Metropolitan Anthony: The true Church is built from God to people, not the other way around

Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) reflected on the true nature of the Church and the dangers of its secularization. According to him, the true Church is a God-human organism, which is built «from the top down» — from God to people. Attempts to adapt it to the requirements of secular society, as the bishop stressed, lead to the loss of grace and transformation into human organizations that only outwardly resemble the Church.

In his remarks, the Metropolitan noted that the Church, founded by Jesus Christ, is not an earthly organization or a religious community created by people. «It is a God-human organism in which Christ lives and which He Himself governs through the Holy Spirit,» he said, referring to the words of the Holy Martyr Irenaeus of Lyons: «The Church is the place where the Holy Spirit resides, and where there is no Spirit, there is no Church.» This one Church unites the saints in Heaven and the faithful on earth.

The key thesis of the Metropolitan is that the Church is always built from top to bottom: from God to people, and not vice versa. However, in history there have always been attempts to create «their Church» from the bottom up, adjusting to the tastes of society and the spirit of the times, replacing the spirit of Christ with the spirit of this world. Such an approach, he believes, inevitably distorts the essence of the Church, which exists for the sake of human salvation.

«When the Church tries to please the world, it ceases to be a light to the world,» the Vladyka cited the words of St. Basil the Great. He explained that organizations that adapt the faith to the spirit of the times lose grace and turn into «social clubs where they talk about God but do not live Him.»

As an example of such distortions, Metropolitan Anthony cited Protestantism, which, he said, in an attempt to return to the original Church without apostolic succession, has become a denomination where «humanity has reached unprecedented proportions.» He mentioned radical cases in some denominations in Sweden, where crosses are removed from churches and yoga sessions are held, and noted similar trends in the Catholic Church, following the left-liberal agenda.

Vladyka recognized that today there are attempts to influence the Orthodox Churches as well, requiring them to be more «tolerant» of sinful lifestyles. «If the Church goes along with non-church society, it ceases to be the Church with a capital letter. On the contrary, society, if it wants to go to Christ, must itself enter the Church and become part of it,» he said.

The hatred of secularized society for the true Church, according to the Metropolitan, should not surprise the faithful. He recalled Christ’s words from the Gospel of John: «If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before you…. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you» (John 15:18-20).

In conclusion, Metropolitan Anthony noted that a society that calls itself Christian has a great responsibility. If it becomes on the path of apostasy and persecutes the Church, it «passes judgment on itself.» «Human beings are weak, human societies are imperfect….. That is why the Church cannot be equal to the sinful and earthly. It is not the Church that must follow society, society must follow the Church. The other way is the way to eternal perdition,» he concluded.