What frustrates me about articles or sermons about how the Church is a big communion, where everyone must share all aspects of their life, is that it is extremely impractical. In fact, most of the time what happens is that people that are "pillars" of the community often oppress the rest. Or people with more knowledge than the others make less informed individuals feel insignificant.
What I notice, is that there is no place for dialogue. There is only a place for dictating. And this is in the Church that calls itself apostolic and unchanged from the beginning.
Well, obviously, from reading theoretical articles about how the church should be a community, it is not what we see practically now. What we see are communities divided on each other. People want to appear as the pillars of this community and want everyone to show them respect and gratitude, without them doing the same. Is that the community and the example that they want to set to the world?
How can you go to others and tell them look at how beautiful my doctrine is, but you yourself are not following it.
It's funny actually, the same people that harp on this are the first ones that don't show the slightest regard for others. I encountered priests and lay people who keep "gloating" about the beauty of the Orthodox doctrine, but they are the first ones to display attitudes completely opposite to what they preach. They talk about community, yet they do whatever they want without regard to others. They talk about community, yet utterly ignore people in that community. Only when they are contacted by "special" people of that community do they respond. Well, it seems to me that this is opposite to what the first Christian Church did, as they themselves admit.
If I only respond to people that I hold at a different pedestal than others, then that automatically implies favouritism. I prefer that person over that person. I think that person is more useful to me than that other person.
Wouldn't it be frustrating living in a community that has this theoretical outlook, that they try to enforce on others, but they themselves don't bother to touch with their little finger.
See my problem is that when talking about subjects like this they look at one aspect and ignore the other side. They talk about community and how individualism is destructive to the community, yet they don't look at the fact that you should go into your room, close your doors and pray, so that God that sees in secret may reward you openly. Isn't that the height of individualism? The idea of having everything in common in itself actually prevents anyone from having a private relationship with God. People automatically jump at this and protect their argument by putting in exceptions by saying well, the communal life of church doesn't prevent people from having their own private life with Christ.
So then it seems to me that both being an individual and an individual that's a member of the community with duties and roles go hand in hand. Just being part of the Church, the body of Christ, doesn't take away your identity as a person. It doesn't make you dispersed in the see of people. I don't accept that. There are individual aspects of life with Christ and there is a communal aspects of life with Christ. Another example which uniquely signifies the importance of a single person is this "He that hath an ear , let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in that stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." If we talk about community the way they talk about community, why would Christ give someone something that only they know. IE, as far as I understand, something that signifies the unique relationship an "individual" has with Christ.
The problem I have is that people don't understand what the others are saying and they pick a point and harp on it. (Who knows, maybe I'm doing the same. But at least I admit the possibility. Others don't even admit the possibility that they could be mistaken). They look on individualism as a negative aspect. The idea that I do things irregardless of what others want or need. Come on, how could any society exist with this thought. In fact it can't and in fact I don't think any sane person can accept that as a sole explanation to individualism.
I would rather hold a balanced approach. Yes a church is a community of people who struggle with sin and weakness, along with the victorious church of the saints who have overcome by the grace of God and with the head of the Church, Christ. Each member of that community has the duty to love and to care for other members. Each member has a different role and all hold each other in equal measures. There isn't the idea that I am better than you because I'm a priest, or because I have read more books than you, or whatever. But at the same time, each member is an individual of significant importance and a private relationship with God that no one knows but that person and God. Each individual has been given a unique gift to use to benefit the entire body.
Yes, the idea that individualism is about me and me only, is a rejected concept, but not only in the Orthodox Church, but with all sane Christians. No one can say I am an island. If I am to attribute Christianity as my way of life, I can not say I live alone. I have to live a sacrificial life, like the one that Christ lived, which extended to him giving up his life to the world. I should do the best I can to help others, to mutually benefit and to benefit. But that doesn't exclude me going to the mountains and having a relationship with God that is my own and no one else's. No one has the right to come and tell me you should share that with everyone.
Even at the level of the community, there are smaller communities, families, which affairs are of no concern to anyone else.
So to say that no one can be saved outside the church, let's make sure that we understand this correctly. That no one can say he is a Christian and the same time live apart from Christ. And if he is unified with Christ then he is part of the body of Christ and therefore must serve others. No one can say I love God and hate his brother.
At the end, this understanding shouldn't give the right to people to gloat and to beat others over the head with their ideology and assert how they are so much better than everyone else. It should, rather, motivate them more to pour themselves for the service of others in all humbleness and meekness.