What God Has Cleansed
God intends for everyone to have access to Normal Orthodoxy. And that's going to cause trouble!
It’s caused a bit of a stir. Ok, so maybe more than a bit!
In 2023, our parish was featured in a Wall Street Journal story about the growing number of Orthodox converts in America. The story sought to understand why young Americans, especially men, were interested in converting to Orthodoxy.
This phenomenon has been growing for several years since the Pandemic. It has caused no minor controversy within Orthodoxy, to the point that some have been concerned with the “theological” and cultural baggage we converts bring with them.
At times, this concern strikes me as little more than a worry that the dwindling adherents to Orthodoxy from life-long Orthodox homes will be overwhelmed by “outsiders” coming into the Church. At other times, it seems to be a sincere concern that these converts aren’t adequately catechized to temper some of their “enthusiasms.”
To that, I would only say that the challenge of an adequate catechism can also be added to lifelong Orthodox who display little to no actual knowledge about the Orthodox faith beyond the idea that preserving Yia Yia‘s baklava recipe is the sole reason for the church's existence.
To be sure, we converts bring our baggage with us, and a serious time of catechesis is necessary to temper the inadequate formation of our past. But seeing how some reacted to this wonderful news of Orthodoxy's growth helped me understand why too many Orthodox parishes are shrinking around the country. These folks have taken their faith for granted for so long; when a group of outsiders enter the Church, they are terrified their world is coming to an end.
Truth be told, this isn’t a new phenomenon. It’s been happening since God surprised the cradles with His giving the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles in the Book of Acts!
Look at our lesson today in Acts 10:44-48; 11:1-10:
In those days, while Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, "Can any one forbid water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. Now the apostles and the brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?" But Peter began and explained to them in order: "I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, something descending, like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came down to me. Looking at it closely I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.' But I said, 'No, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' But the voice answered a second time from heaven, 'What God has cleansed you must not call common.' This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven."
The place in the early Church's history where Peter goes to the house of Cornelius, the Centurion of Rome, and preaches the message of Jesus to these Gentiles was a seminal moment for the Christian Faith.
Even though the Old Testament time and time again says God will use the Faith to bless the whole world and not just one particular tribe still, the Jews of Jesus’ day thought the entire point of the Messiah coming was to save Israel politically from the Romans.
They had come to believe their chosenness was meant only to help them, not the whole world. And they certainly didn’t expect the Messiah to incorporate Gentiles into God’s Kingdom. The Gentiles were there to serve the Israelites as God’s chosen people.
But Jesus turns all these too-small expectations upside down. And the Holy Spirit that came on the Day of Pentecost to the small group of believers in Acts 2 is now being given to a Roman soldier and his family!
When the Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem heard what had happened and how Peter had gone to the Roman soldier’s home to tell them the Good News, they were not just confused—they were angry and concerned!
St. Peter then recounted his vision about kosher and non-kosher foods and how God had told him not to call what God had cleansed “unclean.”
Therefore, these early Hebrew Christians had to confront the enormity of God's ultimate intention to include everyone in the “chosen people.”
Just as it is happening today, this confrontation brings opportunities and dangers. The opportunities include more robust theological thinking and taking seriously the spiritual disciplines of the Church for spiritual growth and spiritual health. We also get parish communities deeply interested in growing together as serious Orthodox Christians rather than merely gathering to preserve some nostalgia for the “old days.”
The danger is the false notion that “culture” doesn’t matter. We converts must give immeasurable gratitude to our “older brothers” from these ancient Orthodox countries. We must do what their ancestors did: allow the Faith to shape our cultures so that Orthodox wisdom shapes the very root of our culture!
We won’t have a healthy and growing Orthodoxy here in the States without both influences being balanced and humbly grateful for one another! We need each other.
Today, Normal Orthodoxy means rejecting both the faddish nature of contemporary culture and the sad and fruitless dependence on mere nostalgia. A healthy and growing Orthodoxy will require the powerful spiritual discipline of humility and gratitude to protect us from the caustic sicknesses that easily divide us and poison our ability to pass on a healthy Faith to the next generation.
P.S. In the running waters of the Jordan River, on this day the Lord of all crieth to John: Be not afraid and hesitate not to baptize Me, for I am come to save Adam, the first-formed man.
Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV
As a former Pentecostal (you know what I mean) minister, it took two years of private meetings with my local priest before I was even CONSIDERED for catechism.
Because my priest was willing to take a few hours a week to personally minister to me, and answer a plethora of my Protestant questions/arguments with patients, and some times humor, I was finally convinced to start attending services and start my catechism.
If you are a priest, and aren't continually spending time personally with inquirers, shame on you. This is how you get die hard Heterodox to come to the true church. It is also why we have such a strong and knowledgably faith. We had to study and ask the difficult questions before starting classes.
I have suggested an Orthodoxy 201 class for our parish and my priest is on board. He simply doesn't have time for another class. Waiting for the Antioch church to give permission for laity to give these classes and I will finally be able to "be in the pulpit" again.
This is a lovely message Father. Very important to remain humble and grateful! The greatest mystery we will ever face is the Mystery of our Salvation in Jesus Christ.... Thank you!