There seems to be no standard method of evangelism in the Orthodox Church, especially now in these modern times. Unfortunately, Orthodoxy in America is very lazy, waiting for converts to come to the church on their own. Some of the clergy that I know seem to be strangely proud of this fact, as if a fisherman should be proud that fish somehow find their way into his net without the net being cast. This is not an apostolic attitude.Until recently most converts came through marriage to an Orthodox man or woman, as in the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding. This film was embarassingly accurate in many details, uncovering some of the less laudable realities of Greek Orthodoxy in America.
The last twenty years or so has seen Orthodoxy capitalizing on the frustrations of Roman Catholics (against contemporary worship) and Protestants (against modern worship and deconstruction of scriptural faith). In Northern Ireland, Orthodoxy capitalizes on the frustrations of both groups with the endless cycle of animosity between them. Protestant clergy often visit the Antiochian priest secretly for help that they cannot get elsewhere.
In general, the Orthodox Church doesn't evangelize as an institution. It simply maintains order in doctrine and practice, and disseminates information about itself as a faith community, focusing in on what makes it distinctive. This makes it appear to buy into the ecumenical world view that "all paths lead to God," which is of course the fundamental heresy of our times.
Real evangelism takes place almost exclusively through the unsupported efforts of ordinary Christians, like myself. The style varies, but I would say that what we've done, reading the Bible aloud publicly and the rest of it, is very much in the Orthodox tradition.
Orthodoxy is the faith of the martyroi, the witnesses, and that's what we do, wherever we are. No frills, no strings attached, leaving God to do the work of converting men's hearts. All we do is follow along behind Jesus. He does it all.
"All we do is catch the fish with the Word of God. He cleans ‘em and sorts ‘em out."
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19 NIV)
I appreciate the honesty with which you speak of evangelism in the Orthodox context. I thank God you break the mould. What puzzles me about any Christian grouping is that they do not want to tell others. Let them say they are frightened or that they lack the gifting or that they are embarrassed to share their faith in Christ ( those problems, if they are really true can be resolved)but they must never say they don't care, or their hearts do not cry out to God that he might save some. Paul would have been prepared to be cut off for the sake of his brethren, Moses would have given his life, and Christ did! And it is because of Christ's love for us that it is in our spiritual D.N.A to be missional in our outlook in our overall discipleship!
ReplyDeleteAs Wesley wrote
O that the world might taste and see the riches of His grace,
The arms of love that compass me would all mankind embrace.
Or if we truly follow Christ he will make us fishers of men,