14. Pride Before the Fall

 

14. Pride Before the Fall

A little ways back my priest made reference to the phrase “pride before the fall”. My wife asked me if I thought that our country is in this same category? I believe the US is in the category of “pride before the fall” however it was not for the reason she thought. I still think we are a light on the hill and a beacon of hope, or at least we were when our founders put their thoughts into actions and the founding of this great nation.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed”

This is awesome. We, all of us have unalienable rights. Rights that cannot be taken away. The founders knew this. These rights do not come from the President, politicians or any of the governing powers but from GOD. That being said, they still mention that the people institute power to the governing. The politicians as well as the common citizens have these rights.

I think the pride of the nation comes from those in power. They have lost the duty to stand for those rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The current state of affairs leads to death in ways of abortions, rights being stripped away (being held indefinitely, spying, data collection so on and so on) and people’s ability to pursue happiness is being stripped by the government coming in saying in all essence “ you can’t do anything without our help”. The leaders are approaching things as if they are enlightened and so important. That is where the “pride” lies. We are the greatest nation on earth and most charitable nation in the history of the world. Our leaders have lost the foundation put by our founding fathers….GOD!

I was reading through James and 3:13-18 stood out as being a thread to this topic. James is actually reluctant to give advice for he warns against council being brought forth through pride. He warns against self centeredness. Does this not describe our leaders? Not all of them but the vast majority of them. “Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom” v13. I don’t see much meekness in our government at all. Everyone thinks that they have the answer to everything. They continue saying everyone needs to be tolerant of everything, yet you are intolerant if you hold your own thoughts  or dare I say practice “liberty”.

“But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly, sensual, demonic.” This describes our politicans to the letter. Everything is done on a whim. Things are based on relative truth, the decibels of the people “outraged” over something, or the next political calculation. Things are completely earthly and sensual and possibly demonic as stated in the passage. Things that are not of God very well may be Demonic but things are certainly earthly and completely selfish and sensual based on the passing fad.

James speaks of the evil of the self serving things but then speaks of the goodness that comes from God. “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy”. Our leaders are incredibly hypocritical. Almost everything that is said from our current President is counted by his own words when speaking to a different crowd in a different context. This is true of other leaders as well. At the same time we are completely lacking in good fruits or mercy. Things that are being said are dividing us along gender and race lines when in fact it only serves certain people’s interests.

Our nation’s pride comes from the hypocritical, self centered politicians, that have lost the focus on God. We need to combat this by strengthening our homes and families and remember that God is not on our side, but rather, God just IS, therefore we must follow HIM. He is everlasting and constant. We need to correct course and get things back in order! God is not on our side or anyone’s side, but rather we must be on His side.

Mark

Orthodox Dad in America

9. Our Children As Mirrors – Reflection of Society Or Our Parenting….Or Both?

 

9. Our Children As Mirrors – Reflection of Society Or Our Parenting….Or Both?

 

Upon reading Galatians 3 and 4, what stood out to me was the mention of “elements of the world” in 4:3. I know that most of it is talking about Law and Grace but this “elements of the world” stood as something that I had a discussion with my wife about.

The Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) makes a note that the elements of the world “are the philosophies and traditions developed by humanity without regard to God”. I find this very intriguing. I keep going back to C.S. Lewis and the Screwtape Letters. Our world is becoming full of people that know everything or should I say THINK they know everything. There is an entitlement that everything is ok, there is no right and wrong, everything is relative, everything is ambiguous and we dare not mention God because we might offend someone. Regarding that last thought, I think Penn Jillette often talks about the “right not to be offended”. He is an Atheist. He is not offended at the mention of God. In fact he affirms that people should stand up for what they believe in. That is what made our country what it is. That being said people do not have the right to not be offended. You don’t have the right to walk down the street and not hear the mention of God.

On the other hand it is hard to then say “well why do people walk by cursing” or demonstrating “lude behavior”. But this goes back to right and wrong. Is it acceptable to say whatever you want? Is it ok to curse with kids around?

But back to my original thought of “elements of the world”. I find this really interesting. Our kids, any kids become what we help them to be as well as what we let them be. Christians must remember that there are things in this world that are wrong. There are things that our kids should not see. There are things that exist that our kids do not need to see or hear or know about. Our kids do not need to be exposed to everything. As parents we have the right to say yes or no. We just do. That is not something that should be left up to a Government. Sorry. Either you believe that people have the right or they don’t. I believe they do. That being said I think all Parents should be knowledgeable of what they “feed” their kids in terms of language, content, sights, sounds, stories…everything. There are many things that are not of God, do not take God into account and have no care for God. It is OK to make this distinction.

I am not an advocate of going out demonizing everything I don’t agree with. On the contrary I believe in standing firm in what I believe in, possibly raising awareness but not bashing people upside the head for doing things I think are wrong. This goes back to one of the main points I want to stand by. Be for something not always against. Instead of being against “worldly” attributes, rather being a God fearing, loving parent that discerns right and wrong and teaches my kids values that the world may not agree with. There you go. I don’t have to agree with the world but I don’t have to bash everything but if I stand firm in what I believe in my kids will see that. They know what we do, they know what we affirm even if we don’t say it out loud and they know in their hearts what is right and wrong based on what we show them.

I continued the conversation with my wife based on this verse and thought how crazy it was to realize how much of a “blank slate” children are. If you were to never speak to a child from the day they were born, they could be 15 years old and not know a single word. Isn’t the same true of what we teach them about right and wrong? If you never teach them what to love, what to cherish, what values are, that there is right and wrong and that there are things worth fighting for, then they just don’t know. Our kids will fill those voids of belief with things they get from the world. It is either us that fills their cup or someone else. I would rather it be me. I am not saying there are no good influences out there. But if I had to make a blanket choice, I would rather be the one any day of the week that gets to fill my kids head with language, knowledge, beliefs and values.

In the OTB they reference COL 2:8 where it states “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ”. This can obviously be a whole book in and of itself. However, I take from it that we cannot be afraid to stand for what we believe in. I am taking a stance that I want to be bold in what I stand for. There is a reason people stand against God, truth and even basic right and wrong. It may be money, power, political correctness or who knows what, but I need to acknowledge my other philosophy. Everything is either for/moving toward God, or it is moving away from God. My kids, if I am not building them up and affirming their knowledge of Christ, their knowledge of the boundless love, then I am allowing them to move away from God. That is a major task, but it is one that I took on when I chose to have kids.

My former Priest Father Patrick Reardon would always say when a baby was baptized, that it should not be taken lightly. We are making the choice to have them become Martyrs. There have been decades in history where to be baptized meant death. That is a big decision to make, but it is one that we get to make as parents. It is not to be taken lightly. We don’t have the persecution we have had throughout history (though parts of the world are heading that way, sadly) but we cannot lose sight that we believe in Christ for a reason. Should that be overshadowed by the fear of offending someone else? To teach our children to love something bigger than themselves is amazing and helps them to be the people we want them to be.

I am very conservative when it comes to my kids but I don’t think there is shame in that. Our kids know what we let them know. I must always keep that in mind. If they are exposed to goodness then they will not think they are bored of it because evil or wrong things “feel” better. It is ok to squash rude behavior. It is ok to correct a mistake. How we do that does make a difference and whether or not we speak words at them but act differently comes into play as well. But as a whole I cannot be afraid to teach absolute values amidst a world of absolute chaos. My kids will grow up knowing what goodness is and not from my hands but from God’s

 

Mark

Orthodox Dad in America

8. Belief – Scripture, Tradition and The Fathers of the Church

8. Belief – Scripture, Tradition and The Holy Fathers

I was listening to the Homily today and I was on the same wave length as my priest. I had just touched on the subject of tradition, foundation, truth etc. when I wrote about C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape letter 1. He was referencing some teachings he was doing with some of the camp counselors.

He made reference to the fact that we can go in circles on specific arguments and in my opinion that is what some people want to do. However, you have to go back to the way the argument or discussion is framed. The Orthodox Church is founded on Jesus Christ, Son of God, who died for our sins. We then also hold that the apostles took what they learned from Jesus and spread the faith. We take that notion and build the faith upon those closest to Jesus. This is exactly what I was talking about. We go as far back to Jesus as we can to those closest to him and his teachings.

I find this extremely comforting. There is a sense of ease when it comes back to the Holy Fathers of the Church as well as the Apostles and Jesus himself. Things are not just changed “will nilly” if you will. The challenge is that some don’t see the argument in the same light. Some will not be on the same playing field. Some are out to make up their own playing field or change the playing field midway through the game or conversation if you will.

If the person you are discussing or having a debate does not hold the fact that scripture and the teachings of the Holy Fathers are taken into account then many things will never have a conclusion other than people saying what they believe and it just goes round and round. I think the same can be said about the constitution of the United States. There are things that were meant to be and things that were not. The constitution was not meant to be manipulated and altered to please the person in control or the person interpreting it. They never said the government is there to “provide everything they need for everyone” as some would argue. In fact they go back to their cornerstone. The government exists to protect and defend the people and their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It says nothing of the right to everything you want and everything someone else has that you feel entitled too. Sorry. There are days I wish that were true, but it just isn’t.

The church settled this through Ecumenical Councils. If we do not look to these for guidance then the Church would likely not exist. The Ecumenical Councils rooted out heresy when it was necessary. Shouldn’t we trust those that were closest to Jesus? The Church established these traditions to help preserve the integrity of those things that Jesus said. They were also established to ensure that when a person entered the Orthodox Faith they knew what the Church believed. This is most specifically spelled out in the Nicene Creed.

In today’s reading from Titus we read “But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition”(v.9,10).  As stated in Screwtape Letter 1, people will throw out facts, believe they know it all and pick and choose what suits their “agenda” or needs. This can and will happen until Jesus comes again. The Orthodox Church is rooted in what has been long believed and God willing will always believe. The cornerstone again, is Jesus Christ.  If we reject the traditions and the Holy Fathers and the Apostles even, we lose sight of why those things were put into place and we discredit those that fought so hard against heretics to preserve the faith. People also forget there was only one church until it was split over a thousand years after Jesus walked this earth. Are we to say that we know better than the men who walked with Jesus? That were so close to those that walked with Jesus? We know more than Saint Basil or Gregory or Saint John Chrysostom. These were not only intellectual giants but also Godly men of the church working to uphold the purity at every turn.

In John 17:6 we read “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world”. These are the Apostles. These were commissioned to go and keep the faith that Jesus taught them and thus we have Apostolic Tradition.

In Second Thesolonians it states “Therefore brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle”. That is a clear charge to uphold the words taught by those closest to Christ as well as the scriptures.

Does it not also make sense that we follow tradition if we believe in the scriptures? The bible is a divinely inspired book correct? Then we are trusting that those that compiled the bible put in the correct writings and left out those others for a reason. The same is true in other teachings of the church. Again, we cannot hold ourselves more knowledgeable, in a day and age when everyone can write their own blog (ha ha ha) and say what they believe.

I pose the questions, if Jesus walked this earth today, with the technology we possess would things be the same? Would Christianity survive? Would there be a clear foundation of what he said? Would his words be taken out of context before they even hit the blogs?

I prefer to trust the traditions of the church, as called to do in the scriptures. The Orthodox Study Bible has a great explanation below the readings in Galatians 1:11-2:14. It speaks about what makes apostles true apostles. One of which is being called by grace as well as bringing glory to God and not to himself. Is this not true of the Holy Fathers. Is everything that is taught bringing Glory to God and referring back to the cornerstone of Jesus Christ? I would answer yes from everything I have seen so far. I cannot say yes about every modern thing I read.

The OTB also talks about no apostle being infallible, which is where some people probably take exception with the Holy Fathers. However they reached agreement through council as also stated in the scriptures as Paul states in Galatians. It also states in the OTB that “apostles stand firm in matters of conscience”. Yes please! This is where the Orthodox Church needs to stand strong and firm and be unwavering. Not everyone has to agree with everything that I am pointing out. That will never happen, however I don’t think it right for the Church to change for those people. People must choose to believe or not.

If our debates are founded in the truth of the Orthodox Faith and Tradition, then we can have true discussions. This is something I must remember when asked questions. I must ask myself are we coming at this from the same perspective? I also regularly remind myself that not everyone is going to agree with me or see my passion for the teaching of the Orthodox Faith. However, I am more affirmed in my following of the Orthodox Faith because of the constant reminder that the teachings are based in a cornerstone that has been true since the beginning.

Mark

Orthodox Dad in America.

6. C.S. Lewis Screwtape Letters 1 – Contemporary thought and relative truth (doctrine and the constitution?)

6. C.S. Lewis Screwtape Letters 1 – Contemporary thought and relative truth (doctrine and the constitution?)

I remember being in Sunday school and our beloved teacher and my future God Father / Sponsor was having us look at the Screwtape Letters. I was still in my “I don’t know anything, I can’t put myself out there and I am not going to ask any questions” phase, and I didn’t know anything. I was very new to the Orthodox Faith as well as Christianity in general. I want to go back and look at those letter periodically because I do remember them being interesting but I looked at them with a surface view. Not to mention the class had been looking at them for a little while before I started joining so I was a little lost, but of course said nothing.

C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letter I I am finding fascinating. In this letter Screwtape Letter (as I will probably find with most or all of them) it is ahead of its time. It is amazing.  Screwtape states “it sounds as if you supposed that argument was the way to keep him out of the Enemy’s clutches. That might have been so if he had live a few centuries earlier. At that time the humans still knew pretty well when a thing was proved and when it was not ; and if it was proved they really believed it”. (note Enemy being God, at least I think so ha ha).

This is hilarious yet frightening because it is true. Everything today revolves around relative truth. Not only do people change what they believe quite often, but also display different beliefs to different people at different times of the day! There is no foundational truth. People ignore natures law that is written on our hearts by God (and something that even America’s founding fathers spoke of, but who cares about those people right?).  People want to change every scenario to best fit their needs. I have heard it said that we must remember that God is not on our side, he just is (Truth, Light and Life etc) but rather we must be on HIS side and be with HIM. There is a place to stake truth and it is in God. The Orthodox Church has been around with apostolic succession for a reason. The doctrine and canon law is based in truth from those that directly knew Jesus. What more convincing could there be?

Even the founding fathers stated “we hold these truths to be self-evident” Life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. These are truths. These are written on our hearts. Natures Law…God’s Law. If we don’t have some foundation to truth we can’t even have an honest debate. Even if someone agrees with you, people will be contrary just to do it no days. Very difficult. Partially that happens because they don’t know any truths in their life. They also don’t know what they believe, if they believe anything.

In the Screwtape Letters Screwtape then adds that through constant news and press people can be deceived. We are bombarded with SO many differing thoughts, blogs (ha ha) and articles that it could seem like a whirlwind and everyone is entitled to an opinion. That is true we have freedom of speech but it doesn’t all have to be true. Screwtape states “He doesn’t think of doctrines as primarily “true” or “false” but as “academic” or “practical”, “outworn” or “contemporary” “conventional”  or “ruthless”. Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church.

Do we not see a bombardment of false statements, made up accusations and attacks on Christianity specifically. Orthodoxy in particular is rooted in tradition and doctrine. That is a bad word in today’s culture. There are people in the church that would use those exact words. We need a more “contemporary” service. Or a more “practical” or “conventional” way to find believers. We have to be able to embrace people but I argue the most effective way to do this is not by changing but rather holding fast to our 2000 year old traditions. This is why we must pray for our leaders to hold to Truth. There is a truth. We don’t need to go out and bash others that don’t agree but rather be an alternative to others. If people see that the Orthodox Church stays grounded in truth, it can be a light amidst Chaos that Screwtape talks about.

I think the same can be true about our Country. America was founded on truth that was (at the time) self-evident. How many times have we heard that the constitution needs to be modernized to a more “contemporary” document. If there is not foundation of truth we get what we have now. An ever expanding government. Everyone’s pet projects and departments growing out of control and a country that is becoming unrecognizable. Is that what we want the Church to be? Or should it rather stand out as different and a light on the hill? We must pray for the leaders of our country as well as the leaders of our Church. They too are bombarded with the same things we are. People’s wants and desires, mixed with their own earthly desires in the forms of power and money.

Screwtape goes on to talk about argument vs. propaganda. Do we not see this running rampant today? With no foundation of truth we just have name calling, division and rhetoric that changes with the group of people being talked to. People want to say that conservative values are “the same rhetoric”. I disagree, IF it is grounded in truth. It is an argument. It might be the same argument that the dissenters hear often, but if it is grounded in truth then it will be the same thing OVER, and OVER and OVER. And that is OK! That is what we want. The Orthodox Liturgy seems “boring” to some. It is the same liturgy OVER and OVER and OVER but it is founded in a truth that is unwavering based on tradition and the word of God. That should actually bring comfort amidst the chaos of the day.

Screwtape goes on to talk about bombarding them and making them see what the devil and demons want them to see so it is the “normal” and “ordinary” and doing the right thing become unusual or out of the ordinary. He also states that they try to give people the “grand idea that they know it all”. Ha ha this is again funny but scary. Everyone now a days thinks they know it all and get reaffirmed by media and culture. We can pick and choose what affirms our world and reinforces our truths. This is why it is so amazing we even have freedom or a constitution. It came out of NO WHERE! Well…let me rephrase that. It was divinely inspired by God. But it is something that had never existed before. We must fight for it! The same holds true in the Church. Jesus was new to the people. It was hard to grasp for some but we must hold true to it. Jesus is eternal and will never change. Will we? Have we?

Lastly, as much as some things are just ignorance, there is evil in the world. Change can allow cracks for evil to penetrate. We must root ourselves in truth to repel evil.

Mark

Orthodox Dad in America