Through the writings on the Dead Sea Scrolls, scholars have learned a great deal about Essene philosophy and culture. They have also discovered remarkable similarities between the theological beliefs and practices of the Essenes and the early church.

The Essenes practiced a form of ritual cleansing by water, similar to baptism. And they also established a communal lifestyle with common ownership of possessions, much like the early church.

They believed they were living at the end of an age and expected two Messiahs—a priest messiah and a king messiah—to come imminently. The early church also thought of the Messiah as a perfect priest and king, but they recognized that these qualities were united in the one person of Jesus.

Many Essene terms were echoed by Jesus and the apostles as well. They believed in justification by faith and spoke about sons of light fighting an evil world. They thought of themselves as preparing the ?way of the Lord? by obeying his truths. And they called themselves the ?New Israel,? the same words Paul used to describe the church.
Just as God used the Romans? effective roads and communication system to spread the gospel, it seems that he used the Essene community to prepare for Jesus as well. Through their teachings and practices, God laid the groundwork for many concepts that Jesus and the early church would introduce to the world.

God's Work in History

We do not know if the Essenes recognized Jesus as their Messiah. But God clearly used them to create just the right setting for Jesus? ministry. The Essene community reminds us that God?s work in history rarely happens suddenly. His plans unfold gradually through history and the everyday lives of his people.
God still uses people and communities to bring about his salvation plan. But his tim

ing usually differs from our own. All too often, Christians sit back and wait for a dramatic change instead of pushing steadily forward with the truth. We must remember that God uses our everyday practices and beliefs as well.

As we try to impact an evil culture for God, Christians should seek patience. God?s workings in our life do not always happen at the pace we desire. But we can be confident that he is using us if we live in faithfulness to his calling.


Bringing Light to the Darkness

The Essenes recognized that spiritual light and spiritual darkness could not coexist, and they refused to compromise with the darkness. Christians today would do well to remember their message. We are in a serious battle between light and darkness, but we?re tempted to embrace the very evils we must confront.

Unfortunately, the Essenes? isolated wilderness community did not give them the best opportunity to confront the ?sons of darkness.? Fearing the temptations of a pagan culture, they lived in isolation. And instead of bringing their beliefs to a dark world, they kept their light hidden in the wilderness.

Rather than abandoning secular culture, God calls his people to bring the light of truth to those living in darkness. We are called to live holy, but not isolated, lives.
Jesus once said that, ?Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God? (John 3:20—21).

Our Rabbi understood that people living in darkness do not willingly go to the light. As Christians today, we must bring truth to every part of our culture, even those areas that seem most hopeless and dim. Whereas the Essenes remained hidden in the desert, we must bring God?s love to the crossroads of our world.

Will you obey and honor God while living among people who want little to do with him?
                 -Van Der Laan

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INTRO TO COMMUNITAS/LIMINALITY::
COMMUNITAS?:
Definition here
Short application to church here.
Video below



What does this "Council of Elrond" scene from "Lord of the Rings" have to do with the our theme?
Well, for one, "you need people of intelligence on this sort ofmission....quest....thing.":



That's communitas..



Alan Hirsch discussed fear of failure at Catalyst’s second lab. Here is what he said:
Victor Turner is a cultural anthropologist that studied the rituals and rites of passage for young African boys into manhood. The ordeal the boys would endure through their rite of passage created a bond deeper that community. It created communitas (takes community to the next level and allows the whole of the community to share a common experience, usually through a rite of passage).
Journeys of adventure can change you significantly.
One of the most profound sense of communitas in the US was 9/11.
In the Bible, when David was in the cave with his band of warriors, communitas was created. When Moses and the Israelites wandered the wilderness for 40 years, communitas was created. The exile formed communitas. Jesus and the 12 disciples were a journey of communitas, so was the group of 70.
The Church in the west is in big, big trouble. The Church is fine in the east. The early church and the Chinese church grew exponentially (BOOM!) despite their persecution. Mission is risky. If you create a community that avoids all risk, the people are stifled.
In trying to reach men particularly, we can learn from this. We can journey together. C.S. Lewis says, “Women are face-to-face creatures, and men are side-by-side creatures.” There is something about a bonding experience that we can learn from, experiences like Habitat for Humanity.
Creating artificial environments at church do not prepare people to cope with the rest of the week. Middle class has an obsession with safety and security. The problem is that we undermine our ability to engage the real world. No wonder we form religious enclaves. We easily forget the good things that God has done for us when we are in a safe zone.
Take some journeys. You can change the world.  LINK





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2)LIMINALITY:






Liminality/liminal space:
Also: 



The terminology comes from Victor Turner’s study of rites of passage - the process by which members of a group make the transition from one social status to another. ‘Liminality’, as Hirsch explains it, refers to periods of seclusion from the group and ordeal - for example, the trial by nature that young boys must go through out in the bush before re-entering the village as men. ‘Communitas’ is the intensified, unstructured and egalitarian form of community that develops in liminal situations. It is found in the early church and in churches that are suffering persecution. The Hirschian argument is that this condition should be normative for the missionary people of God.
The question, of course, is whether it is possible to live in a perpetual state of liminality. The exodus and the exile were unsettling and formative experiences, but they were spasms in the history of the people of God, thresholds, transitions in and out of a state of being settled - and ideallysecure and prosperous - in the land. LINK