‘Orthodoxy’ is the intact form of the Church and presents a consistent, homogenous doctrinal and even practical face to the world. It is this alone which probably accounts for the majority of converts who come not by marriage but by choice, swallowing elements of strange dogma without question or turning the other cheek to things they don’t really agree with. But the same affliction that has decimated the ranks of non-Orthodox Christianity is intrinsically present even in Orthodoxy. I have seen the beginnings of the purveying of cheap grace in my own community, and the sorts of converts that are being drawn to us because of it. It’s all very, very green. It should not be about, ‘what are they looking for?’ It should be about ‘Who…’
I have met many good Christians ‘out there’ that are unchurchable precisely because they cannot find the Church. It’s not exactly that the Church is invisible, but that it’s too visible, and not dressed in the humility of the Lord, but in the cheap, flashy garments of self-love and false hope, proud of itself and flaunting its illusory achievements, its building programs, its seminars, its selective charities and its roster of learned, professional leaders. It may be for different reasons, the externals may be different, but for the Christian today the churches have made the following of Jesus Christ within churchly structures nearly impossible, just as they did in Germany when Bonhoeffer wrote his book.
The outcome of all this is what I have called outgrowing Christianity. Those who are churchable pursue the American dream and justify it with selective scriptural abandon. Those who are unchurchable pursue the American dream and go it alone with their conscience as their guide. And as for me, I simply don’t know which group has outgrown Christianity more, or worse, whether they have outgrown Christ.
But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first…
Matthew 21:28-32a KJV
I am one of those Christians about which you so eloquently speak, Brother Romanos. I am seriously giving thought to converting to Catholicism. I hope this doesn't break your heart, but I think it would be home for me.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't something I've been rash about. I really gave the Presbyterian Church a chance, but I am reading a lot of good, sound doctrine in books by the early church fathers and one by Archbishop James Gibbons called, The Faith of Our Fathers.
I have no idea how I'm going to tell my very fundamentalist family. They will definitely not get it.
Dear Sister, no, you are not breaking my heart by converting to Roman Catholicism. As a matter of fact, it was from reading the book Faith of Our Fathers that I found when I was in my early twenties that my allegiance in terms of Church was clinched for Catholicism. I had been brought up Catholic, but wasn't sure why Christianity had to be in that form until I read Cardinal Gibbons' excellent book. It is a treasure of Western Church thought.
ReplyDeleteThat is why I think I became an Anglican (original version, not what we know today as the Episcopal Church, though that's what it was back then), but it also impelled me to search more thoroughly and study the Church fathers. I started with the Western ones, of course, Vincent of Lerins, for example, whose excellent treatise Commonitory bequeathed me a vocabulary to defend my Catholic faith. Augustine of Hippo's Confessions I read and reread till I had it almost memorised, along with his wonderful book Enchiridion. I still have all these books in my bookcase, and I am glad that they were my teachers.
My move to the Orthodox Church (which is the Orthodox Catholic Church) happened in an unusual way and was not premeditated. I've written about all this here and there in this blog, and you may have read some of these testimonies. What is important, though, is your testimony, because that is what you will be called upon to deliver before men (your relatives, for example) and before the King of kings of kings—blessed be He! And I am going to be standing next to you in the latter day, before Him, to say my 'Amen!' as I confess that you and I have suffered for the same faith, Lord, and baptism, of which there is only one.
'Catholic' and 'Orthodox' are meaningless terms when we stand before the One to whom we must present our lives. Yes, on earth and among men we must stand under those banners in order to man the ramparts, but for you and me and those of our common faith, there is only One City, and it is the one not-made-by-hands. And that we stand our positions and support each other in the earthly struggle, proves to the world that we are not of it, and Whose we are.
Now, Sister, the battle begins, but know that as you take the first steps, I am there with you. There is no loss with Jesus.
Jewel,
ReplyDeleteI had been thinking about you and wondering how you were. You are a child of God....period. The other details are important, but sometimes very difficult to untangle because they pull this way and that, and only you can walk your journey as you believe you are called to do. Wherever you find a home, may it be a place of peace and love, and may you be able to withstand those who do not understand you.
Thank you both. I am taking steps as of today. I have contacted a convert to Catholicism, and have been learning. The fact that this requires of me a good deal of time and patience is only a plus. I am at complete peace with my decision. When I look at how Satan is ravaging the fold, I feel I must stand with the Faith. No bunker mentality. No running for the hills. No end of the world sermonizing. Just another battle in the long history of battles for the souls of men.
ReplyDelete