Orthodox Biz Blog

My family members are Evangelicals of the Pentecostal variety. I was raised in that faith, but being Orthodox for almost 10 years has distanced me quite a bit from the world of megachurches and televangelists. Still, visiting home frequently means coming face-to-face with it, as my retired dad usually watches several hours of televangelism a day. He's good about keeping the TV off when my kids are awake, but after they are in bed, he often turns on programs he's recorded during the day.

THE VIOLET ROSE

(Or... On loving your neighbor as yourself...)

Once upon a time in a land not so far away there lived a little girl named Rose who had a beautiful rose garden. The little girl loved her garden and all the roses in it. Whenever she needed to get away from the trouble that little girls sometimes have, Rose would walk through her garden, fondly touch the roses and blissfully breathe in their fragrance.

My wife and I were filling out the paperwork to join a homeschooling umbrella group when we hit a huge snag. The umbrella school we planned to use is Christian-based, but it's run by very, very Protestant people. They had a statement of faith which all potential members had to sign. The statement of faith was, essentially, a Protestant catechism which included such fundamental Protestant beliefs as justification by faith alone and the Bible as the only rule of faith.

Looking over the statement, I immediately picked out nine heresies I could actually name. That was out of only eight clauses in the whole document. Their version of fundamental, commonly accepted Christian truths was like a mini-catalog of errors rejected by the Orthodox Church.

God could have chosen to have His son born in a palace. He could have been born to wealth and privilege, never needing to struggle or work hard to put food on the table.

But that wasn't the plan He pursued. Rather, Jesus was born to a working family. He grew up and pursued a trade. He labored and earned His keep by the sweat of His brow. So did his disciples and apostles.