Extreme measures

My wife recently read a summary biography of St Nilus, circa 450 AD.  St Nilus, in response to the wicked culture in which he lived, responded with an extreme measure.  He was married and had two children. He and his son went to one monastery and his wife took their daughter and joined another. That is an extreme response.
A few questions have come to mind, in this regard.  This godly man responded in an extremely blatant manner to sin, and it worked.  The church has recognized him as saint. First, could this response be seen as a blanket response that anyone could use, or was it specific to him, not to be imitated?  Second, was it a good response, or was it merely an attempt to escape?  Third, would this sort of response with in our day and in our culture?
The question I need to ask myself is, what extreme response am I willing to give, in response to the wicked culture in which I live?  It is very easy to rationalize, justify and/or explain away the way we live.  We really need to pause and consider how we live, how we respond to sin and how strongly we strive after holiness.
Or are we simply living an easy, unobtrusive life?  Have we chosen an easy path, one that is inoffensive and nice? It is easy to throw around the catch phrases and platitudes that sound holy, but do we live them?
No one can answer that question for anyone else, but only for themselves, but everyone will have to answer to God for themselves and no one else.