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Question 4

Dean’s visit to the Ephrata Cloister left him asking, “Is anybody even trying anymore?”—what do you think he means by “trying,” what forms of “white vanilla…mediocre Christianity” might be normal to us, and what might sincere obedience look like without sliding into bizarre extremes?

Another way to ask: When Dean asks, “Is anybody even trying anymore?,” what kind of obedience do you think he means? What “normal” habits of safe, mediocre Christianity might we accept, and what could sincere obedience look like without going to weird extremes?

Direct Answer Dean seems to mean “trying” as genuinely attempting to obey Jesus in costly, disciplined ways rather than settling for comfortable routine. He admits the cloister was “over the top,” but he wants a Christianity that actually produces visible devotion and action, not empty normalcy.

Support from Transcript:

At Ephrata Cloister he notes the bizarre practices (like “sleeping on wooden pillows”), yet he felt a heart-check: “is really what we’re doing—is anybody even trying anymore?”
He contrasts their extremity with today’s “white vanilla…plain, mediocre Christianity,” implying a shallow, repetitive faith that doesn’t demand much.
He says he hopes we can “see within us” that mediocre Christianity “is not going to produce some of these superlative examples that we see through history.”
He consistently praises groups that “try to live out the teachings of Christ,” even if “we may differ with them,” showing that effort toward obedience matters.
His guiding distinction: ideas lived as real faith “come out” differently than ideas held as mere talk.

Discussion Follow-ups What would it look like for a church to “try” in ways that are practical and Christ-centered (mercy, holiness, prayer), without copying strange man-made disciplines just to prove seriousness?

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