Welcoming the World with Open Arms

Fr. Stephen Freeman writes this concerning the Church transforming (I’d say “sanctifying”) the world. Just substitute “Lutheran” for “Orthodox” and, say, “Sacrament” or “Lutheran Vestments” for “Icon” and see what you get:

My oldest daughter spent a year in Siberia. There she faithfully attended the Orthodox Church. She had a friend who was Orthodox who invited her to go to Church one Sunday. The Church, however, was not Orthodox, but a recent American plant, using the “mega church” model. Being in Russia, and being culturally sensitive, this new Church met in a movie theater, but had large icons around the room. Russians expect them.

My daughter said to her friend, “But you are Orthodox? Why do you want to go to a protestant Church?”

“What’s the difference,” her friend replied. “They both have icons, only the American Church has rock and roll!” This, again, is not the transfiguration of the world, but the morphing of the Church into a rock concert.

http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/2006/12/28/…