Self-Control

 

There is a lot of talk about pleasure and the passions in the world of Christendom, usually when it comes to the subject of sex. Everyone is very quick to condemn sexual pleasure but what about culinary pleasure? Why do we see so many overweight Christians and no one seems to say anything about it?

The condemnation of sexual pleasure is a given. There seems to be no question about it. The topic is touched upon in sermons, but one never hears about eating too much. Yes, the church promotes fasting but fasting as a temporary act of self-control of certain food types. It usually happens that all self-control is foregone once the fast is over, thus the issue of being overweight.

It can be easy to see the sin of gluttony and a lack of self-control when it comes to food, but it is not necessarily easy to see a lack of self-control when it comes to sexual pleasure. It is especially odd as girls and women are encouraged to be attractive. Head coverings in church? Yes, this is very common in the Orthodox world but what good is a head covering when one is wearing a short skirt, low-cut top, tight clothing and coated in makeup?

As with everything, it is about balance and moderation. When it comes to appearance, one should strive to not draw attention to oneself. The middle ground will allow one to blend in and not draw attention. There is no need to wear a burlap sack or a burka. There is nothing wrong with these, but these can be problematic on the opposite end of the scale.

The Bible gives no direction on how to dress but it does talk about moderation in all things and about loving one’s neighbor. If one’s appearance is leading others to sin or is causing pride in oneself, then it is a problem.

Foundationally, this is all about self-control in all aspects of life. As someone once said, “there are some sins that are acceptable and others that are not.”  It should not be this way.

Loving Others

 

It is easy to become distracted by the narrow vision of our own experience. We see and have a sliver of understanding of our own discomfort and suffering yet our view of the whole of known history is nearly null. There are currently about eight billion people on the planet. There may have been more in the distant past. Prior to the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, we know nearly nothing of man’s existence.

Contrasting our own narrow view with that of the multiple billions of people that have ever lived, we should respond with a change in our thoughts and behavior. One could feel completely insignificant and worthless but that would be a mistake. Every person that ever lived or ever will live is a genuine, valuable and distinct person. They are someone who wants and needs to be loved and we have the responsibility as fellow human beings to love everyone with whom we come into contact.

If our words and actions can make life better for someone, even if in some small way, we should. At the same time, we need to recognize that there are many different types of people out there. Some come across as unfriendly and unhappy. We don’t know anyone’s whole life story and should never assume the worst of someone simply because they seem disagreeable.

Loving someone else means giving them what they need if we can and helping them toward holiness. Because man was created in the likeness and image of God, he is naturally built for holiness. All should fight against the tendency to sin because sin is an unnatural response to life.

In short, people need to be loved. To love someone doesn’t mean doing for them what we like but doing what they need. If nothing else, we can at least pray for them and respond with kindness. We don’t have to be everyone’s friend but we can be no one’s enemy.

Becoming Christian

If you were intent on learning a foreign language, to whom would you turn for instruction? Common sense would dictate that you go to a native speaker who is well educated and mature. You would not, for instance, go to a young speaker who has only recently acquired the language as a second language. The native speaker will literally think in the language and will be directed by the grammar and culture in which the language originated.

Anyone, regardless of years of experience will always be a secondary learner that will, for the most part, still think in their own native language.

This model stands true for religion as well. When an American becomes Orthodox, he will inevitably carry with him an erroneous mindset and worldview that is foreign to the historic Christian faith. His former belief system will definitely impact and somewhat control how he thinks about his faith. If someone wants to understand the Orthodox faith, he needs to be directed by those who are Orthodox by birth and by culture, else he will be influenced by beliefs and worldviews that are foreign to the faith.

Orthodoxy is just becoming known in the United States, and it will be many generations before it becomes native in the West. Until that time, the new Orthodox believer needs to direct the formation of his thinking and practice from those of a deep and historic understanding of the faith.

This will be a difficult journey as there are many in the United States who have set themselves up as teachers. There is a level of value to these men and women but ultimately the formation of our thoughts and practice needs to be historic and untainted by American evangelicalism.

Time, Money and the Reality of Eternity

 

To answer the question, “what is the point?” for oneself, one only needs to look at how one’s time and money is spent. In life, there are necessities and there are luxuries. Depending on the lifestyle you choose, these categories will appear different. The unmarried, the married and the monastic will all have different necessities and luxuries. There seems to be an unquestioned presumption that if you are not a monastic, you can spend your time and money however you prefer as long as it is not immoral or illegal.

One easy answer is to argue that ultimately 99.999% of all people are irrelevant, for in the grand scheme of things, our thoughts and actions will have no lasting impact on reality as a whole. But this is the easy way out. Yes, it is true that most of us will have little impact in the big picture, but we can have an impact on ourselves and on others right now. If we know someone who is hungry and we indulge ourselves on some triviality, what do these actions communicate? If we know someone is struggling and lonely, yet we burn up our time in entertainment and distraction, we are we saying to that person?

We should never impose our interpretation of someone else’s life or choices upon them. Assessment needs to be self-assessment. Can you justify your use of time and money in the framework of “Love God and love your neighbor”? From the Christian perspective, our life on earth is a time to prepare for eternity and the state of our soul when we die will determine our eternal state. If you have spent the majority of your time and money on comfort and entertainment, your eternity will not be pleasant, for you will be in the presence of holiness and it will seem foreign to you.

If you have spent your time and efforts on being holy, on loving God, and on loving your neighbor, your soul will be that much closer to holiness and your eternal state will that much more glorious. Knowing your destination will allow you to better prepare for your own eternal state and, more importantly, others’ eternal state. If we can move someone else toward holiness, we then too are thinking and acting right.

Some thoughts on prayer

 

The practice of prayer has been with man from the beginning. Choosing Judaism as a starting point, man and God have always been interacting, sometimes through divine revelation, sometimes by angelic visitation and ultimately, in the incarnation. Since the resurrection and ascension, Jesus Christ gave the church the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance.

But what does all of this have to do with prayer? Since the Protestant reformation and its strong emphasis on private interpretation and individualism, a wide variety of ideas have been promoted and have introduced a great deal of confusion about the relationship between God and man. There is no debate on whether or not man should pray, but what does it mean to pray?

First, God is not a cosmic Santa Claus from whom we request and receive whatever we want. Second, God is not a stingy, cold judge punishing men for their sins and torturing them for eternity after their physical death. Third, God is a God of love and directs all of creation toward holiness and restoration.

The whole point of creation and the incarnation was for God and man to be in a lovingly reciprocal relationship. God has always been perfect and never in need of anything. Prior to creation, the Trinity existed in perfect love and relationship. God created men to expand on that manifestation of love by giving men freewill and the opportunity to freely love God in return.

When men pray, it is a response to the love of God, it is a normal response to someone who loves you and it is an opportunity to live a truly human life that is more than just the comforts of the here and now. Prayer is a way to reach out to God and communicate our thankfulness for the work of restoration that he has done in Jesus Christ. It is an opportunity to request help in our struggles against sin and it is a conversation with our creator.

Prayer is not an avenue for getting stuff. We are far too foolish to be even remotely close to knowing what is best for us.

The Pursuit of Comfort

 

Living in America is easy. Christians face no real persecution. Anyone is allowed to worship freely. We can buy anything we want and have it shipped to our door, usually within one or two days. Food is abundant in grocery stores and restaurants. Medicine and medical treatments are readily available.

In fact, it is easy to label oneself a Christian while living a comfortable life being nice. It is when one takes on a lifestyle of self-sacrifice and the pursuit of holiness that life becomes difficult. We are constantly bombarded by the worldview of modern evangelicalism where fitting into society is easy and as long as you are a nice person, there are no problems.

When Scripture tells us that Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light, this is not a description of modern-day America. It is telling us that what Jesus requires of us is not a grueling burden that will crush us under its requirements. The gospel is simple, we are to love God and love neighbor. As we strive after holiness, we will be fighting against sin.

When we are fighting against sin, we will find ourselves at odds with the majority. We will not fit in, we will not be supported by the world around us, and we will be seen as odd at best and possibly as an enemy of culture.

Personal Responsibility

 

If you live a life of inactivity and fast food and then die from a heart attack at 35, there is no one to blame but yourself. If you are given a Ferrari and then use it as a farm vehicle to pull a plow, are you going to complain to the manufacturer that it does work? If you buy a box of lightbulbs and try to use them to pound in nails, will you sue the manufacturer for selling an inferior product?

These are all metaphors for our life. God created us to love him, to love one another and to wisely tend to the world around us. If we instead opt for a life contrary to these, who is to blame when life goes wrong? Sin is nothing more than life choices that are contrary to our well-being. We need to stop thinking of sin as a list of naughty things, instead sin needs to be seen as those things that are physically, psychologically and spiritually bad for us.