Let's Talk About This
The difficulty in having real and honest dialogue is the main revelation that this is absolutely necessary. Most aspects in life that are valuable are also difficult.
Christ is risen!
One of the most ancient bits of wisdom in people creating and living in a healthy society is the discipline of “diologos.” We get our English word “dialogue” from that Greek word.
To be sure, our modern age is obsessed with “dialogue,” but I am increasingly convinced they keep using a word they really don’t understand. It seems nowadays that the call of “dialogue” means “let’s talk until you agree with me.” Or, worse yet, if you insist on an honest and sincere dialogue, you’re accused of being mean or politically incorrect.
I confess I struggle with this. One of the main reasons is that I suffer from a great deal of disdain for much of modern ideology and so-called “dialogue,” to the point that when I hear typical jargon that reminds me of the childish narcissism so prevalent today, my mind tends to quarter off the speaker into one of the mindless “tribes” of modern madness and I can’t speak to the person. This is not healthy! In fact, it’s downright dangerous! Words really do mean things, and the ability to understand another must start with the desire to know them and be known as well!
This is why the Church's theology is so instructive. Orthodoxy is centered on Communion, and I’m not just talking about the Bread and Wine of the Holy Eucharist; I’m talking about what it means actually to enter into the Eucharist as a way of Life. That’s the purpose of the Eucharist: to build authentic and difficult communion! It is to create the space for actual dialogue and actually do the hard work of communion.
Look at our lesson today in Acts 14:20-28; 15:1-4:
IN THOSE DAYS, Paul went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to lconion and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed. Then they passed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia; and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled. And when they arrived, they gathered the church together and declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples. But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, reporting the conversion of the Gentiles, and they gave great joy to all the brethren. And when they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.
OK, here’s the situation, Sts. Paul and Barnabas are really racking up the Gentile converts. I mean, Gentiles are turning to the Orthodox Christian message in droves. And this is making some of the Jewish converts to the Faith VERY nervous. They are reading the writing on the wall – there are more Gentiles than Jews, and if this conversion thing keeps up, we will be outnumbered! But that’s not these folks’ only concern. They also had a legitimate problem about how Gentiles are formed in the Faith. They didn’t have the centuries of formation in the Way of God the Jews had. They didn’t know the Prophets and the Holy Scripture. They were coming into the Faith totally unprepared in these people’s minds. So, what was their solution? All the Gentiles had to become Jewish first if they wanted to become Christian!
Well, needless to say, when Paul got wind of this, there was “no small debate.” Yeah, no kidding. Paul argues that these Gentiles don’t have to become Jewish converts first. He says the Holy Spirit is strong enough to make up whatever may be deficient in the formation of the Gentiles. This dispute becomes so strong that it will lead to the very first Council of the Church in Acts 16, where all the Apostles gather and discuss “seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.” (See Acts 16:28)
But look at the fruit of this moment of real conflict in the earliest formation of the Church. The controversy served the true purpose of the Church by drawing us together to work it out! The assumption was that this problem of the Gentiles was an opportunity for the People of God to speak and listen! And it was in the midst of this challenge that the Faith found a way to help everyone become more of what Christ called them to be! And the results are plain to see. The Fruit of this initial controversy was the conversion of the Roman Empire and the permanent transformation of human civilization!
On this fifth Thursday after Pascha, we continue to discuss the implications of Jesus's resurrection's destruction of mortality. If we have true dialogue (diologos), we must know what LOGOS is! Jesus's radical message is that the Logos is a Person, not a philosophy or an ideology. Without confronting Jesus Christ, we cannot hope to have a fruitful dialogue. Only by being in communion with Him can you ever know the Truth of your own life.
Today, the path to Christian unity lies in dialogue. The path to healing in a parish, a church, or a family must always include face-to-face meetings and discussions. We cannot escape the soul-forming power of communion in honest, and even sometimes strenuous, debate based on two immovable attitudes – our love for Christ and our love for one another. We cannot move ancient foundation stones of wisdom that harm the very people Christ meant to save, but neither can we assume we know everything the Holy Spirit means to say to us all! Being Orthodox on Purpose always includes being willing to talk!
P.S. The women disciples of the Lord heard from the angel, the joyful news of the Resurrection and the repeal of the sentence imposed upon our forefathers. With pride they said to the Apostles, "Death is vanquished, Christ our God is risen bestowing upon the world His great mercy."
Thank you for your support of Faith Encouraged
