Pleasing God

Some people think it helps the cause of the Church for us to have government on ‘our side’ to fight sin. Others think government just abuses the Church for its own benefit. When the government holds up the teachings of the Church as law, it can have a negative effect on the faithful and the unbelievers. Such was the case for centuries of state religion during the Empire.

Today is the Feast of St Meletios, Archbishop of Antioch. You can read a brief short about his life here. He was exiled multiple times by emperors who did not agree with the truth of Orthodoxy. Can you imagine the President of the United States sending away a bishop because he didn’t like his theology? That was the risk of having a state sanctioned church. Sometimes the State favored the Church, and other times it fought against the Church, and the people got swept up in the turmoil.

As if having the government agree with the Church one year, disagree another year isn’t difficult enough, the faithful are the losers. I have written before about the risk of allowing the government to fight our battles for us. If the law is the same as the morals of the Church, while that is a good thing for society, it ultimately creates lazy believers. That has been the case for most Christians in America in the past 200 years. So long as the laws endorsed our morality, we didn’t have to be strong enough to stand up for ourselves like St Meletios.

Now that more or our nation’s laws are not aligned with the teachings of the Church, we have to be willing to stand up for them and live by our moral code sometimes in the face of adversaries. Simple things like attending Church on Sundays and holidays used to be standard American values. With the elimination of most ‘blue laws’ in recent years, Church attendance has to be something we choose in the face of other options. Unfortunately, more and more are choosing the other options.

In the spirit of St Meletios, I invite you to consider standing up for your faith, not fighting against others, but choosing to live it in your life. Sometimes the laws of your area will be with you, and other times the laws will make you look silly or prudish. Remember we aren’t working to please our neighbors; we are working to please God. Let your neighbors believe and live as they choose.

Tomorrow begins the Triodion Period in the life of the Church. Are you ready to start refocusing your life toward God? Making the choice to please God is a great first step.