Do We Wish To Be Reconciled?

We come now to the end of our consideration of "Basic Principles of the Attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church Toward the Other Christian Confessions." Having spent some time with the document, and the insightful comments and questions from those who read this blog, I find an uncomfortable question rising in my heart: Are we, Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants and Evangelical Christians willing to take seriously the task of reconciliation not simply with one and other, but with Christ? And, as a more basic question, are we willing to answer this question truthfully?

The bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate remind us that as, Orthodox Christians, we must tell the Truth. And the truth is that

The Orthodox Church is the true Church in which the Holy Tradition and the fullness of God's saving grace are preserved intact. She has preserved the heritage of the apostles and holy fathers in its integrity and purity. She is aware that her teaching, liturgical structures and spiritual practice are the same as those of the apostolic proclamation and the Tradition of the Early Church. (1.18)

As part of our affirmation of faith, we must also work for "the restoration of that unity among Christians which is required of us by God (Jn. 17:21). Unity is part of God's design and belongs to the very essence of Christianity. It is a task of the highest priority for the Orthodox Church at every level of her life." (2.1) But,

The restoration of Christian unity in faith and love can come only from above as a gift of Almighty God. The source of unity is in God, and therefore merely human efforts to restore it will be in vain, for "except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it" (Ps. 127:1). Only our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has commanded us to be one, can give us the power to fulfill his commandment, for He is "the way, the truth, and the life" (Jn. 14:6). The task of Orthodox Christians is to be co-workers with God in the task of salvation in Christ. As the holy fathers have said: God saves us, but not without us. (2.13)

To repeat what I said above, in baptism, God has Himself already given us all—Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant—a pledge or down payment of that restored unity. I find in this section of BPA a profound warning to those of us zealous for the reunion of divide Christendom; reunion is not a human work. No matter how prayerful or well educated and articulate, unity among Christians is God's work and His gift to us.

Our work, as I remind my own spiritual children, is not to create this union, but to receive it with a resounding "Amen!"

There is likewise a warning for those who see the restoration of divided Christendom to unity as proceeding along the way of the conversion of individuals and communities. There is in this attitude a subtle, but real, temptation to imagine that we can reason people into the faith. No less than those who rush to celebrate a sacramental union that does not yet exist, this approach also reduces union to a human work.

But reconciliation is a gift of God—it comes on His terms or not at all. If I am committed to telling the Truth about the Gospel, about the Church, then I must likewise be committed to telling the truth about myself. Thinking about this human truth, I cannot help wondering whether or not polemic voices, on all sides of divided Christendom, real desire the gift of reconciliation.

While I value my friendships and working relationships with Catholic, Protestants and Evangelical Christians, I'm not sure that I am ready to accept what the gift of reconciliation with them might mean. What would it mean if tomorrow, for example, 1+ billion Catholics suddenly entered into communion with the Orthodox Church? What would it mean for me as a priest to suddenly find my tiny of some 50 families to grow to 200 or more families composed of my newly reconciled Roman Catholic brethren?

What would it mean for my Catholic priest friends to suddenly find in their own parishes among the new reconciled Orthodox Christian divorced and remarried communicants?

What would my Evangelical Christian ministerial colleagues do with an influx of Christians who brought with them icons, relics, and devotional services to the Virgin Mary?

However much we bemoan the fact, as in any estrangement, a part of us that not only accepts, but even welcomes, the separation.

While I can't speak for Catholics and Protestants, at least among the Orthodox (myself included I am ashamed to say), there are many who prefer a divided Christendom. It is simply easier not to have to deal with the many questions that seem to be tearing western Christian confessions apart. We happily exist in splendid isolation.

Alas, this isolation is, as Fr Alexander Schmemann points out, is only possible if we stay in our grace proof chancelleries and rectories. Yes, we can keep "alive"—like some spiritual Disneyland—the glories of Byzantium and Holy Rus and our separation from Western culture and Christendom, but at what cost?

How much of Orthodox resistance to a reconciled Christendom reflects a commitment to the Gospel and how much narcissism? How much of our talk about "conversion," is simply in the service of requiring that "you" change and conform yourself to "me." How much of our profession of faith is simply a way to excuses us from any real self-examination.

To speak of reconciliation means not simply that "you" change, but that "we" change, that "I" change together with "you." Even if that change is not dogmatic, it does mean making room in my parish for new people with their own problems and struggles. But oh, how this disturbs the "peace."

Aware of the human heart's resistance to change the bishops call us to mutual dialog and self-criticism in our conversation with non-Orthodox confessions:

The essential goal of relations between the Orthodox Church and other Christian confessions is the restoration of that unity among Christians which is required of us by God (Jn. 17:21). Unity is part of God's design and belongs to the very essence of Christianity. It is a task of the highest priority for the Orthodox Church at every level of her life. Indifference to this task or its rejection is a sin against God's commandment of unity. (2.1-2)

So I ask myself again: Are we, Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants and Evangelical Christians willing to take seriously the task of reconciliation not simply with one and other, but with Christ? If the answer is "No" how can we then claim to be faithful to Christ? As St Basil reminds us, fidelity to Christ demands of us above all this "one aim—to bring back into union [those] Churches [and Christians] that have been severed from one another." (Letter, 114).

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory