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Orthodoxy and Evangelism
In one sense The Orthodox Church is no different from any other Christian
community in her commitment to evangelism. The preaching of the good news, ("use
words if necessary"), is vital to the Church's self understanding and work. However,
in other senses Orthodox Evangelism is radically different from all other forms. Whereas
Protestantism tends to emphasise the individual believer's relationship with Christ and
Catholicism the formal submission of that believer to the Church, Orthodoxy encompasses a
much wider vision which is both personal and communal whilst at the same time rooted in
the effectual operation of the Holy Spirit within the communion of the Church.
Evangelism in Orthodoxy is pneumatic in character, that is, it is
orientated entirely towards the "acquisition of the Holy Spirit," (St. Seraphim
of Sarov), which the blessed saint saw as vital to the gathering in of the faithful. This
is the witness of the Fathers that the regeneration of our humanity by the energies of the
Holy Spirit is what builds the Church. There is no Church without Pentecost. There is no
message, no life, no hope, without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.
So perhaps Orthodox evangelism is characterised by the imperative:
"be filled with the Holy Spirit!" ... but here we must stop and take care. So
many empty appeals to an abstract, superficial or emotionally contrived experience of the
Holy Spirit characterises so much of western Christian thought that we need to remind
ourselves of the vast and demanding requirements of Spirit acquisition. Understand the
process of the Spirit's ennoblement of our humanity properly and you understand what is
required by Orthodox Evangelism.
It does not happen overnight! Our very self:- body, mind and soul,
(which constitutes the "heart"), is both delicate and stubborn. Delicate because
no enduring change happens by force, only by the sure purposeful and gracious action of
the Holy Spirit. Stubborn because our resistance of God's desire for us is deep, not
easily recognised and engrained by habits of sin. It will take a lifetime of repentance
before the vessel of our heart is ready for the fullness of the gift of the Spirit which
is our glorification, (or deification by grace). We are grant a pledge of the inheritance
to come in our baptism but the preaching of the Word requires the diligent application of
its life-giving potential most aptly taught in the Parable of the Sower. Orthodox
Evangelism is, therefore, continuous and always suspicious of instant results.
It is always contextualised by the Community of the Church as a
relational and hierarchical organism in the Spirit. In this, Orthodoxy is perhaps closer
to Catholicism than to Protestantism, but this by no means tells the whole tale. The
Church is not something in Orthodoxy which stands over and against the believer. It is the
water in which the believer swims; it is the shoal of brothers and sisters in which the
believer finds solace and strength and love; it is the future glory of the whole of
Creation transfigured and reconnected across its immensities by the Divine Spirit.
Metaphors tumble furiously when Orthodoxy speaks of the Church but perhaps the key
connectivity lies in the organic rootedness of all the baptised in the Body of Christ
built upon the Apostles prayers, fellowship and teaching. Orthodoxy Evangelism is
therefore always experiential, a way of life in the Church. It is never to be interpreted
as a disincarnate message. It is always personal and communal.
It is always orientated radically toward the people and most especially
perhaps, "the little ones," the despised and rejected of this world which are
still so close to our Lord's heart. This is clear from the endeavours of the Orthodox
Missions and their Saints from Pentecost to the present day. We would do well to remember
that it was Jewish peasants, Roman soldiers, the uncared for poor and lowly ranking
citizens to whom the gospel life first appealed. In India the lower castes were more
receptive to the gospel. In Alaska St. Herman stood up for the rights of the Aleut people
against the rapaciousness of the Russian traders. St. Nicholas of Japan did not try and
supplant Japanese culture with the Russian. He trained and sent out Japanese converts with
the first basics of the Christian life and message. Ss. Cyril and Methodius went so far as
to refashion and indigenous language that all the Slav people might worship Christ as one.
When the princes and the powerful did accept Christ, they accepted Him on the same terms
as the poor and this is what characterised their sanctity. One need only think of the
partnership of our own holy father Aidan and king Oswald to grasp the vision of Orthodoxy
for a "new heaven and a new earth."
Orthodox Evangelism is an action of the Church for the World and for its
salvation. It is, however, an action which takes pains to integrate Creation wholly within
the purpose and reign of God. It is ground not in human techniques but in the death
destroying life of Pascha and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. It make takes
generations to seed and grow properly but its sowing is none the less imperative or
vigorous for its long term view. And, above all, it is not for faint hearts but those who
trust mightily in God beyond their own life and into eternal Kingdom of the Son.
Fr Gregory
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