The very image of a modern Orthodox

I am the very model of a modern Major-General,
I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;
I’m very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I’m teeming with a lot o’ news,
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
I’m very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

I know our mythic history, King Arthur’s and Sir Caradoc’s;
I answer hard acrostics, I’ve a pretty taste for paradox,
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus . . .
— from the Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan

Well, I could go on, but you get the idea. For some reason that song began resounding through my mind today. It may be because I took my “pastora,” my wife, to see this operetta many years ago when our children were very young. In fact our third one may not have been born at that time. We attended the Stratford Festival in Stratford Canada, one of the best decisions we ever made. The memory of that holiday is wreathed in a cloud of fond memories. Unfortunately, it also came to mind because I found myself thinking about some of today’s modern Orthodox, and my slightly twisted mind arrowed in on that song.

I am the very model of a modern Eastern Orthodox,
I’ve information monastics, episcopates, and canonical,
I know the patriarchs and I quote the councils historical
From Nicea to Iconophilic in order categorical;
I’m very well acquainted, too, with matters hesychastical,
I understand the mysteries, both simple and hypostatical,
About diphysite theology I’m teeming with a lot o’ news,
With many cheerful facts about duality in unity.
I’m good at integrating the mystical and the theological;
I know the theological nomenclature of everything intellectual:
In short, in matters monastic, episcopal and canonical,
I’m the very model of a modern Orthodox.

Of course, here is the problem with that song. It is all about intellectual achievement. And, that is one of the problems with all too many of the converts to Orthodoxy. The word orthodoxy means correct worship. It does not mean correct theology. In America, one of the proudest achievements of all too many evangelicals is the ability to debate theology down to the finest point of discussion. But, that has not been the approach of Orthodoxy over many centuries. We do study theology. Who cannot read the Church Fathers/Mothers and not realize how much theology is studied among the Orthodox? But, what is truly valued is a life that is lived in accord with what Our Lord Jesus Christ has asked us to do, whether or not that person is a theologian.

So, this brief post is to remind us that when Jesus speaks of the Final Judgment, he speaks of those on his right and on his left. Those on his right lived out a life that truly expressed that the Son of God had come into their lives and had changed them. Those on his left did not live out such a life. No question is asked about theological fine points, though it is assumed that all claim the name of Jesus. So, let us remind ourselves daily that we need to ask the Father for the grace, the comfort, and the forgiveness that will help us to live out a life worthy of his calling.

One final note, Our Lord Jesus says in John 6 that he will not lose those whom the Father has given him. Do not be afraid. As Saint Paul says, “. . . nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”