Why doesn’t the preaching of Christianity in our time yield the expected fruits? Why do we have unbaptized parents, non-churchgoing friends, atheist colleagues?
It seems the answer lies in the fact that there are very few people today who live according to the Gospel. Yes, we can recall figures like the Serbian Patriarch Pavle (Stojčević), Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov), and others, but these are just a few names.
The Gospel is a very honest Book; it demands honesty from us in our relationships with God, others, and ourselves.
It appears that the chief priests and Pharisees hated Christ not only because He did not intend to give them an earthly kingdom, but because, being the Truth, He demanded that very honesty in the light of which their lives were a lie and required radical change. This was something they could not forgive.
Every modern Christian is doomed to face the same challenge. After 5, 10, or 20 years in the Church, they will confront the formality of their lived Christian life, recognizing churchgoing as just one of many “selves” they show to the world, and realizing that they have not truly come to know God. At this point, everyone faces a choice: to leave everything as it is or to change. This is where personal freedom and personal choice manifest.
God is a Person; He is who He is, does what He deems necessary, and does not try to appear good, kind, or loving, to please anyone, or to “save” anyone.
And as a Person, He wants to enter into a relationship with another person—His creation, who is absolutely unique and invaluable in His eyes. Who else but the Creator knows His creation? Therefore, one can only build a relationship with Him by showing one’s true self.
Who among us would want to be friends with someone pretending to be someone else? Where is the sincerity, the commonality of worldview and interests, in that?
However, for a time, God accepts, endures, waits, and regrets.
In the Patristic tradition, a special place is given to such an ascetical practice as self-reproach. Not in the sense of self-flagellation or self-abasement, but rather as a healthy ability to see personal responsibility in any situation. This is, if you will, using the language of modern psychology, the most constructive way to resolve complex situations.
As the foundation of spiritual life, self-reproach is based on that very honesty.
But does our honesty guarantee peace, contentment, or success in the world? Obviously not.
In the Book of Exodus, it is said that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Ex. 9:12). He also hardens the hearts of those around us, wishing to lead us out of the slavery of sin, to destroy the leaven of Phariseeism, to make us worthy of Himself, saying through the prophet, and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God (Ezek. 36:28).
Speaking of temptations, the first Bishop of Jerusalem encourages us with a great promise: Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him (Jas. 1:12).
Hence it is said above: My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (Jas 1:2).
With joy, because you are being tested not as strangers but as His own possession, heirs of great blessings, to be made perfect, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (Jas 1:4), freed from passions and cleansed of sins.
And not just with joy, but “great” joy, the apostle urges. Or, as this verse sounds in Church Slavonic: “All joy have, my brethren, when ye fall into divers temptations.”
Notably, the Church Slavonic word “вся́ко” is translated into Russian as “by no means, completely, entirely, certainly, surely”; the Greek “πᾶσαν,” Armenian “ամենայն” have a similar translation of “every”; in German the word “rein” is used – pure, undefiled, true, genuine, and in English “all”—whole, all kinds.
One can boldly and fearlessly confess one’s faith only by honestly understanding who your God is and who you yourself are.
So it is “with great joy” in the sense of manifold, complete, perfect, absolute, true, unlimited, sincere, unconditional, and flawless.
St. Gregory Palamas aptly notes:
“He does not simply say, ‘rejoice,’ but ‘count it all joy.’ [...] ‘All’ joy, He says, meaning perfect, greatest, unceasing joy, especially when faced with manifold temptations. Why is this? Because by enduring temptations, we are strengthened and become more tested before God. And not only that, but we also become more experienced in temptations; for this very thing, the Wisdom of Solomon says concerning the Saints: ‘For God tested them and found them worthy of Himself’ (Wisdom 3:5). Is not such a trial worthy of all joy?”
Endurance in facing temptations is impossible without what was mentioned above. The lives of Christian martyrs and confessors (regardless of the period of their podvig) show them as people devoid of all deceit. And one can boldly and fearlessly confess one’s faith only by honestly understanding who your God is and who you are.
