"When the Church is being betrayed and the faithful led astray, it is no time for compliments and polite 'dialogues', nor for placing sympathy above truth."
~ Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim of Platina
Consider this brief video, and the exhortations from Church Fathers on standing for the Truth and not remaining silent when Christ is being blasphemed:
Lastly, consider this excerpt from the Epilogue to my book, Facing Islam:
WHEN I WAS A YOUNG CONVERT new to Orthodoxy, the late Archbishop Michael (Shaheen) of the Antiochian Archdiocese came to our parish. In delivering the homily, he stated unequivocally that (and I paraphrase),
“We must embrace the Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhists, for we all worship the same God; we just worship in different ways, and are merely traveling different paths to the same destination.”
In doing so, he was blatantly standing against Jesus Christ, the Apostles, the Fathers of the Church, the Seven Ecumenical Councils, the Confessors and Martyrs and all true Orthodox believers of every age.
Many of us were scandalized beyond belief. Cries of “ANAXIOS!” welled up in our throats, only to be strangled by cowardice. The teens in the church were greatly confused, and it caused quite an uproar, which our beloved priest and spiritual father tried to calm down by urging us to forgive and forget because, “He’s an old man and not much of a theologian.”
Perhaps that was the correct thing to do in this situation, but the day may soon be coming when we may again hear someone in authority preaching heresy with a bared head from the ambon itself. Will we have the courage to at least walk out and refuse to listen? Will we be even stronger and find our voice of faith to refute the falsehood? Or will we be passive and implicitly deny Christ and lose our salvation?
There is an old legal maxim: “Silence implies assent.” St. John of Kronstadt lamented a century ago, “How many are silent when it is necessary to defend the glory of God and of His saints, which is blasphemed by the children of this world!” And as St. Gregory the Theologian warned, “By your silence you can betray God.” Oh Heavenly Father, grant us to speak even one word of faith in our hour of trial!
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WHAT TEMPTATIONS WILL ASSAIL US? What desire for love, belonging, children, parents, acceptance, comfort, fame, luxury, ease, wonder, spiritual consolations or visions and revelations will we be tripped up by?
Christ Himself warned us explicitly about these snares. The Russians have gone through their seven decades of purging and winnowing. Purified like gold tried in the fire, some endured the unbelievable temptations, trials and persecutions unleashed upon them a century ago. Now we, in our pleasure-loving, self-worshipping Disneyland of entertainment, conveniences, gadgets and easy prosperity are already crashing to the ground.
Let us at least now, with fear and trembling, stand and declare our faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord, God and Savior. Let us not falter, but let us strive to be found in Him. Let us be swimming in the law of the Lord, not giving up the practice of meeting together. Let us warm our hearts by immersing ourselves in the lives and teachings of the saints, for the love of many has grown cold, and let us prefer to endure countless tortures and a cruel death rather than deny our sweetest Lord Jesus Christ.
It truly is later than we think. Let us all therefore hasten to do the work and will of God!
