Since the sixties many people, both young and old have been travelling to the little village of Taizé in Burgundy, eastern France. After the Second World War, Roger Schutz began building an ecumenical community, a kind of trans-denominational monastic order based on the catholic model. All the young men who join this order take a vow of celibacy, renunciation of all ownership, and obedience to the Prior. Roger Schutz himself was a Protestant, though he was born into a mixed denomination family. Since his death a German Catholic, Alois Löser, has taken his place.
We have given our attention to the official Taizé website, especially the articles listed under the heading "Bible and Faith" and would like to examine them in the light of the Bible.
We want to start by quoting a prayer by Roger Schutz which gives an interesting insight into the theological ideas of the Taizé community.
"Oh God, the father of all,
you ask every one of us to spread love where the poor are humiliated,
joy where the Church is brought low,
and reconciliation where people are divided...,
Father against son, mother against daughter,
Husband against wife, Believers against those who cannot believe,
Christians against their unloved fellow Christians.
You open this way for us, so that the wounded body of Jesus Christ, your church, may be leaven of Communion for the poor of the earth and in the whole human family.
We are both of us challenged by the suffering of the modern world. Confronted with all that wounds humanity, we find the divisions between Christians unbearable. Are we ready to set aside our separations, freeing ourselves from our fear of one another? When people differ, what use is there in trying to find out who was right or wrong?"1
The theological direction revealed in this text is confirmed by a more thorough examination of the articles on the Taizé website: the reconciliation of people of all Christian denominations is to be the first step towards the reconciliation of the whole of mankind. The way to reach this is not by correcting one's own false and distorted way of thinking in the light the teachings of Jesus, but through accepting one another with each person's varying beliefs and religious practices.
Jesus knew that his message would divide people and he prepared his disciples for this very fact:
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'
Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (Matt 10:34-38)
It was not Jesus' explicit aim to divide people, but it was clear to him that the peace of God is only possible where people open themselves up for God's point of view and change their lives accordingly. During the time of his ministry on earth Jesus already experienced that many people, especially those who consider themselves to be very religious, were not ready to do that. Just as Jesus experienced their hostility, so too everyone who follows him as his master shares his lot.
If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)
Jesus' love for the truth protected him from unrealistic wishful thinking. He gave his life for all people, offering all people the chance to reconcile with God. Nevertheless he knew and clearly proclaimed that the path to eternal life is small and there are few who find it:
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matt 7:13+14).
As Christians we have a ministry of reconciliation. In 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 Paul writes:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
It becomes clear what the central point is: reconciliation with God on the basis of man's recognition and regret of the guilt that he has brought upon himself and the willingness to forsake his own self-chosen way of life and thinking (Jesus refers to this as self-denial). Truth must replace our own selfish standards. Truth alone should form the basis of the life and thinking of everyone who wants to follow Jesus.
Roger Schutz questions why in every dispute we should ask who is right and who is wrong. Admittedly, such disputes in which both sides are only interested in keeping their own point of view are fruitless. In our opinion, avoiding the question of who is right and wrong when there is disunity in regard to the content and practice of our faith testifies to an absence of love for the truth. It also testifies to the absence of faith in Christ, who, in his prayer to the Father (John 17) interceded for deep unity among all those who would believe in him. Is he not able to make it possible to find this unity, a unity that is not brought about by avoiding certain topics, or by simply accepting everyone's opinion in disputed matters after the motto: "Everyone has his own truth"? This is a merely human attempt to achieve a superficial and outward unity.
In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The truth is the light that came into the world from God and is manifested in Jesus. Following him, holding to his teaching is what it means to live in the truth. This also is the way to reach deep unity and authentic reconciliation among those who want to walk this narrow path.
We would now like to respond in more detail to some of the articles on the Taizé website, especially those under the heading "Questions on the Bible and the Christian Faith".
Read more:
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com