by Fr. Barnabas Powell
“Jack” was a missionary to Ethiopia providing free education, but his subtler task was to convert the locals from the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Church to his modern form of American Christianity.
There was just one problem. He found himself drawn to the beauty of the faith that the apostles brought to his mission field two millennia ag
The last straw in his growing realization that he was on the wrong side of proselytizing came through an incident involving another missionary.
Jack’s group runs summer camps for children whose parents can’t afford school, but there’s a hidden cost to this gift.
At camp, children are pressured to leave their ancestral faith and embrace the missionaries’ sectarian revision.
A colleague was working with some adolescent girls at one camp, mixing his assigned subject with a dose of proselytism. Orthodoxy is mere paganism (he argued), filled with un-biblical rituals and doctrines leading to hell.
If you want to be saved, reject this idolatry and accept Jesus into your heart as your personal lord and savior. Then you’ll be assured a place in heaven.
Over successive days, he urged the students to recite a “believer’s prayer” signifying their conversion. In time, they submitted — mostly.
One stubborn holdout refused to heed the missionary, sticking to her faith despite the pressure now poured on by peers:
“The missionaries are good. They’ve come all this way to teach us. If they want us to take their religion, we should trust them.”
“No,” said the holdout, “I feel it is wrong to abandon our faith.”
The increasingly frustrated teacher noticed that the holdout wore a medallion of the Theotokos (mother of God) around her neck. A new tactic emerged.
He began teaching that icons (images of Christ and the saints) are blasphemous, even sharing select verses of Scripture to prove it. He asserted they were homes for demons, that the girl had a demon around her neck keeping her from saying the prayer and getting saved.
Confronted with this strategy, her resolve weakened. She got saved, and handed over her medallion.
To signify her liberation from darkness, the missionary held a special ceremony. Marching the girls to the edge of camp, where the latrines were located, he handed the girl her medallion. Comprehending, she tossed the image of God’s mother into the pit. Her conversion was complete.
Jack’s group celebrated this incident, but it made him wonder — isn’t Jesus a real human being? And if he’s Mary’s son — a good, Jewish son who respects his parents — how would he feel about someone throwing her picture into a pit of excrement?
This struck Jack as heretical — a rejection of Christ’s humanity. Talk about mangling Christmas!
If Christ was truly born, how must he love the woman who nursed him, changed his diapers, and taught him to speak?
You cannot love God, Jack concluded, while hating his mother.
Words all but fail me on this one.
Paul
Australian Anglican with Orthodox leanings
It’s no wonder that the Greek patriarchate has released such strong condemnation of growing heterodox groups in their country, like the Pentecostals.
Modern iconoclasm .
I think we need to work a little harder to reach these people. They love the Lord, and have it right in terms of personal commitment to Him–the problem is that they have no idea what to do “next.” Billy Graham, when asked wha6the regretted most, replied, “I wish I’d made fewer converts and more disciples.”
Everyone is Orthodox up to a point. We need to meet our Evangelical brothers on the ground where we agree, and move forward in discussion about the fullness of the Faith.
Also, we need to seriously get into the Bible. In allthe poinjts where the Evangelicals disagree with us, the Scriptures support us!
Conversion works both ways.
Father Roselli, your heart’s in the right place, but you have to realise, some of these people may not be open to dialogue. I’m talking here about the most extreme end of the spectrum, of which the Westboro Baptist Church is the most notorious example.
Paul
Australian Anglican with Orthodox leanings
Hi, Paul–
I’m not talking about “:dialogue.” I’m talking about evangelization: a frank and up-front
effort intended to win hearts and change minds.
And realistically, Paul, the Westboro “Baptist” Church isn’t typical of anybody. They live in their own world.
But, say they were. The souls who belong to Westboro are in peril. Our job as Christians is to try to lead them to safety. Their response is not our responsibility; being concerned enough for them to make the effort, is.
Advent / Christmastide Blessings!
Fr. James+
Westboro is neither Baptist nor a church. It is a family cult of pyscho lawyers.
That being said the commited iconoclasts are quite difficult to engage as, to them, we are really heathen idol worshippers.
There are LOTS of younger evangelicals in the US who are actually quite open to Orthodoxy and other liturgical forms of Christianity. “Jack”‘s views are more typical of the older generation, who may be harder to reach. If young Americans can be persuaded to take Orthodoxy seriously as a church, America could end up with a significant Orthodox minority (or even a plurality!) Should that happen, “Jack”‘s style of fundamentalist Protestantism will cease to exist, since the USA is the only place where it has any real following to begin with.
Back in the 60s there were a lot of young hippies dabbling in Hinduism and Buddhism as an alternative to their parents’ WASP ways. If only the Orthodox missionaries had gotten to them first….
Fr. Seraphim Rose got to a number of them Anastasios. Almost every convert in my age group (received in 1987 at age 39) that I talked to or knew about where touched by Fr. Seraphim in some way.
As far as Evangelicals in general, Fr. James is correct. The hard-core Mary haters are a shrinking minority still stuck in the 16th century.
Anastasios, I share your hopes. For all we know “Jack”‘might be close to converting to Orthodoxy, if indeed he has not already done so. Ff the style of fundamentalist Protestantism he comes from does go extinct, it can only be a good thing. It has done more to give Christianity a bad name than just about anything else I can think of, including the Spanish Inquisition.
As you say if only there had been enough Orthodox missionaries available in the 60’s
Paul
Australian Anglican with Orthodox leanings
Instead of converting orthodox Christians, they’d be better off focusing on muslims. After all, believing in Jesus is the main thing, no matter whether you are orthodox of protestant etc.
But muslims DO believe in Jesus. It does matter, after all, what you believe ABOUT Him – and that is why Orthodoxy matters. You have to get it right or everything else goes off – inquisitions, burning at the stake, all kinds of civil violence follows heresy. Ask Martin Luther (if we could) about his support of the slaughter of peasants.
Dear Fathers and bros, interesting topic and discussion. Most of the Ethiopian people are Orthodox. Nowadays, some people and organizations from the west are influencing the people to convert to protestant indirectly just like what “Jack” tried. Yes, I love people those who love my mother than me. Loving Jesus with out St. Marry is an incomplete faith and should come to Orthodox and see the real religion, believe the real God. There are many converting to Orthodoxy even though it so that seeing other getting lost through external influence.
God Bless you all!
Sam, Ethiopian Orthodox Church believer.