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Christ is in our midst, dear readers!
Today let’s take a look into the mysterious depths of human existence. The whole tragedy of our fallen world is rooted in one source—our “I,” in which we have since childhood habitually locked up everything, turning our soul into an impenetrable fortress. But authentic Christianity begins at the place where a person makes a great existential breakthrough; where he overcomes the pull of his egocentrism and turns to meet God.
At this crosspoint of the vertical of the soul reaching for its Creator, and the horizontal that binds us with people around us, the miracle happens of a true meeting. When we turn away from self-satisfaction, our soul meets face to face with God and His creation. Our inner world is illumined with invisible faith, but this faith is tested externally—in a constant ethical struggle. Life places before us an uncompromising question: Are we seeking our own, or are we ready to bring to the world a sacrificial life for the good of our neighbor?
Today’s Apostolic orientation is utterly precise: Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification (Rom.15:2). But this path hides a very subtle spiritual temptation. What does “please” mean? Christianity is not slavish conformism. Pleasing is neutral in and of itself—it becomes either an ascent to virtue, or a fall into sin. There is an abyss between metaphysical freedom in Christ and psychological slavery before the opinions of this age. The Apostle strictly warns us: If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ (Gal. 1:10).
Where is the line between these things? When we seek praise, we conform to others’ vices for the sake of our own comfort—we fall into slavery to man-pleasing. But when we sacrifice our own convenience for the sake of our brother’s eternal salvation, this is a service of love. If the world draws us into a compromise with evil, forcing us to lie or indulge our passions, then the Church answers uncompromisingly: Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them (Eph. 5:11). The apostle Paul himself serves as a true example of this, saying, Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved (1 Cor. 10:33).
Our every action should be edifying and instructive in the deepest sense of spiritual architecture. Here we must remember the danger of false zeal. Even the absolute truth, if it is exacting without compassion, becomes an instrument of spiritual murder. When a person who possesses dogmatic or moral correctness cruelly and pridefully crushes his weak brother with it, he does not edify the Church, but rather sows chaos. Truth without love is a scorching flame, and not light. If our criticism is dictated by sincere pain for our neighbor’s salvation, it heals. But if hidden behind it is a secret desire to put ourselves above him and trample him, this is a spiritual crime.
There is also an opposite abyss—false pity, and infantile indulgence of weaknesses. “Help” that frees a person from personal responsibility and labor turns edification of spirit into its final destruction. By turning “building the house” into demolishing it, we corrupt our neighbor’s soul, allowing him to be parasite on another’s kindness.
How can we avoid getting lost in these labyrinths of human relations? Christ has left us universal criteria: By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt. 7:16). We are called to reject a mechanical fulfillment of the commandments. Our every action should be tested by its fruits: Does our brother’s soul become stronger, purer, and closer to God, or does our “help” make him weaker and lead him to darkness?
The Christian calling is simple in its fullness—respond to a person’s real, existential need by giving bread to the hungry, clothing the naked, consoling the sorrowful, and directing the seeker. Let our service to each other be free from man-pleasing, filled with sobriety and sacrificial love, and directed exclusively to the edification of the mystical Body of Christ.
