I am ‘cradle’ Orthodox and for most of my life didn’t go to church at all. I know next to nothing about Evangelicals but I have some Evangelical friends who are interested in Orthodoxy but the big sticking point for one of them in particular is the concept of ‘the’ Church. She has rejected a lot of Protestant theology and the happy-clappy worship but rejects Orthodoxy because it excludes genuine, sincere, yada yada yada Christians who are not members of it. She is irked by the prayers in the services for the Orthodox and says that we should pray for the Evangelicals and the Pope etc. I have no answer for this as I don’t have any background into how she thinks. How would people here from Evangelical backgrounds approach this? One priest said to her “we know where the church is but not where it isn’t” but that wasn’t enough.
I am sorry to say I find this endlessly exasperating and I don’t know if she is just looking for excuses not to become Orthodox and when I talk to her about it she says that before she can join a church everything has to be right according to her conscience and she always says that anyone who says ‘Jesus is Lord’ is a Christian and should be acknowledged as one by the Orthodox church.
Sorry if I have posted in the wrong thread, it just made me think of my friend.
Nina
Christ is risen!
Hi Nina,
A fish fights the hardest after it has been hooked and is getting closer to being hauled into the boat. It may be that your friend is indeed hooked, Do not give up and let her go.
BTW, in my experience evangelicals respect the Bible more than anything else. In fact, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else. No matter, there is sufficient "ammunition" in the Holy Scriptures to make an argument for joining the Church. First, most evangelicals do not stress a fundamental teaching of Jesus regarding Holy Communion and thus are surprised by it. Yet, they cannot wiggle away from this teaching and still respect the Bible as the Word of God. Read with them the following passages and ask them to think about which Church actually puts this teaching into practice without overly simplifying or overly complicating it.
The Lord instituted the Holy EucharistMatthew 26: 26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
Mark 14: 22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many."
Luke 22: 19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you."
The Lord made the Holy Eucharist the fundamental mystery, a life-or-death propositionJohn 6: "53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
