Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

A word about hierarchies

"If the high Authority appoints you to an office, know this: every step upward on the ladder of offices is not a step into freedom but into bondage. The higher the office, the tighter the bondage. The greater the power of the office, the stricter the service. The stronger the personality, the less self-will." - Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game.

In Orthodoxy, as everywhere (acknowledged or not), from the pre-school sandbox to the hair salon to multinational corporations, there exists a definite hierarchy. But as in Hermann Hesse's novel, The Glass Bead Game, it is a hierarchy of bonded service, and I use 'bonded' and 'service' advisedly. A higher rank in the hierarch entails a great weight of responsibility, with a corresponding lesser freedom. Indeed, for those of highest rank among monastics, the Great Schema monks--those 'dead to the world'--such notions as "rank" become silly terms for the downward mobility and ironic authority in Christ's upside down kingdom. The "greatest" in the kingdom is servant of all after the pattern of the King who lays down his life on the Cross as ransom for the world.

Hierarchy might be the wrong term for such an 'ascent' ... maybe 'lower-archy' would suit better, or Roger Mitchell's kenarchy? (i.e. kenotic leadership or self-emptying service)

Three types miss this dynamic altogether in their notions of hierarchy.

The ambitious: There are those who believe hierarchy constitutes an ascent to worldly forms of power. Of these, there are two experience: some embrace the hierarchy as a place to assert their own egoistic power and lord it over others. And others despise hierarchy because they desire that power for themselves but are frustrated in the goal of attaining it. The bondage here is to a spirit of ambition.
The wounded: There are those who have been spiritually abused or have seen others being lorded over by those who abuse their position in a hierarchy to dominate and exploit. They imagine flight from hierarchy into the refuge of anarchy. And while they may truly need a prolonged season of detox, such wounds are ultimately healed in relationship with others whose true authority is servant love. The bondage here is lingering resentment and mistrust that establishes isolation.
The self-willed: There are those who resist hierarchy because any structure whatsoever smells like bondage, when in fact the deeper bondage is to the spirit of self-will. In fact, those who recognize the true nature of hierarchy as self-giving service know its demands and may recoil from them. But they do well to reflect on their love of "freedom" and discern whether self-denying service or personal autonomy is the more oppressive jailor.

Of these, in recent years I've witnessed the mimetic rivalry and political duels among those ambitious for position and power, and been appalled at how the Darwinian victors and victims create their own pseudo-hierarchy or fall into a bestial pecking order. And it makes no difference that I can detect whether one thinks their in an institution or not. It's common to all the powers of any civilization. Praying Saint Ephraim's Prayer through lent (yes, with many full prostrations) has begun, over the years, to loosen the grip of that spirit of ambition in me. Or was it really rather weariness of the cruelty in the game.

But, through the help of others (and especially mentors, spiritual directors, sponsors and hierarchs), I am also becoming minimally self-aware -- enough to confess my white-knuckled vice-grip on self-will or rather, its grip on me. This self-will is at the root of my delusional need to manage, manipulate and control life, others and even God (as if I could). I cling to my supposed rights to my supposed freedoms. And I can see how even a single rung "up" (he says ironically) the ecclesial or corporate ladder seriously threatens that "freedom" to do and say and write whatever the hell I want. Yes, I submit to and even obey my spiritual fathers and mothers as best I can, but only to the measure I have chosen. They have not abused that trust or pushed for more. But I'd rather not give even an inch more, because the ego (the flesh, the addict, the craver) is a persistent and pernicious companion, adept at resisting death (death to self/death to the world) in any measure and avoiding the cross at any cost. Even at the cost of resurrection life?

Death. That sounds ominous. I thought that Christ is the abundant life-giver? What do we mean by death to self? What is this death to world? Isaac the Syrian explains:

“The world” is the general name for all the passions. When we wish to call the passions by a common name, we call them the world. But when we wish to distinguish them by their special names, we call them passions. The passions are the following: love of riches, desire for possessions, bodily pleasure from which comes sexual passion, love of honor which gives rise to envy, lust for power, arrogance and pride of position, the craving to adorn oneself with luxurious clothes and vain ornaments, the itch for human glory which is a source of rancor and resentment, and physical fear. Where these passions cease to be active, there the world is dead…. Someone has said of the Saints that while alive they were dead; for though living in the flesh, they did not live for the flesh. See for which of these passions you are alive. Then you will know how far you are alive to the world, and how far you are dead to it.”

-St Isaac the Syrian (7th Century)

Yes, authentic hierarchy is a threat, because it deliberately seeks to crucify envy, lust for power, arrogance and pride of position. And in my case, self-will.

And an aberrant hierarchy is similarly a threat, fed as it is by these same passions to the point where they become demonic.

The fact that authentic and aberrant hierarchs fill posts in the same institutions (whether churches, schools, governments or businesses) makes you wonder: isn't it better to just walk away from hierarchy and institutions altogether? If you must. And perhaps some must.

A word about institutions

But there is a cost. In walking away or keeping a distance, it's important that we become aware of two stubborn facts:

Gung-ho gurus: The most anti-institutional folks (with good reason) are also often the most vulnerable to further harm through the informal and invisible hierarchies into which they are drawn (and they are drawn, like kites free of their strings are drawn to trees). Many of these, by nature, gather around other wounded souls as sort of informal gurus who may answer to no one. Some are wonderfully sympathetic and act as effective wounded healers and spiritual parents. Some are responsible with this calling and I can think of a few good examples. But others are not. They may be unwitting spiritual predators who feed their own egos with the dependency of their acolytes. So please: exercise all the same wariness with these off-the-grid hierarchs that you would in the most rigid institution.
One-generation faith: Brian Zahnd asks an important question: Will Christianity be possible for my grandchildren? By the grace of God, any individual can survive a life-time of uprooted faith. As Ron Dart would say, whether it's an endeavor by God or by the best among us, institutions form to preserve (however imperfectly) a civilizational memory when everything threatens to destroy it. Flight is a natural response to institutional decadence. But with no history, there is no memory and our individualistic and isolated faith becomes flaky, fragile and fragmented. We may be attracted to spiritually thin dilettantes who only contribute to the disintegration. But if our spirituality can rise above personal survival or self-gratification to a sense of responsibility to our progeny and to humanity itself, then we will have internalized a vision that can be passed on. Which is to say, we will institute ... or better, will serve in the institutions that are the means to that end. And yes, that is scary. But less so than the prospect that my grandchildren will have no faith inheritance to receive or soil from which it might sprout.

All of these thoughts are only that, but I think they need to be thought, especially by those for whom 'hierarchy' and 'institution' are assumed pejoratives and 'freedom' is a euphemism for self-will. I am not proposing as solution that involves rushing back to Pharaoh's slave pits, but hoping to raise questions for those who'd rather not wander in circles for another 40 years.

Comments

I have to disagree with a thought I had on reading the end of your comment, Ms./Mr. Mitchell. You wrote that it's "more fun" to be in the Way. If the Way is used to refer to being part of institutional forms of Christ-following, I (and many others) have found that the overall experience is sincerely *not* fun. If "the Way" refers to being in *regular gathering with other believers* in or outside of institutional gatherings, then I heartily agree that *that* is more fun (life-giving, interesting, joyful, playful).

Posted by: Chuck Waterman | July 08, 2017 at 12:43 AM

Ray Sutton, in his book on covenant, THAT YOU MAY PROSPER, has said that unless there is visible authority on earth, God then has no authority on earth. One of the five working principles of covenant is that of hierarchy. I don't think you are necessarily saying that hierarchy is a bad thing, but rather than it can be misused.

If this is the case, as one who myself has been rather roundly abused by hierarchical leaderships of several various types, I would say a fervent (and perhaps Evangelical sounding) AMEN! My latest abuse comes from the very people who are supposed to be my spiritual fathers and guides - the Church.

You have given me some food for thought. I am no fan of anarchy, but I wonder if we should just automatically listen to every hierarchical voice that comes along, just because they claim that they "represent God" in all that they say, declare, and do. I seem to remember Jesus teaching something about knowing a tree by its fruit rather than by what it appears to be - a good tree bearing good fruit and a bad tree bearing bad fruit. As such, the church I am currently affiliated with is giving me considerable pause for reflection after not only an examination of its fruit, but a deep taste which has produced considerable bitterness on my tongue.

Posted by: Edward Hara | May 04, 2017 at 12:21 PM

As you say Brad, hard but necessary questions. There is some measure of peace in the ‘freedom’ closet - significant attenuation of mundane annoyances come to mind as a trivial example. On the other side, moving onto the ‘full service’ highway has many potholes, and it is likely to delay any real understanding of patience. Christ struggled mightily with this paradox of the need to be out there (and in there) and the need for quiet, and yes, patience.

How long should one wait to hear the voice, to see the direction that the Spirit wants one to take? Is there any argument at all for starting into a way that seems right to the wannabe faithful follower, only to discover sometime later that the oh so quiet Spirit was pointing in another direction - perhaps not from the beginning but certainly now.

Is there an argument for ‘marking time’? As you say, wandering in the wilderness for 40 years does nothing to help maintain what we already have, however wounded and inadequate it may be. There are probably times when just trying to maintain what we have already is what the Spirit says we must do. There is, after all, a season for all things.

However, this does not seem like a time for mere maintenance - far from it. Yet, the deconstruction that is necessary takes its toll. The baby and bathwater metaphor is, as always, important. And, reconstruction needs to be ever so carefully done so as to avoid more doctrinaire set-pieces.

Perhaps, acknowledging all these issues, thinking about them, is the central part of what is needed. Also, acknowledgement that there are those within the ’system’ as well as those without who very definitely need each other. We need to constantly check each other’s work, carry each other’s loads and perhaps even put on each other’s shoes from time to time.

In the end, it’s all about getting better at discerning what the Spirit wants at each time and place before moving forward. But, there will likely be distinctly different imperatives at different times and places until it all finally comes together at Christ’s return. Even then, in a renewed heaven and earth, I hope we will still have lots of learning, and hopefully advanced Spirit following, to get right.

Bottom line - it’s a lot better, and more fun, to be in the Way, even when we bump into things from time to time, and especially when our patience is tested. This is because we believe that the Spirit who leads this whole thing, in Christ’s name, is always on the job. Together, we have reasons to hope that we can become better at seeing, hearing and following.

Posted by: Bev Mitchell | April 12, 2017 at 09:29 AM