Not Every Teaching is Correct
We call ourselves Orthodox Christians which has a double meaning. The word means both, upright worship and correct belief. The Orthodox Church has kept the correct teachings since the days of the Holy Apostles. No other church can claim the same reality.
IN THOSE DAYS, Paul went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to lconion and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed. Then they passed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia; and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled. And when they arrived, they gathered the church together and declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples. But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, reporting the conversion of the Gentiles, and they gave great joy to all the brethren. And when they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.
Acts 14:20-28;15.1-4
As the Church grew and the Gospel spread from town to town, region to region, it became obvious that not everyone believed the same ‘truth’ about God and His Gospel. In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles we see this tension in ‘real time’ playing out.
The belief that Christians had to ‘first’ become Jews before they could be Christians was among the greatest conflict of the first century. It was a big enough issue that the Church gathered in a council to resolve the issue.
The issue was resolved (we will read that tomorrow) but conflict in the Church continued. Century after century a few, sometimes many, stood out with teachings that did not align with the teachings of the Holy Apostles. Time and time again, the Church gathered for resolution.
Fast forward to today and the unfortunate reality that conflict not only rages on, Christians are no longer interested in resolution. Depending upon how you group Churches, there are as many as 45,000 denominations of Christianity. ALL OF THEM claim to have the truth. Not all are correct.
It is impossible for every denomination to be correct about the Truth of God. There is only One Truth, and the Orthodox Church has been protecting it for more than two thousand years. This has only been possible by our loyalty to the teachings of the Holy Apostles.
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. John 6.13
Just as Saints Barnabas and Paul subjected their teachings to the Holy Apostles, every Christian should do the same. Since Christ promised THEY would be guided into all the truth by the Holy Spirit, the only way to be ‘sure’ is to align with THEIR teachings, not our own.
This has a practical yet complicated application for the world today. First, we must all accept that individually we do not have a monopoly on the truth. This is true even within the Orthodox Church as many lately suggest the Church should change fundamentally. I do not agree.
Changing how we live our daily lives like fasting practices and ritual customs has changed continuously since the early Church, so long as these changes reflected the unchanging Truth of God. Such changes will continue from town to town and region to region. That’s not wrong.
Before you post your blog, record a podcast, or publish your video on social media, go to your spiritual father and do two things. First, TEST your teaching against the Church’s teachings to make sure they align with the Holy Apostles. Second, get his blessing to publish.
Go back and read today’s passage. Saints Barnabas and Paul were sent with others BY THE CHURCH to the Holy Apostles. In other words, the Church sent them. They didn’t send themselves. The Church has been able to protect the Truth because teachers were vetted.
Whether it is by ordination or theological training, no Orthodox teacher is a free agent. Every priest has a bishop, and every bishop has a synod. This is not to say the early Church was without confusion. Some issues, like Holy Icons, required centuries of debate to be resolved.
It isn’t the debate that should frighten us. It is the idea that everyone is right that is foreign to the history of the Church. There cannot be 45,000 different answers to the same question. ONE Church is correct. As our name suggests, the Orthodox Church is the one.
