In Desert Fathers, an entire section is dedicated to the topic of exercising discretion in words and actions. The words we speak have an incredible impact on people. Christ came to give the words of life. During his ministry, He would speak to crowds and individuals, and He would sometimes not speak at all. As Christians, we must be especially careful in the way we encourage and edify each other. God uses people wherever they are at in their walk with Him, and it falls on us to encourage them to use their talents to serve God.
Within the chapter discussing discretion, a story is told of a monk who comes to a fellow monk named Poemen and tells him he is going to use his crops to put together a love feast (99). Poemen tells him it’s a good idea, and the brother goes away “with purpose” and to invite more guests. Another monk, Anub, overhears the exchange and approaches Poemen. Anub asks Poemen if he is afraid God will be upset because the other monk is focusing on farming instead of monk’s work. Poemen doesn’t respond, but he invites the farming monk back to his cell two days later. Poemen asks him what he inquired about before, claiming that his mind was occupied with something else; the monk repeats his invitation to the love feast, and Poemen now says, “I thought you were talking about your brother, who is a layman. What you are doing is not a monk’s work” (100). The monk is saddened at this because he says working in his field is the only type of work he knows how to do. He leaves, and Anub begs for Poemen’s forgiveness for his quick judgement of the brother. Poemen says he knew that what the original monk was doing wasn’t monks’ work, but he said what the man needed to hear to have his soul comforted. The brother went away sadly, but Poemen says he will continue “in the same work”. There are many lessons about discretion and service to God to be learned from this short scenario.
We learn from the brother to use what God has given us to serve Him and to be intentional in our actions. In the parable of the talents, God’s expectation of the use of our abilities for His glory is revealed. The master gave each servant a different amount of talents according to his ability. When the master returned, two of the servants had worked hard to increase their master’s account and one had hidden the talent in the ground. The servants were judged according to how they had used what was given to them. In relation to Desert Fathers, the brother with the farm knew how to work in a field. Perhaps he had been a farmer before becoming a monk. He wanted to take his experience and serve a love-feast for the other monks. He recognized what his strengths were, and he set out to use them to fellowship with his brethren (99). Paul, in the book of Colossians, encourages the brethren to work for the Lord: “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17).
We also learn to approach God with the right heart. The New Testament is centered around the notion that God wants our hearts first. Though he was still learning the appropriate methods, the brother had a good heart. I think the man was looking for confirmation from a more experienced brother that what he wanted to do was a good work. The brother was not struggling with pride but with doubt. If his reason for hosting the feast was pride, then Poemen wouldn’t have said it was a good work. Poemen did not see any harm in allowing the brother to in his work. In fact, he says it would have increased in charity. Poemen recognized that in that circumstance the brother’s desire to serve the Lord was more important than the work itself.
From Poemen, we learn to understand people’s hearts before speaking. Poemen did not originally discourage the brother from farming because he knew the brother needed encouragement. Poemen says, “I knew from the beginning that it was not a monk’s work. But I spoke to his soul’s need, and stilled his soul so that he might increase in charity” (100). This brother’s soul was unsettled; perhaps he was new to his faith and was unsure how to serve God. He decided to use what he knew how to do, farming, to serve others in a love feast. A love feast would have provided an opportunity for fellowship and unity among the brothers. Poemen recognized the distress within the soul of the brother and encouraged him in a way that would increase his work in charity. We are supposed to build each other up and edify each other. Does this mean we should lie to each other? Of course not. Poemen told the brother what would give him the greatest benefit at that time. When encouraged, the brother felt confident about what he was doing and went to invite even more people. After being told it wasn’t monk’s work, he was discouraged and lost the benefit of increasing in charity. The brother still had a lot to learn about serving the Lord. He was narrow-minded in his belief that farming was the only work he knew how to do. And, according to Poemen, he continued in the same work in his field, but now with sorrow. A few words were the difference between how much that brother would do for the Lord.
From Anub, we learn about discretion in our judgement. At first, he does not understand why Poemen didn’t reprimand the brother. Poemen sees an opportunity to teach Anub about discretion. Poemen invites the other monk again and talks to him in the hearing of Anub (100). Anub learns that the brother is still learning how to serve God, and he asks Poemen’s forgiveness. Anub was not wrong in his desire to do the right thing. Anub was facing a common struggle: he knew all of the rules, but his heart was not yet open to the struggles of other people. Once he realized his mistake, he quickly repented of his quick judgement.
Everyone will give an account for the words they say. Therefore, we should take the time to consider the situation of the person and the attitude behind our words. If we speak from a place of love, then we are fulfilling the Lord’s command. Poemen, along with many other characters in the chapter, teaches us the necessity for discretion in our lives. We should all desire to interact with each other in a spirit of compassion and understanding.
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