Is it even possible for anyone today to accurately claim the title of “Authentic 21st-Century Templar”?
The answer to that very essential question is wholly conditional.
If the individual making the claim to be a 21st-century Templar does so while repudiating the core of the original Templar’s ethos, then the answer is unambiguously clear: they are a wannabee, perhaps – or possibly a well-meaning service club member at best.
But certainly not an authentic Templar!
Dressing up as a Templar in a costume once in a while is one thing – but living the life of a Templar Knight day to day is quite another.
There is a case to be made that some 21st-century Templar organizations could be considered legitimate service clubs as members primarily wear (in this case) their less-than-sacred mantle as a rank-delivery-device displayed at scheduled fundraising activities. But to use the term “authentic Templar” for this example radically misses the bar.
Such divergence is accepted in our culture because we have unfortunately “learned” about our Templar history through the exploitative antics of Hollywood. The entertainment industry typically has it totally wrong and deliberately misrepresents Templars in characteristically salacious ways.
For example, on the History Channel (which often molests the word ‘history’ with ill-disguised slander), there was the hilariously tragic example when they aired the series, Knightfall. The first season actually opened with the Kight Commander series star – a cloistered monk with vows of chastity – in bed with the adulterous Queen of France.
The second season failed because there were more people watching Sponge Bob reruns than Knightfall. And in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven, crusaders dressed up like Templars who were serving at the pleasure of King Baldwin of Jerusalem were depicted as the self-serving, evil, nasty, duplicitous villains.
When using Templars as the plot of many novels, again, we are seriously misrepresented. Or in the History Channel Oak Island storyline, Templarism has been reduced to shameless clickbait.
Unfortunately, the list goes on….
So, given the constant mainstream misrepresentation of Templars, what would genuinely constitute an authentic 21st-century Templar who is seriously, strategically, and with all spiritual energy maintaining, protecting, and enhancing the core ethos of our forefathers? How does one articulate this core ethos in a modern life with true integrity and precision?
Given the long history of the Knights Templar, whose fame has been hijacked by many organizations large and small and consistently misrepresented and libeled by the media, how do we untangle more than 900 years of distortion?
The answer is actually quite straightforward. The original core Templar’s ethos is summed up in a single sacred word: Jesus.
Anyone who knows that in their deepest heart, clearly understands the authentic Templar – whether in the year 1118 or this year! Any of the original Templars would have agreed wholeheartedly with this, but everything else about them, both true and false, is just noise. Their Christ-follower ethos can be distilled in a single phrase:
Authentically serve Jesus in a life dedicated to His Kingdom on Earth and in Heaven 24/7 every day until death.
Each Templar Knight realized, just as every person of the Cross does today, that they (and we) are dead to self – and alive to Christ. As the Apostle Paul stated in Holy Scripture:
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, Whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19)
The red cross on the Templar mantel symbolized the Knight’s commitment to suffer martyrdom. It represented a willingness to give their life for the Kingdom of God any day, any time, without hesitation. Therefore, it was vividly emblazoned on their very clothing, just as the red cross on our mantles today is to symbolize the same vow we each took when we bent our knee before God and man and accepted the accolade.
A Templar then and now is all in for Jesus and the Kingdom of God. Jesus was their sole focus and He was the single reason for every thought and every action of their life. Literally, everything else was superfluous unless it likewise focused on the building and advancement of the Kingdom of God for the Lord Master.
This thoroughly describes the core ethos of the Templars of 1118 and the 21st-century. There is literally nothing else to add.
In the end, everyone who is a Christian (that is every Templar Knight and Dame in SMOTJ) is indwelled with the Holy Spirit, and His influence in everyone’s life is irresistible. Far be it from me to judge anyone else, when I have such full-time job just keeping track of my own daily challenges on this amazing life journey to Zion’s gates.
But about that extraordinary journey that we have been sworn to…
About doing things right and with integrity before our Creator…
Here is a promise from Holy Writ. This verse is at once exciting and wholly enabling as the Spirit within each of us moves us daily and deliberately toward become more like the image of Christ on our Templar pilgrimage to Zion. Every Person of the Cross should trust and welcome these words with great enthusiasm:
“Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own Master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living… For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall give praise to God.”
(Romans 14:4, 7-11)