John the Baptist, most people believe, was an Essene. This means that the community that formed him and trained him for ministry was a community that valued withdrawl from societal institutions and norms in order to be faithful to God's call on their life. Although we have no proof of John the Baptist's Essene bona fides, his appearance and ministry tends to demonstrate and affinity for Essene ideals. Essene's were in the desert preparing for the Messiah and the end of the world as they knew it. They had baths for regular ceremonial washings of repentance and purity. They dressed and acted a little different. They did life on the geographic and social periphory of ancient Israel. All of this seems to be reflected in the life of John the Baptist.
Yet, according to Luke 3,when people were baptized with John's baptistm of repentance, and they asked John what they should do, John always gave them answers that encouraged them to return to their community and vocation. As they did so, John encoruaged them to practice their vocations in different ways. To the tax collectors, they were told not to extort money. To the soldiers, they were told not to abuse their power. To the rest, they were told to share their extra clothing with those less fortunate.
John called the repentant to simple, practical acts of engagement in community and culture, not withdrawl from culture as a sign of loyal faithfulness and true repentance. This has important ways of challenging us today.
There is a part of Christian culture that thinks that we should withdrawl into homeschooling, homechurching, home working as an act of faith. These same people guard their associations with others. Yet, in Scripture, the model of cultural withdrawl in taking on the role of the prophet encourages others to engage community and culture faithfully in order to give glory to God.
Something to consider here.
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