The
natural reaction to hearing of an online monastery is one of skepticism. A
monastery is, first and foremost, a community. Can someone have that level
of community with people whom they have never met?
The idea of an online
monastery may be counter-intuitive since the members do not live together, but
in the present age community has less and less to do with proximity.
Community is becoming more centered around shared beliefs and practices.
This may or may not constitute a loss, but it is a fact.
For this
reason, the Online Monastics have created a community centered around the
beliefs and practices taught in the New Testament. The issue of distance
has never been a hindrance to our being one in Christ. Not even death
divides that body.
Having said that, a local congregation is a necessity
for Christians. Second only to our obedience to Christ is our
participation in a local congregation. As far back as Genesis, we read
that "It is not good for man to be alone." Nowhere in the New Testament
Church do we see people living in seclusion from other Christians, rather "All
that believed were together, and had all things in common."
The second
question that springs to mind for many people has been, is a monastic life
relevant or practical in today's world?
The term "Monastery" conjures,
for many people, the image of people in brown robes with Tonsures (a fancy term
for a strange haircut). People imagine old, celibate men walking slowly
and deliberately, completely removed from the world. And indeed, that is
one form of monasticism, but there is a rising number of "New Monastics" within
the Protestant denominations. These are Christians, both men and women,
who are living out a rule in a community, in radical opposition to the
prevailing culture.
These are monks in the English sense of the word, not
in the Greek sense of the word. They are not "Monokos," which would imply
that they are alone (the modern equivalent would be "hermit"). The old
term would actually be "Cenobite," which denotes a person in a religious
community.
Our monastery is designed not to separate people from their
context, but to support people within their context, so that they can be a light
to the world and a living testimony to God's love.
We are Christians,
living out a rule, in community with each other and with other Christians.
So yes, an online monastery is possible.