As my family and I journey through the Orthodox Church and the spiritual atmosphere there, so many things strike me as truly wonderful.
Recently my husband, who has shown little interest in joining any church since Milestone, was speaking to our priest about becoming Orthodox. He related the conversation to me later as very striking.
"When I asked Father what is entailed in joining the Church, he said,
'Well, when you become Orthodox, my responsibility to you becomes much greater.'"
My husband said this struck him as such a different attitude.
"He didn't say, 'Your responsibility become greater: you have to tithe, attend so many services,' or anything like that. He said that HIS responsibility to ME increased. That was very unexpected."
I was pleased to hear this, of course, and I immediately contrasted it in my mind with a pastor who has a "goon squad" to keep "undesirables" away from him.
Come to think of it, that is simply NOT a pastor. That is a preacher and CEO who feels that you ought to call him your spiritual leader, that you ought to tithe to his church, that you ought to bring more people in, that you ought to attend services. But he does not feel the obligation to hear your confession regularly, inquire after your family, check up on you personally. He does not feel that he is obligated to actually interact with you versus having people "keep you away from him."
This pastor is full of himself and his title. He feels that he is too important for you. Too important, even, to call you when his Associate Pastor acts in an unseemly way. Too important to reach out to those in his church who have been hurt or injured. Too important to humble himself to those he has wounded.
All I can say is, "Praise God for delivering my family out of such an environment." This is not Christ-like. This is not humble. This is not something I'd wish on any family.
I now have a firm conviction that there is, in fact, one true church. And, sadly, many millions of people are sitting in seats in heretical churches in which a man or group of man determine doctrine apart from the wisdom of the true church. My experience at Milestone convinced me of this more than anything else.
It's not that people are deliberately doing wrong. They genuinely believe that are doing as God would have them do. But, I am convinced, they are hurtful and ineffective because they are in a heretical church. Most of the problems encountered are a direct result of a body cut off from orthodox attitude and teaching and any accountability.
I urge all of my Christian friends to research their own history. I urge them (and you) to take a good long look at what happened at the Great Schism and then later during the Reformation. In my opinion, it's not pretty and is the root cause of all of the modern church ills that we have. We are a body divided and it should not be so. It causes undue pain and heartache for EVERYONE involved: pastors and laity.
