Whose friend are we?

I am an Orthodox evangelist, but I do not witness for the Church.
I witness for Christ, and He witnesses for the Church.

Everything good and everything bad that can be found in any church of any denomination can also be found in some form or another within the Orthodox Church. None of the arguments pro and con convince me either way.

The Church is the Church is the Church. When God the Father looks at the Church the only people He sees there are those whom He has drawn to His Son Jesus, and no others.

Why?
Because that is, by definition plain and simple, who and what the Church is.

That being said, I also say, the Church has never been divided, and can never be, because Christ prays for its unity to His Father, and the Father always grants His Son's request. If any of us think the Church has been divided, then he's got a problem.

From Christ's point of view, Orthodoxy doesn't even exist. All He knows about is His precious and faithful Bride whom He has been adorning and perfecting through suffering all these centuries, and He's getting ready, now, to take her into the Wedding Chamber.

Yes, I am an Orthodox Christian, but all that means is, I am finally freed from the war of words that absorbs so much of the strength and energy and resources of the Christian community at large. I am free, literally, to go anywhere, to be all things to all men, because I have found the Door, and I can always get back to my world through that Door, as long as I don't stray from the Lamppost.

Orthodox Christianity is not a denomination, and it would be better if Christians inside and outside of her would just stop using the name ‘Orthodox’ if it is being used as a knife to slice up the Body of Christ.

Don't you think that the spirit in me recognizes the spirit in another man whether he even calls himself a Christian or not, as being my brother in Christ?

We all know who it is we have believed in. We know the voice of the Shepherd when we hear it, whether it comes from the pulpit in our local church, or out there in the unchurched, maybe unchurchable, wilds. We also know when we hear the words of the hireling, and see his acts, even when they appear in the very same places of churchly ministry or authority.

In Christ we are a meek and faithful bunch, but in the world we are the most anarchistic and uncooperative of mankind. It's no wonder the world hates us, whether we are Orthodox or not, Christian or not, religious or not, articulate or not.

The important thing is, whose friend are we? God's or the world's.

Once this is decided, all the obstacles to our life in Christ and in the Church disappear... All the obstacles we've put there, I mean.
Yes, once we cross that imaginary line, the devil can be depended on to do his work.

But do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased the Father to bestow upon us the Kingdom.