He is cruel and mean just like the addict feels like the person withholding the onject of his addiction is cruel and mean. God knows it will do us no good to give us what we crave. We must first detox and renounce our dependencies and addictions. Only then can God place anything in front of us safely. This is why what weakens us makes us stronger, because it faciliatates renunciation.

This applies to forgiveness as well. We must renounce those things owed us before He will renounce what we owe Him. Jesus said as much again and again, but directly and even addressing parables to it in the Gospels, even within the same Gospel. Let's face it, holding grudges can be an addiction, and we can even draw our identity from the person whom we hold grudges against. Jesus tells us to renounce those grudges.

The Kingdom of Heaven/God is entered through renunciation. This is why it is only with difficulty a rich person may enter. The more possessions you hold on to, the harder it is to renounce them. Everything He said pertaining to the Kingdom in His parables involved renouncing something; personal possessions, relationships, grudges, one's own psyche, etc. Poverty, self-control, and obedience are all forms of renunciation. With voluntary poverty we renounce personal possessions. With self-control we renounce gluttony and all forms of unchaste or intemperate behavior as it pertains to bodily needs or desires. With obedience we renounce our own self-esteem to follow the rule of another. Without renunciation, there is no Christian practice or discipleship. Crucifying one's own psyche along with the passions and desires means total renunciation of everything in one's life. It's the renunciation of everything which makes you “you.”

Even love, agape, itself is a form of renunciation because when we practice agape we are in fact renouncing all judgment against that person. We are renouncing all animosity towards that person. We are renouncing whatever resources which may be in our possession in order to assist that person. Ultimately when we practice agape we are renouncing our very selves and self-centeredness in favor of what is best for the other person.

Renunciation doesn't require isolating oneself in the desert or on a mountain, though this might certainly facilitate renunciation. It requires keeping one's focus on Jesus Christ, and on everything about Him. Remembering one's death and judgment by Him will facilitate this as well.

Renunciation will look different for each person, because each person has different addictions and dependencies. One person may need to go off alone in the desert in order to fully renounce everything. Another may be able to be surrounded by wealth and not have it touch him, but may instead fall prey to some other addiction. It depends on the person, and so there is no one model which will work for everyone. Rather, one's renunciation can be determined by the fruit which he produces, not by the trash which surrounds him. If his life begins to look like Jesus' life then that person is in fact remaining in Him just as John said he would (1 John 2:6).

Finally, and for this reason, renunciation is not, nor was ever intended to be popular. Jesus lived His entire life, according to the Gospels, in renunciation. He was homeless. He and His disciples were provided for by the charity of three women rather than good jobs or investments. Most of the time, those He preached to had no idea what He was talking about, and of those that did fewer still actually followed His teaching. His renunciation cost Him everything from this world which we would hold on to. His disciples fared no better, and neither did the saints throughout history. Think of St. Francis of Assisi, or Ignatius of Loyola for example. Read their biographies. Picking up the cross and following Him means renunciation and all that goes with it.