Читать книгу Listen My Son - Dwight Longenecker - Страница 23

When, therefore, anyone takes the name of Abbot, he should rule over his disciples with two kinds of teaching; that is to say, he must show forth all good and holy things by his words and even more by his deeds. To apt disciples he must explain the Lord's teaching by word, but to those who are hard of heart or simple of mind he must make clear the divine teaching by his actions. By his deeds he must make it clear that nothing may be done which he has taught his disciples to be forbidden, lest while he preaches to others he should merit rejection himself, and God should some day say to him as he sins, ‘What business have you reciting my statutes, standing there mouthing my covenant, since you detest my discipline, and thrust my words behind you?’ And ‘you observed the splinter in your brother's eye, and did not notice the plank in your own?’

In this simple passage Benedict reminds us that we teach by both word and deed, and that one cannot succeed without the other. Benedict is also wise to point out that one form of teaching may be better for one child than another. Some children will learn more easily by being told: others need actions. Both will be watching to see if our words and actions agree, and the sobering truth is that in the end they will do as we do, not as we say.

It is vital that our teaching is backed up by our actions to avoid hypocrisy and give weight to the truth. But the need for words and actions to agree has a deeper reason, because no truth is ever valid unless it is acted on. Practising what we preach goes right to the heart of what we believe as Christians because as we practise the truth we ‘enflesh’ the truth and make it visible. Trying to live the truth means our faith is never just a matter of agreeing to the right dogma or giving intellectual assent to a system of belief. Instead, faith itself becomes a way of life, a living and dynamic force woven into our very existence.

This kind of ‘enacted faith’ also has a prophetic element. The Old Testament prophets not only spoke God's word, but they often preached directly from circumstances around them, and took certain dramatic and prophetic actions. So in the home every opportunity should be taken to join moral teaching with real-life situations. The rough and tumble of family life should provide the classroom for the soul's growth. So it isn't good enough simply to declare what is right and wrong and expect obedience, but time should be taken to explain the ramifications of wrongdoing, and why a certain thing is wrong: e.g. because it hurts people. In this way the truths of faith and morals are constantly being woven into the patterns and actions of everyday life.