Rugged Individualism in Church?

 

President Herbert Hoover coined the phrase, “rugged individualism.” Poor Herbert Hoover was the President when the Great Depression began. Try as he would, and he really did try, he attempted to pull the nation out of the abyss. He was actually a very capable and compassionate man, but nothing he did was able to lift the country. He saw the great hope in the rugged individualism of the people in the nation and credited that imagery for building the nation.

Politically this is a great debate. One could say with some sense that the Republican Party is based, in part, on the premise of “rugged individualism.” Some could say that the Democratic Party is built on the premise of “It takes a village.” We could make political arguments for both and there is merit and virtue in both of these perspectives. I’m not writing about politics, however.

In recent years the phrase rugged individualism has shown up more in churches. I hear often about people and their personal salvation and their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I am not going to downplay the role of salvation or relationships with Jesus Christ. I will not and cannot diminish that in the least. I worry, however, about the increasing use of the word ‘personal’ in terms of Christianity.

The word only shows up four times in the Bible with three of the times being used in Judith as an adjective. Here are the three verses where it appears:

Judith 12
¹⁰ On the fourth day Holofernes held a banquet for his personal attendants only, and did not invite any of his officers.

¹¹ He said to Bagoas, the eunuch who had charge of his personal affairs, "Go and persuade the Hebrew woman who is in your care to join us and to eat and drink with us.

Judith 14:13

¹³ They came to Holofernes' tent and said to the steward in charge of all his personal affairs, "Wake up our lord, for the slaves have been so bold as to come down against us to give battle, to their utter destruction."

The only other time it appears and is used in something other than this particular kind of direct adjective is on Proverbs:

Proverbs 18:2
² A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinion.

One word can be used to describe this passage from Proverbs: Ouch.

So, in expressing my personal opinion I may not be taking pleasure in understanding and may, in fact, be a fool. Okay, I get that.

There is a reason ‘personal’ and ‘individualism’ is not dwelled on in the Bible. It’s not a concept or a part of Judaism or Christianity. Judaism and Christianity are built around the concept of community. Within Judaism there is virtually no sense of personal relationships with God or personal thoughts about Worship. None. Zero. Judaism is a communal religion.

The reality is that while there is a little sense of individualism in Christianity, it’s a LITTLE sense. Christianity is very much built on its Jewish heritage and follows in the same path of community.

Jesus called apostles and disciples together into a community.

The concept of ‘church’ was built on a community of believers. Baptism was not done in a secret place, but in front of others. The breaking of the bread was not done solitude but with a community of believers. The words ‘Communion’ and “Community” derive from the same root for a very particular meaning.

Monasteries are often the quietest places that Christianity is practiced and lived out and most of the monasteries follow the Rule of St. Benedict. Benedict placed great emphasis, in his rule, on the value and virtue of community. Monks may spend a lot of time being quiet but they also spend a great deal of time together. They pray alone but they mostly pray together. Together. If you join the Marines they teach you the importance and the virtue of the Corps. Marines are brothers and sisters to each other to the max. Monks have no sense of individualism or sense of personal because they are part of a monastic family. It is ‘trained’ out of them, much in the same way it’s trained out of Marines. (Marines and monks might find it odd that I’m linking them but this is actually an accurate linkage; what they do, however, is vastly different.)
Which brings me back to Herbert Hoover. The phrase, to me, has some merit in society as does the whole concept of village. To me, it takes both great individualists and villages to build a nation and I think over the years we have done that. It takes both and requires both.

In God’s church, however, while I would promote personal prayer and study, I am a great advocate for community. To me, Christianity is, by definition, a communal endeavor. We simply do not live lives of faith as well as we can when we try and do so as rugged individualists on a personal endeavor. From a theological perspective, the Bible advocates community over personal in a big way.

We are called into a community of believers for a reason and that reason is that it is God who has called us together.