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What are the steps to becoming an Orthodox Christian?
Matthew 13: 13-17: Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
What is the message here? That we only see that which we want to see and hear only those things that we wish to hear. That the world has dulled our senses that we no longer discern what is good, truthful, and beneficial for us?
To come into the Orthodox faith, it’s not about numbers or just joining an organization at best. Nor is it, believe this way or do these five or ten things and you are automatically accepted. Orthodoxy is NOT a moral code, religion, a cultural tradition, or a philosophy.
However, it is exclusively a conviction about and a relationship with a person, Christ Jesus – who is God Himself in the human flesh. In his church it is a means and a way to personally experience God through his energies and infinite love for you and guiding you in your personal salvation and much more.
Everyone has a god, even a non-believer. People either worship God as God is, or they worship the idol god, constructed by them. What is horrible is when people who have lost their grounding in God and do not know who God is, are still speaking as if they do, and going through the activities like reading the Bible, saying prayers, going to church, going to retreats, and are not interested in God at all.
Becoming an Orthodox Christian involves self-examination with the assistance of an Orthodox priest. He will help you in examining what is best for you and those in your life.
If we are going to step this off in seeking to become Orthodox, let us begin with the commitment and willingness to seek personally and experience Christ as he really is. There is a very good likelihood that one may have to unload all the pre-conceived notions and ideas of who and what God is.
Another step would most likely be to have an open mind in changing your attitude and approach in your relationship with Christ from “being right” to “right being,” a transition from worldly thinking to the reality of the eternal. Making an effort to understand and learn what Christ’s real intention and purpose are for you is an important step in your journey.
Our lives depend on the kind of thoughts we nurture and, therefore, determine our perception of reality. If our thoughts are peaceful meek and kind, then it follows our life will be the same. If our thoughts are skewed, corrupt and prideful, then we may never get a complete picture of reality.
The body of Christ (his church) offers a means to heal one’s fallen nature and to become grounded in truth and reality. When God’s energy and life are in us, one can achieve the “peace” and “inner stillness” that Christ alone can give us, freeing us from the snares and enslavement of this world.
Let us also look at the Scriptural inferences. The first word out of the mouth of Saint John the Baptist is the same word out of the mouth of Christ, and the same word out of the mouth of Saint Peter at Pentecost. That first word is “μετάνοια” from the ancient Greek meaning to change your mind or more correctly change your nous (νους, the mind of the soul) where one truly encounters the Word.
In Romans 12: 1-2, Saint Paul says, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but “be transformed by the renewing of your mind (nous),” that you may prove what is, that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
I would say if you are indeed curious enough, come and journey with us and step into the ship that will bring you to where you may have never been before, to discover that “being is communion.”
