“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.”
Matthew 16:18
The word “church” is used 113 times in the New Testament and not once does it refer to a building. Instead, it refers to the church as a community of believers. The Creed, our statement of faith, defines what we believe about the Holy Trinity—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And having stated succinctly our belief in each, the Creed continues with one sentence pertaining to the Church because the Church is a necessary ingredient on our path to salvation.
In one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
These few words look like a sentence fragment. Remember that the entire Creed begins with the words I believe: and then proceeds to define in one God, the Father. . .in one Lord, Jesus Christ. . .And in the Holy Spirit. This fragment is the fourth “belief” of the Creed.
What do these five words mean and why does the Church matter? One means united. I can’t imagine that the Lord is pleased with the continual division in the churches. There are more than 38,000 “Christian” denominations and non-denominational churches popping up all over the place. Every church thinks they have it right when it comes to understanding, expressing and practicing Christianity. The Orthodox Church claims to be the original Christian Church and a look back at history supports this. The liturgical practices of the fourth century are still kept alive in our liturgical practices of the 21st century. The backbone of our theology comes from the early Church Fathers and the canons of the seven Ecumenical Councils. We are not constantly refining and redefining what we believe to conform to contemporary society. As Orthodox Christians living in a modern world, we are supposed to conform to the theology, Traditions and standards set centuries ago, especially as pertains to morality.
What has not been kept up is the sense of generosity and philanthropy. Other churches have been more historically accurate in how they support their church and how their church supports charitable causes. As for how a church looks on paper, no Church can “beat” our theology or liturgical Tradition. However, there are lots of practices in our Church that can stand improvement, beginning with generosity, philanthropy, evangelism (recruiting others and spreading the Gospel), and lessening the focus on culture, which proliferates many Orthodox Churches. Perhaps the greatest area of improvement for Orthodox Christians is knowledge of the Bible. Other churches that do not have the rich liturgical tradition of our church are more Bible focused. The issue with this becomes when modern pastors and people interpret the Bible in their own terms. In the Orthodox world, we lean on ancient sources like the Cappadocian Fathers for interpretation of the Scriptures. While other churches emphasize a daily walk with the Lord, punctuated by Scripture reading, many of the Orthodox come faithfully to the Divine Liturgy each Sunday but do little in terms of spiritual growth the rest of the week. Our “Tradition” has unwittingly caused many people to fit God into a compartment once a week, making God a weekly ritual, rather than the daily focus.
The word holy means “set apart.” The Holy Gifts for the Holy people of God (from the Divine Liturgy) refers to set apart things (bread and wine consecrated as the Body and Blood of Christ) for set apart people (people who are trying to live a life that conforms to the Gospel rather than to the ways of the world). The Church is holy in the sense that it is set apart from all other kinds of groups. It is not an organization to which we belong (as I have heard said many times, as if we are a club) but rather an organism that breathes, that struggles, that serves, that grows. When we join the Church, we join the Body of Christ, and as members of the Body of Christ, we put aside secular things and pursue holy things. This doesn’t mean we can’t watch a sports game or enjoy a night out at the movies. It means that the pursuit of holiness becomes part of our identity. It doesn’t fit into a compartment once a week. It is an umbrella under which our entire life is lives.
Catholic in the Creed does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic means universal. The Church is open for anyone to join. All are welcome. Jesus said, in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) that we are to spread the Gospel “to all nations” (in Greek Panta ta ethni). Everyone is welcome to hear the message and to join the Body of Christ.
Apostolic means that the Church traces its origin to the time of the Apostles. When Jesus saw the disciples the night after His Resurrection, He breathed on them and said to them “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22) This was the first “ordination,” a formal commissioning to spread the Gospel of Christ and for these men, it was received directly from Christ Himself. Then they ordained the next generation of leaders by laying their hands on them. And this generation ordained the next and the next down to today. An unbroken line of church leaders that have “Apostolic Succession,” they trace their lineage to the time of the Apostles and that upper room in Jerusalem. The Ecumenical Patriarch is the direct successor to St. Andrew, who founded the church in Byzantium. All Bishops are connected to one of the Patriarchs. All priests and deacons are connected to a canonical bishop. So all clergy fall into a direct line that goes back to the time of the Apostles. In contemporary times, it is possible to get “ordained” online and anyone can declare himself or herself a pastor, priest, minister, apostle and the like, but this is not what we believe in the Creed. We believe that our Church and our clergy trace our lineage back to the Apostles and to Christ Himself in an unbroken line.
Which brings us to the Church. The Church is not a building, but a body of believers, who help us make our way to salvation. Part of loving our neighbor means to care about his or her salvation, and knowing that others care for our salvation. There is no love of God that does not include love of neighbor. And there can be no salvation for anyone without the involvement of neighbor. We must love, serve and encourage our neighbor in his journey to salvation, and we need the love, help and encouragement of our neighbor in our own journey. The Church provides us the opportunity to receive the sacraments, to learn the faith and is a base from which we can serve others.
It is incumbent that each member of the Church finds a way to serve the Church. If all we do is come and worship and we are not involved in the life of the community in some way, we are missing the mark. Part of belonging to the church is that we do something for the “body” to enhance the journey of others and to allow others to enhance our church.
Lord, thank You for instituting the Church through Your Holy Apostles. Thank You for preserving the Church through two thousand years. Thank You for saints and fathers who helped shape what we believe and to the clergy and laity who have worked to share the Gospel. Strengthen our church, help her to be united in purpose, holy in orientation, welcoming to all who seek Your truth, and to be what You intend for the Church to be—a place to worship, to learn and to serve. Help me to understand where I can best help in the work of the Church. Amen.
Remember that the word “church” in the Bible refers to community and not building. Our involvement in the Church must include something we do to serve the community.
