Deny the West

“For through the presence of God we are called gods (Jn 10:35), children of God (Jn 1:12), the body (Eph 1:23) and members (Eph 5:30) of God, even “portion of God.” In God’s purpose this is the end toward which our lives are directed. For this end man was brought into the world.”
― St. Maximus the Confessor, On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ

True Christianity is always deeper and exponentially richer in nature and practice than what most Americans realize. We as beings created in the image and likeness of God, were never meant to live how we are living in modern day Western culture. We are diseased physically at rates we’ve never seen, we are plagued mentally at the highest degrees in recorded history, we are increasingly more reliant on materialism than true spirituality with God, and we are continuously distancing ourselves from what we were created to become. St. Maximus the Confessor, a personal favorite Saint of mine, paints this picture beautifully in the quote I used above from one of my favorite books I have ever read. He is not alone in this thought process in the Eastern Orthodox Faith. However, he is arguably the most profound thinkers of the first Millenium Church in how he articulates himself towards the natures and wills of Jesus Christ and how he connects our divine purpose into God’s plan for us. It is of the utmost importance to be reminded of our divine creation because this solves the issues plaguing Americans on a daily basis. When we are aligned with our true purpose, we can focus our desires to who truly deserves it which is God.

The reason we are so sick as a culture, is we have essentially replaced God with humanity. Although we are called to become “partakers of the divine nature”, this is not attained on our own without God. Paul’s letters to the Romans does a phenomenal job at explaining how works of the flesh will not save us. Salvation is not granted to us through flesh. It’s not simply the literal act of Baptism, or the literal consumption the Eucharist that is what cleanses us and saves us. It’s what God does for us through these Sacraments with the Holy Spirit that cleanses us. Whenever we Orthodox speak of deification and living an ascetic life, it’s with the understanding that none of this is possible without the grace of God. Saint Silouan sheds amazing wisdom here for us, “No matter how much we may study, it is not possible to come to know God unless we live according to His commandments, for God is not know by science, but by the Holy Spirit. Many philosophers and learned men came to the belief that God exists, but they did not know God. It is one thing to belief that God exists and another to know Him. If someone has come to know God by the Holy Spirit, his soul will burn with love for God day and night, and his soul cannot be bound to any earthly thing.”

There is no grace or presence of the Holy Spirit in materialism. We have effectively been manipulated by the “powers and principalities” (as Saint Paul puts it) to the extent that we now are conditioned to believe we can attain true happiness in worldly things. We will never experience true happiness until we bring ourselves close enough to God to experience it. The plagues we have been consumed by are worldly diseases casted by the powers that be to distance ourselves from our divine calling that God created for us to become. We are descending into lost souls for the devil and his slaves to feed on. If we are lost, if we reject our true calling, if we continue down this path of unrighteousness, we will never be happy. Our vices chip away at our nous and pull us down into the depths of disparity that only exposes us more to the darkness and begins to cast out the light of Jesus Christ. This state of vulnerability is toxic for our souls. Americans are faced with the worst possible situations spiritually we have ever been faced with. Thankfully for us, the devil can never completely cast out the light of Jesus Christ.

Our true calling is to deny ourselves and pick up our cross and follow our Lord and our savior Jesus Christ. We need to deny materialism in America, we need to deny the demonic influences in our politics, we need to deny our human desires for lust, we need to deny our human desire for wealth and power. We must deny all things that are not Christ-like, and follow Him for He is the only light we have to lead us out of the darkness we have put ourselves in. Picking up our cross and carrying it is a daily task. This isn’t a “one and done” situation where you say one prayer and you’re saved forever. Being a Christian is forcing yourself out of these diseases we are surrounded by in America into a place of light where Christ waits for us. This is a constant working process that requires our direct effort unceasingly. No matter how dark it gets, no matter how consumed you are in Western culture, no matter how extreme your situation has become, there is always grace. God’s grace has no limitations. If you find yourself living in a constant state of anxiety, depression, mental illness, physical illness, and overall despair, this is a direct result of your worldly consumptions.

There is no healing like the healing from grace, there is no happiness like the happiness you can experience with grace. Constantly remind yourself of what Saint Maximus said in the beginning of who we really are. We aren’t designed to consume worldly things then die. We aren’t designed to become another pawn in the game called life that has no meaning and fall into eternal darkness. We were created in the image and likeness of God. The only way to escape the American delusion, is to become illumined by Christ’s divine light. For no passion of the flesh can bring us true happiness.

The level of importance you have to place on your relationship with Christ needs to be above everything else. Nothing in your life will consistently operate in a proper manner if you do not have a relationship with Christ. Now, unlike the popular evangelical understanding of Christ, He is not a prosperity god. Jesus Christ suffered immensely while He walked this Earth. He was poor, He had no home, He had a very small following, He was constantly hated and attacked, and then He was crucified for committing zero sins. Pilate himself said this before He was crucified. Jesus Christ is not a prosperous financial guru that will automatically make you rich, healthy, and solve all of your problems in a week. Jesus Christ is our light in our suffering. We are actually called to suffer as Christians. I don’t want to give the false impression that all of your problems disappear by becoming closer to Christ. Sometimes, it’s quite the opposite. Demonic forces seem to work harder against those who are truly seeking Christ. If you’re already a lost soul, what else do they have to do with you? God is very pleased with sinners who repent and turn towards Him. Reading the lives of the Saints will prove this. Often times when they are seeking God the most is when they are attacked by demonic forces the most. Physical attacks, illness, spiritual attacks, and so on. Whatever pleases God the demons hate and will do everything they can to prevent it. What Christ provides to us during our suffering is purpose and the most sufficient result we could ever attain which is a deeper relationship with Him. I personally feel exponentially better dealing with worldly issues knowing I have the creator of this universe by my side to guide me through it. If God Himself can walk this Earth fully God and fully human, experience all the pain and sufferings we do just to bring us closer to Him, then I can suffer any Earthly problem as well. Simply because I have Him with me. My anxiety is much easier to deal with now, my depression has left my mind, my anger is much easier to manage, and all of this is through His grace.

It’s time for you, for us, to work harder at deepening our relationship with God to bring us out of this dead world and into the life of Jesus Christ. No actor, no politician, no amount of money, no human on this Earth will ever be able to provide the divine grace our souls require to experience true happiness. Deny yourself, deny your Earthly perceptions, and pick up your cross and follow our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.