Hey everybody this is Steve, and being an Orthodox Christian can be a lonely, difficult
thing.
I grew up in Astoria, a super Greek neighborhood in New York.
I was walking distance from my grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles, all of whom
went to Church (at least on Christmas and Easter).
And I went to an Orthodox school through 8th grade.
I grew up surrounded by people who knew about the Church and, at least in some way, identified
as part of the Church.
So I think it took me a while to realize that not everyone is an Orthodox Christian.
In fact, here in the United States and places like it, Orthodox Christians make up a very
small minority of the population.
Chances are that most of your neighbors, most of the people you go to school with, most
of the people you work with, aren’t Orthodox.
And some of those people may have never even heard of the Church, or may have some serious
misconceptions about it.
To help navigate some of these challenges, I’m very happy to welcome Fr Andrew Stephen
Damick.
On top of serving the community of St Paul’s Orthodox Church in Emmaus, PA, Fr Andrew is
a podcaster and blogger for Ancient Faith Ministries.
He’s also the author of two books: “An Introduction to God,” as well as “Orthodoxy
and Heterodoxy,” which is a great resource.
Thanks for joining us Fr Andrew!
Thanks for having me, Steve!
You’re right, it can be difficult to intentionally live as an Orthodox Christian in a world that
doesn’t know, or at least doesn’t understand, the Church.
I was received into the Church while I was in college.
And now, as a parish priest and podcaster and author and dad raising four Orthodox kids,
I’m particularly sensitive to these challenges.
For purposes of this short video, I think we can offer four tips for living as an Orthodox
Christian in a society that isn’t too familiar with the Church.
Tip number 1, and most important of all, get to know Christ.
As Steve has mentioned time and time again, our goal as Christians isn’t simply to think
about God, to learn abstract ideas about God.
Our goal is to truly know God and be known by Him.
To commune with Him, as members of His Body.
To set aside our false and broken selves and open ourselves to the Lord so, as St Paul
says, it’s no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us.
This takes work: the hard work of repentance, of knowing and confessing our sins, of forming
the sort of heart that delights in God rather than sin.
It’s not easy work.
And it’s not abstract work.
It’s deeply personal, and deeply intimate.
It’s the work of the heart, not merely the head.
Yet if we start here, grounded in Christ, we can move on to the next tip.
Number 2, learn what you can about the Church.
Over time and with study, I’ve realized that there are wonderful, and quite beautiful,
reasons that we fast during Lent or use icons in our prayer.
Answers that are far more moving and uplifting than “because that’s the way it is.”
Grounded in the love of Christ and our connection with Him, we can begin to deepen our understanding
of the Church and Christian practice.
Grounded in Christ, we can begin to deepen our understanding of Scripture and theology
and ethics, developing the language and skills to help others find Christ at work in their
lives.
Who knows, you may even decide to go to seminary for a few years of intense study, which would
be pretty amazing.
As we prepare to engage with others who aren’t Orthodox Christians, or are yet are somehow
estranged from the Church, we should keep the third tip in mind.
Number 3, engage others with an open mind and heart.
As Steve covered way back in episode 51, we can’t talk if we aren’t first willing
to listen.
Because, if we’re not willing to listen, it means we’re more interesting in making
a point, in being right and proving others wrong, than in actually seeing that person,
hearing that person, and loving that person.
If we aren’t willing to listen, to approach others with an open mind and heart, we’re
simply making things about us: our pride, our agenda, our plans and desires.
Hopefully, if we start with commune with Christ, if we ground ourselves in knowledge of God
rather than in knowledge about God, we’ll remember that this isn’t about winning arguments
or proving a point: it’s about finding God at work in our lives, and helping others to
find Him as well.
This takes patience.
It takes love.
It takes listening to people, getting to know them so we can effectively minister to them
rather than treat them as the opponent in a religious debate.
And it takes humility and trust; realizing that the only heart we control is our own,
and that we need to work to shape our hearts to love without conditions, and without expectations.
It’s kind of like the parable of the sower.
The most we can do is be the sower, and be ready, willing, and able to scatter the seeds
of the Gospel.
Whether or not those seeds take root is out of our hands, and that’s ok.
God doesn’t call us to be successful but to be faithful.
Which takes us to our fourth and final tip.
Number 4, treat this challenge as an opportunity.
It can be a lonely feeling to be the only one in the cafeteria doing your cross before
lunch, or the only one who doesn’t want to stay up too late on Saturday night so you
don’t miss Liturgy on Sunday morning.
Being a Christian is difficult, and challenging.
I definitely can’t minimize that.
And it’s also a special calling.
It’s an opportunity.
You may be the only Orthodox Christian at school or work.
You may be the only person in someone’s life that’s at all interested in sharing
the Gospel or introducing them to Christ.
So this challenge is also an opportunity.
God may not be calling you to share His Good news with entire nations.
He may not be calling you to do what the Apostles did and travel to the ends of the earth to
preach Christ crucified and resurrected.
And yet, He may be calling you to be His Apostle at school or work, or in your neighborhood,
or maybe even your home.
He may be calling you to be a witness to His steadfast love, His constant mercy.
A witness to His victory over death and the joy of His eternal Kingdom.
He may be calling you to be His hands, to do His work in this broken world of ours.
So if God is calling you to something...
Scratch that, *because* God is calling you to something, as He is calling all of us to
something, maybe it’s time to start getting ready.
Maybe it’s time to start getting to know the Lord so that others can come to know Him
through you.
So let's be the bee, and become Christ’s ambassadors in this world.
Be the Bee, and Live Orthodoxy.
Remember to like and subscribe, and share.
I'll see you all next week.
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