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Published
by the Orthodox
Christian Network,
November 18, 2005
THE
YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
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In
a 2003 article published in the widely read
religious magazine “Books and Culture,” Laura
Merzig Fabrycky wrote an article discussing an
amazing trend she had begun seeing among
“Generation X” Christian believers, who were
embracing a much more traditional view of the
Faith than had their parents.
In this article she noted the convergence of two
trends among these young believers: “The first
is a widespread disenchantment with the gospel of
secularism and its dogmas. The second is a
movement specifically within the church, a hunger
for tradition—for all that which has been
stripped away in modernized worship and
teaching.”
While I enjoyed the article, I must say that the
mere intellectual adoption of “tradition,”
while an encouraging first step, isn’t the end
of the journey to the “faith, once delivered to
the saints.” It isn’t enough to embrace
“o”rthodoxy and fail to enter “O”rthodoxy.
Commitment to the true faith must lead to
communion with the true Church. The mystery of the
communion of the saints demands a serious
commitment to the communion of the saints!
That means that it is precisely because we hold
that the Orthodox Church is the fullness of the
Christian faith that we must be willing to humbly
invite all those who hunger for the fullness of
the faith to come and enter the Orthodox Church.
Orthodoxy isn't a denomination. Orthodoxy is
simply (and profoundly) the faith once for all
delivered to the saints. It certainly does find
varying, yet surprisingly similar, cultural
expressions, but the life preserved in the
Orthodox faith is the remedy for the
individualistic sickness that permeates our modern
American Christian churches.
It is the perspective of us modern day Christians
that must be challenged and converted.
Individually, we look through a glass darkly, but
within the bosom of the Church, we are in
communion with all the believers throughout the
centuries. This vivifying perspective puts to
death the silly notion that the Church can be
"denominated." But it also calls us to
the hard discipleship of accountability to what
the Holy Spirit has taught the Church through the
centuries.
This willingness to be discipled by the ancient
faith in the context of the believing community is
what sets Orthodoxy apart from the denominations
so predominant today.
Does this mean that everyone must join an Eastern
Orthodox Church?
Well, you know I would love that, but that
question misses the point. It isn't about
"converting" to the Church or
"joining" an Eastern Orthodox parish. It
is about having the courage to embrace and be
embraced by the fullness of the Church preserved
in the Orthodox Catholic faith. It is about
allowing the fullness of the faith to heal the
deepest brokenness of our lives, and that will not
happen where the "medicine" of the faith
is diluted by time-bound heresy.
So, while I agree that we must operate as the Body
of Christ, I have no confidence that this can
happen in its fullness outside the context of
authentic communion with the ancient Christian
community of believers. The current “anything
goes,” “no holds barred,” “make it up as
you go along” attitude that cripples modern
American Christianity is antithetical to the
message of the Scriptures preserved in the Church.
It is only within the Church we find our true
selves. As St. Athanasius said: "No one can
have God as his Father without the Church as his
mother."
This is a hard saying for us stiff-necked
Americans to hear, but we must if we are going to
take seriously the scripturally established
authority Christ has left us in His one, holy,
catholic, and apostolic Church.
One specific way we can see how a well grounded
life in the Orthodox faith produces real and
lasting effects is when life throws us a curve.
That’s why I’m so pleased we are speaking with
Fr. Stanley Harakas and Nancy Tentzeras. They will
help us understand the power of faith in the midst
of disappointment and challenge. Don’t miss this
week’s CRTL as we discuss how a woman faces the
challenge of wanting a child and yet being unable
to conceive.
Until next week.
Yours for the spread of Orthodoxy,
Fr. Chris Metropulos
P.S. Thank you for your kind words of
encouragement while we attempt to get back on our
feet after Hurricane Wilma. Your special financial
gifts mean so much during this time
(http://www.receive.org).
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