Take a Chance on the Church

I wonder sometimes just how it is possible for people not to want to be Orthodox. That may sound snobbish. It just seems like so many agree with what the Church teaches but refuse to become part of the Church. It is like someone who hears but does not understand. Even that is nothing new.

At that time, the disciples of Jesus came to him and said to him, “Why do you speak to the crowds in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: ‘You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. “Hear then the parable of the sower. When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Matthew 13:10-23,43

I recall one time when I was a member of an interfaith panel of religious leaders. A with more than one hundred citizens posed questions to each member of the panel. Among the questions, one was widely embraced by the crowd. “What does religion offer to society?”

Without exception, everyone in the room that day had a common response. Religion provides society with moral standards. I challenged that response. “Nobody in this room is taught anything by their church. In America we search for a church we already agree with, and then we join. We stay only until the teachings of that church no longer align with our beliefs. We are not taught by our churches. We use our churches to reinforce our already existing beliefs.”

Several approached me that day, one even referring to “The Original Sin of Protestantism” as the cause of what I was expressing. That’s when it happened. “You know what that means, don’t you?” I asked with a twinkle in my eye. “You all need to return to the Church!”

He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Despite receiving a standing ovation that day, not one person ever contacted me about learning more about the Orthodox Church. Not one single person joined the Church that day. I can only imagine the reason has to do with today’s Gospel lesson.

Sometimes the birds take away the seeds. Sometimes the thorns choke the vines. Sometimes life just gets ‘too hard’ to take a chance on the Church. That day it was easier to remain in a church that reinforced what they already believed than take a chance they might be wrong.

Brethren, I appeal to you to take note of those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by fair and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I would have you wise as to what is good and guileless as to what is evil; then the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord. Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastos, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Romans 16:17-24

No matter how you tally it, thousands of denominations exist, all teaching something a bit different from the Orthodox Church. Some teach drastically different understandings of God. Fast talking preachers promising a life of comfort and constant happiness deceive the hearts of millions of faithful.

One time I suggested it was better to stay home than to attend a non-Orthodox Church. It is better to stay home and watch an Orthodox service online rather than to listen to a preacher who deceives the faithful.

Too many members of the Church today are offended by this challenge. Too many believe we are ‘all the same’ and it doesn’t matter where we attend services. Too many believe it is the Orthodox Church that is too rigid. It is as if we have forgotten the warnings of Christ and Saint Paul.

If the Scriptures warn us about false teachers and wolves leading the flock away from Christ, why not believe what we hear? It is time to take a chance of the Orthodox Church and allow yourself to be taught about God rather than to have your existing belief merely reinforced.