Final Thoughts

There was a time when it would have been completely unnecessary to have spelled out most if not all of what is written here, because people living in an Orthodox culture lived and breathed their Faith, and even those who were not particularly pious were surrounded by Orthodox piety to such an extent that even they knew how conduct themselves properly in church. We, however, live in a culture which emphasises rights, comfort, instant gratification, and self-expression to an extent which is inimical to the Orthodox ethos of sacrifice, struggle, asceticism, and selfdenial. In addition to this, we are experiencing that “hardness of hearts,” that “coldness” that the Scriptures and the Fathers predicted would be the hallmarks of the latter days.

If we understood what it means that when we go to church we are in the presence of the very God who created the world and everything in it, and of Jesus Christ who took on and still wears our human flesh so He can be with us and save us, and the Holy Spirit who spoke through the prophets and Who preserves and leads the Church in all Truth, we would take care to be standing whenever the curtain between us and the high place is opened—let alone when the Gospel is being read, we are being censed, or the Mysteries are brought out to us. It would literally feel wrong to sit at these times. We would be sure that we and our families arrive at church on time (we are the bride of Christ, and should hurry to be in the presence of our Bridegroom), and in good order.

If we loved God and one another correctly, we would nonetheless need instruction on the proper way to behave in church (just as children who love their parents must be taught how to behave), but none of these matters would be controversial. One is not rude, careless, or self-centred in the presence of those one loves. Therefore, one is not rude, careless, or self-centred in church. The reason we believe that the disorder evident in many of our churches is evidence of lack of love, rather than a simple lack of instruction, is the response of many people to instruction. Instead of giving thanks for the instruction and humbly obeying the guidelines passed down to us from the Scriptures and the Fathers, some become “offended,” justifying themselves and attacking the character of whomever “dared” to attempt to instruct them. We also fear that this lack of love is becoming a problem in Church because it is a problem in many of our homes, and that we cannot practice self-discipline in church because we do not practice it anywhere else. Our children refuse to obey instructions we give them in church, because we let them get away with refusing to obey instructions we give them at home. Church services are something “to get through” just like daily prayers are at home (if we even do them at home).

Finally, a note on the issue of “authenticity” or of “being genuine.” Some of us have been seduced into endorsing the fallacious notion that if we do anything without really feeling like doing it, we are being hypocrites. The consequences of subscription to this belief are souldestroying. It should be obvious that whatever it is within us that doesn’t feel like praying, or dressing modestly, or standing attentively, or refraining from chatting during the services, is not something to which we should submit. If we are truly cooperating with God in working out our own salvation, we will act rightly regardless of any caprice of our emotions. The problem is not that feelings are bad, but that they’re unreliable. If we experience joy or peace in the presence of God, that is clearly a good thing. If we don’t, we don’t - but that is no justification for disobedience. We don’t always feel love for our spouses or our children, but we must nonetheless choose to act on the fact of our love for them, regardless of our feelings. Feelings are the caboose of the train – they come along at the end, but they only follow when we act on what we believe, and do what we know we should.

Notes:
* Psalms 25:8 (LXX)
** Prayer Book. 4th ed. (Jordanville, Holy Trinity Monastery, 1996).
*** Some suggest the right hand should be laid over the left to signify that Right overcomes wrong; others suggest, as outlined here, that one places the left over the right, specifically to prevent one from making the sign of the Cross at this point - ed.

Editor’s Note: We have very slightly modified the article above, the better to correspond with the situation in Britain, rather than that in America, where this excellent article was originally published.