The "free pass" mentality

The other day, I got to reading Matthew 25, more specifically, the latter parabol about the Sheep and the Goats and Judgment Day. That is an extremely sobering piece of Scripture, but I'll come back to that.

Then my mind thought about the protestant-created dichotomy of Faith and Works... or rather Faith VS Works. As a disclaimer, I am well aware that not all protestant denominations view this issue the same and every individual internalizes the flawed or perfect doctrines of their Church differently (that is, these doctrines play themselves out in their lives in different ways) but I am referring here to the quite popular protestant concept that teaches that works don't matter, only faith matters: Sola Fide. Often we, as Orthodox, turn our protestant friends' attention to what St. James says in his epistle, "Faith without works is dead." By the way, for any protestants rolling their eyes thinking "here we go again", don't worry, I don't let us Orthodox off the hook either.

To be fair, many protestants will quickly say, "Well of course, if one has true faith, the good works will be present" but that is generally only stated aloud when challenged and, so becomes nuanced. The practical consequences of this over-reaction to Rome's overemphasis on works during the Middle Ages are not so biblical. The reality is that many protestants have learned to define faith apart from works, which is completely foreign to the Biblical and Early Church mindset.

This is not only wrong, but extremely dangerous. When we look at Matthew 25, it is plainly evident that God was not only concerned with our feelings, but with our actions. Yeah, real actions that make our lungs breathe harder, our muscles actually constrict, our heart pump faster and our pores to literally sweat more. Good old fashion physical labor. We think of that poor fig tree Christ smited because it produced no fruit. Well, just having a belief in your head and no fruit (works) to show for it is not faith at all. It's just an intellectual exercises that is of the devil (because it mocks God). I know what I am expressing here, most protestants would say "amen" to, but the problem is that they don't say it enough and, instead, repeat the phrase (or at least the basic concept behind) "Sola Fide" (Faith Alone) and the consequences are absolutely devastaing.

But our fallen human nature searches for the easiest and least scary way out. It looks for the "free pass". Suggesting that in order to have true faith I actually need to step outside of my comfort zone and help real people that may be perfect strangers is very scary for a lot of us. So, many protestants are comforted by concept of Sola Fide. They think, "Hey, I believe and God knows I'm not perfect and tonight, when I lay down, I'll ask God for fogiveness and all will be well. In fact (they get excited here), it would be a SIN to believe my works have anything to do with my salvation because St. Paul warns us not believe in our works so that we may not boast. (sigh of relief... drift off to the sleep of the just...ified)" During this monologue, they find their "free pass" in the unfortunate and, on the surface, unbiblical (but, to be fair, misunderstood) slogan of Sola Fide.

But don't get so excited, my Orthodox brethern. As I said, this is human nature, not protestant nature. Upon reflelction, it seems that we too find our free pass in spite of the Church's teaching. Rather than ignoring the finer nuances of Sola Fide, I often hear something like this: Sure, I didn't do anything to help the poor or the widowed (etc.) but, I fasted and prayed, tithed, went to Liturgy (and even vespers!), read the scriptures and so on. Through this I believe that God's grace for me [throwing in some self-depraving statement like "an unworthy rotting carcass of a sinner" to make us FEEL humbler) will abound and hopefully I will be saved.

In this lazy attitude, we find our "free pass". I suppose I would call our fallacy "Sola Gratia" (Grace Alone). Now, Sola Gratia (while not a slogan of the Church), on its surface (unlike Sola Fide) holds a lot of truth. For, as Orthdoox, we beleive that any good thing ONLY happens (in the end) because of the Grace of God. Our free will is not in spite of God's Grace but precisely because of it. However, while many protestants' main fallacy is actually in wrongly defining what faith is (that faith isn't just a warm fuzzy feeling or set of beliefs, but rather belief set into action), our's is often in misunderstanding or rather ignoring how God bestows His Grace and perhaps what Grace is/does (??). He doesn't just force it on us.

If we are lazy and think going to Church, using the sacraments, fasting, praying and reading the Bible is enough, how are we really accepting God's grace if we refuse to actually USE the tools He gives us? Because that's what those are. They are tools, means to an end.

If God said to Noah, "Look ye yonder, I have ye a hammer, saw, nails, wood and paint. Build ye thou me an ark and ye shall be sav-ed." and then Noah now organizes those tools and holds them every week, thanks God for them every day, polishes the saw and defends to others why a hammer is important, reads books on how to properly build an ark but never actually builds the ark, has he done anything to save himself from the immenent flood? Now, that would be ridiculous.

Now, the end goal, or course, is not helping the poor, etc. The goal is loving God. But can we love God without loving others? And if love is not a feeling, as much as it is an action, how am I loving others.

So, when I read Matthew 25, it is difficult for me to imagine that I am among the sheep. Not becuase I know I am not perfect, but becuase I have to ask, in what way do I emmulate the sheep? This fear of Hell does not come from an archaic and arbitrary Medieval point system of earning one's way into Heaven. It is fundamentally Scriptural: God, through His grace, has given me a choice: His Kingdom or Not. I know I am fully capable of emmulating the Sheep in the Scriptures becuase God, through His grace, has given me all of the tools and more necessary to do so.

To be clear, I am not saying in here that all or even most protestants and Orthodox abuse these respective "free passes" that have been imagined. Certainly there are countless Protestants that truly live out the Gospel and have real faith with real fruit. And certainly their are many many Orthodox who use the tools given them to live out a true Faith in Christ exemplified by the Sheep in the parabol. But, I suppose I have written this as a warning to myself and any Orthodox who may be reading that we are not immune from the "free pass" mentality. We are human too and even though the "free pass" may look different in Protestant communities, the end goal is the same: to get us to comfortably ignore the true Gospel message.

I welcome any thoughts on this. I am sure that I have overstepped my bounds at certain times in this post and I apologize if I have misrepresented the Gospel at any time here.

Xpy