The Driving Force Behind Our Actions

I think it’s pretty obvious that everything we do has some sort of motivation behind it. No one sane acts arbitrarily or randomly. Even if someone claims to do so, they are choosing to do so for a reason. So it’s not really random.

As Christians, there ought to be some very specific and thought out reasons what we do. While I am certainly not claiming that we can or do act perfectly, but merely that we should have thought through every action before we act.

The Protestant document, the Westminster catechism, a 17th century Presbyterian standard, proclaims in its first question and answer (Question: What is the chief end of man?  Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.) 

While that answer may or may not be true, I want to suggest that practically speaking, not theoretically, but rather how it actually plays out in ones life, that this kind of thinking tends toward temporality, and sensuality.  From my own experience and from the many, many highly educated Calvinists that I know, a daily struggle in sanctification is not at the forefront of ones life, but rather an "enjoyment of God's creation", to quote one prominent minister. To quote another, "life is not for fasting, but for feasting, God has saved us, we need to celebrate. It's about "With whom can I share this Rocky Road ice cream?""

The Eastern Orthodox perspective is somewhat different.  Instead of a "Jesus' work is done, let's party" attitude, the Orthodox response is one of repentance. Jesus' work is done, now we are able and responsible to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). We recognize just how sinful we are, how darkened our souls are, and how much of our thinking has to change, that our plates are full. A soldier in boot camp is not celebrating his role in the army; he is conditioning his body and will to obey the commands of the officer in charge. He is making his body do what it is told and he is pushing the limits of his ability. That is a picture of our life on earth.
     In short, we have so much progress that we need to make before we enter eternity.  Our goal should be to be as much like Christ as possible.  I believe that rules out a "eating Rocky Road ice cream" kind of lifestyle.

The Other Side

I've often spoken of not judging others based on the bad things they do. But the thought occurred to me that we often do the opposite. We will see someone who seems particularly wonderful and we elevate that person. We then start thinking, why can't my spouse/son/daughter/parents/godparents be like that?

The main problem with this sort of thinking is not that there are some genuinely good people who often do very good things, things which should be emulated, but that these same people have sins and struggles that we don't see or know about. Of course this is intentional. No one wants others to know their weaknesses and downfalls. Everyone wants to make a good impression and to a very large degree, we should make the very best impression we can, so as to most truly represent Christ in us.

But on the other side of this is our response to those around us. To elevate someone is to have a false image of that person and attribute to them things that simply are not honest. It sets a standard of expectation for others that cannot be met. It will ultimately lead to disappointment.

This is really a matter of balance. On one hand, we should think the best of people and never judge anyone for the sins and weaknesses. But on the other hand, we need to realize that people are sinful and often do stumble. The goal is to have a standard for which we strive, actually strive to attain it and understand that we will often fail in our attempts to do so. But also to assume that others are in the same position as we are. We simply don't know the details of their story.

A Good President?

There is a question that should be asked, given thorough consideration and answered. That is, what constitutes a good president?  To define "good" as one who upholds and follows the law of the land is not sufficient. For in our case, a president who upholds the abortion laws would then be a good president. I would define one who does so as the exact opposite.

It should argued that a good president is one who matches the criteria of biblical leadership, one who protects the innocent and punishes the guilty. With that kind of definition, we can see that our country's leadership is far off the mark. Our country has fabricated a form of leadership that both extends far beyond the biblical example and also violates that which Scripture commands. For most of us, we are powerless to do anything earthly about this, for the opinion of the masses do not agree with the biblical example. But we have the much more powerful tool of prayer. Since we see so little of the big picture, we don't really know for what we should pray. Therefore, let our prayer be, "Lord have mercy."

This leads me to the situation that is currently taking place in Crimea/Ukraine. I would argue, from my limited perspective and experience, that Putin is not doing the wrong thing. It seems to me that he is seeking to protect his people from the corruption of Western thought. The West prides itself on providing "freedom" for all men. But the freedom they provide is only freedom to sin. The Eastern mindset and the current strong influence of the Orthodox church in Russia puts them in a much better position. We should be much slower to criticize, considering the deceptive state of our media. We should be much quicker to believe the church than the news station.

In short, we need to keep in mind the nature of those who lead us, their possible motivations for what they say and what they do and their motivations for directing our thinking in any particular direction. So what motivates Obama and what motivates Putin?

Christian Childhood

Surely all Christian parents want to raise Christian kids. But what does a Christian childhood look like?  In our culture today, and many other cultures over time, these are challenges that must be over come. In America, luxury, distraction, immediate gratification and indulgence are constantly at our fingertips and pretty much the norm. It's not enough to simply say, "Don't do xyz." Children must do something with their time. As adults, this has an easy answer.  We work, pray, go to Divine Liturgy and sleep a little. What about kids? What does a Christian childhood look like?  Do we simply work them into exhaustion?  What about a happy childhood?  We can't expect them to have the same attention span and interests as adults, they're not adults. What do we do?

So many things are so deceptive. How often do we hear, "But xyz is not sinful, it doesn't say in the Bible that we can't do xyz." Raising children to be pure is tricky business.

Two things: pray for them and live like we are supposed to live, being an example for these impressionable minds. We must do everything in our power to form our children’s minds to think Christ's thoughts after him. If we love the things of the world, the temporary, immediate, fleshly things, then our children will love them too. Not necessarily the exact same things but they will live, move, and think in the way we have trained them, both consciously and subconsciously. This is one reason why it is so important to uncover and deal with our own sins, sooner than later. We don’t want to pass on our own faulty thinking and living to our kids. The only thing we actually possess, the only thing with eternal value that is ours, are our children. We will be held responsible for what we have or have not done with our kids.

So whatever the childhood we provide for our children looks like, we had better think through all the details and be sure of what we are doing. If we are uncertain of any aspect, we need to seek direction from our spiritual father.  It is only wise to seek input and direction from those who are older and wiser than us.  It is foolishness to undertake such an important endeavor and seek to do it on your own.

The Death of Fred Phelps

God doesn't rejoice at the death of a sinner and neither should we. But we can rejoice that the voice of a bitter, hateful old man has been silenced. God in his providence has chosen to take Fred Phelps, at this point in time. We will never know why now, and not 30 years ago.

Just because someone takes on the label of "Christian" does not mean that they faithfully represent Jesus Christ. Fred Phelps, one could say, was the polar opposite of Jesus Christ. Fred hated, Jesus loved. It’s really that simple.

Even ignoring the extreme hatred for the moment, Phelps' public reputation for such vile hatred created a horribly false picture of how a Christian is supposed to be. Jesus himself tells us in John 13:35 that the world will know we are His followers of by our love. Of course we are never to condone or wink at sin, instead we are to recognize the terrible weight of sin under which all of us struggle, in a wide variety of forms. When we acknowledge our own sinfulness, we will be prompted to pray for others and not judge them. The answer to this situation and others like it is found in the definition of the gospel; the good news that God loves the world and sent his son to destroy the power of sin and death. This is what the world needs to hear, NOT "god hates fags".  The Westboro slogan is not true and does not communicate the love of God for the world. We are here for true love and nothing else.