True Evangelism We must love others into the Church

True Evangelism
We must love others into the Church

Manifest destiny was the belief that the United States god-given right was to spread westward from sea to shining sea, spreading American beliefs across the continent. As we all know, the First Nations tribes (Indians) were seen as heathen, and fair game for the advancing peoples of European ancestry. Whole tribes were wiped from the face of the map, either by being slaughtered, or succumbing to white man's diseases, for which they had no natural immunity. For those natives who were "lucky enough" to survive the occupation of their lands, relocation by force to reservations, was the norm.

The "Christian" basis for this expansion, had as its roots the Calvinist doctrine of "Predestination," a false and horrid, teaching that some were predestined to salvation, while others were not. The natural link between the two doctrines is obvious.

By contrast, the Orthodox missionary monks to Alaska journeyed under strict orders from the Patriarch and the Czar, to respect the First Nations religion, culture, and peoples. They were under direct orders to avoid baptizing the natives, unless they sought to convert, and then only after they were fully catechized. The missionary monks befriended the natives, even to the point of protecting them from Russian fur traders, who mistreated them. They learned the native languages, and respected the local culture.

To this day, Alaska's Orthodox natives see Orthodoxy as their native religion, because the love and kindness shown them by the Orthodox monks helped them see Christianity as the fulfillment of their own religion.

This has been the Orthodox way of evangelism from the earliest of times. Some have accused we Orthodox of not being missionary minded, not seeing that our missionary efforts are simply different than that of the west. We believe that God transforms hearts, so we, in turn, share our faith by loving those whom we wish to convert. Our evangelism is based in the heart, where love reigns.

The God we Orthodox Christians worship is the God of love and mercy, and the only way to bring others into a relationship with this God, is to love them into God's Kingdom. We don't pronounce them as heathen, who are destined to hellfire, but God's children, created in His image and likeness. We invite them into the Church as our brothers and sisters, because we love them, and desire that they not only have God as their Father, but the Church as their Mother.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon