Tonight at class we were asked to think about what we think the Church is. Well, according to what we heard tonight, the Church is those who are following the Orthodox church traditions. But not even all Orthodox. Those who rejected the decisions at the 4th Ecumenical Council are out of communion with the rest of the Orthodox Church.
We also heard that the wheat and the tares (weeds) will grow together and at the harvest, the tares will be separated out and burned while the wheat will be harvested. Something new to me was the idea that the 'tares' were weeds that looked like the wheat.
There was a statement made in the tape we listened to today that said, "the grace of God does operate outside the visible boundaries of the Church, but the grace that operates is the grace of the Church." And, "when people find truth and faith, it's often because they've already received the grace of God." There is a variable amount of truth found in the faith outside of Orthodoxy, the issue is that the truth is either added to or taken away from that which was given and handed down from the beginning.
So, what does that mean? What do I think the Church is? First, let me think out loud for a minute.
Let's start back before I was taking these classes and I'm just a regular member of a Protestant denomination. If the above is true then I am not part of the Church. But, I have some of the truth. The grace of God has been extended to me. So I could still be saved from death. At the same time, someone who is part of the Orthodox Church - maybe born and raised - while in the Church, may actually be one of the tares. They will not be saved from death.
Well then my question is, What does it matter if you are really in the Church or not if you are obedient to the truth that you have?
I'll have to think about this. Feedback is welcome.
3 comments:
According to Orthodox theology, the advantage is that you are exposed to the fullness of the Church. You recieve the Eucharist, the Medicine of Immortality, and the other sacraments. Jesus calls us to be perfect as His Heavenly Father is perfect - you can't be perfect if you settle for only part of the truth.
Okay, but we can't be perfect, anyway. And we may be exposed to the fullness of the Church being in Orthodoxy, but those outside the Orthodox faith are capable of experiencing God in personal relationship, too. That doesn't make being outside of the Orthodox faith wrong, does it?
I'm going to jump in here. I don't know much about the Orthodox chuch and it's theology (note: need to read up on this), but I have in recent years been exposed to the Anglican communion worldwide and the teachings of the Anglican church. Prior to this, I was part of an evangelical church...but enough about that.
I'm not attempting to be critical or to downplay the theology and beliefs of something I don't understand. That's not my intent. However, I do believe that all believers, regardless of the litergy they follow, the sacraments they practice or the understanding they have of theology, are complete in Christ. God does not call us to a system of faith for that relationship. He calls us into a relationship where communion (not just the sacrament but the actual state of being, sharing and experiencing together) is primary.
The systems of faith - theology, sacraments, symbolism, ect. - are something we build around that relationship to help us explain or understand. And they are inherently human systems therefore not perfect. We are working out our perfection in Christ. But we will not experience the fullness of perfection until Heaven.
We are called to seek Him first above all things. We are called to be ministers of reconcilation. We are also to remember that we are ALL part of the body of Christ. Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant, Catholic (yes, Catholic!), Evangelical...we are all a part of that body. We all contain a piece of that fullness. We all experience Christ's work on the cross. We are all granted God's grace in all it's fullness. We all have available to us the comfort of the Holy Spirit and we are all God's children.
What does that mean? To me, that means that there are going to be some flaws in any theology or litergucal system. We live in a fallen world and while we are perfect through Christ's work on the cross, we do not have the full perfection on earth. There are also mystries of faith and mystries within the Bible I don't think we'll ever fully explain. How can one fully explain God? He's God! Some things need to be excepted by faith with the understanding that when we stand before Him in glory we will understand all and marvel at our child-like understandings while were we saints living in these bodies and thinking with these minds.
Does that make sense? It doesn't really address your question. I'm sorry about that. I don't know enough about the Orthodox theology or history to know the intent of that particular teaching. Sorry for the rambling. :D
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