ostonvasi wrote:
What did Jesus teach us in the Gospels?
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Luke 10:27
For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' Matt 25:42-25
And after the Apostles were in a close relationship with Him he instructed: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mat 28:19-20
The Church is a tool to help us do these things. The sacraments put us in a right frame of mind and heart (Humility, repentance, obedience, relationship with God) so we can do these things in True Love.
If anything, He challenged the Pharisees who stood in the Temple and preached what they did not do. Matt 23: 13-33
Orthodox (and other) Missionaries here and abroad, help people come to a genuine relationship with God first through action: feeding, clothing, healing and visiting. Then they minister to them spiritually by the sacraments and worship they understand. Orthodox Missionaries don't make Orthodox Robots but genuine Christians. We also should not become Orthodox Robots but genuine Christians.
If you want to make a statement as a universal Orthodox Community- we should be encouraging and inspiring brotherly love through ministry to our brothers and sisters in Christ, providing homeless shelters, food banks, hospital and prison ministry, visiting shut-ins, assisting the elderly, widowed and single parents. Leave the dogma out for now and show the world God’s love from our actions. We could change the world!
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