Hey everybody this is Steve, and a question
I hear a lot is: why are you an Orthodox Christian? After 4 years of making YouTube videos, I
get this question from people of all sorts of religious traditions, even from some atheists
and agnostics who stumble upon our work. I also get the same question from a lot of
young Orthodox Christians who struggle with doubt, and don’t know whether they’ll
still be Orthodox when they get older. I get it. I’ve struggled with doubts. I still struggle with doubts and difficulties. Yet I’m still committed to being an Orthodox
Christian. So since I’ve heard the question so often,
I think it’s time I answer it. So why am I an Orthodox Christian? Well, after a lot of soul searching, I think
I can narrow it down to 3 basic reasons: Reason number one: because God is real. I wouldn’t be an Orthodox Christian if I
didn’t think God is real. And, to be honest, for a long time, I really
wasn’t sure. As I got older, moving from middle school
to high school, I began to realize that I wasn’t sure whether God was really there
or not. I’d go to Sunday School and youth group,
attend all the programs and events. I even taught Sunday School my last two years
of high school. Yet, I really wasn’t sure whether God was
anything more than an idea, a story we tell ourselves to make sense of the world. And that’s why I stopped going to Church
when I went to college. Not because some secular university converted
me, but because I was finally free to act on the secret doubts that had been developing
in my heart for so long. All that changed during my junior year of
college, after my dad died. That remains the worst, the most awful thing
that’s ever happened to me. Losing my dad remains the most painful thing
I’ve ever experienced. I was terrified that he was gone. Not just dead, but literally gone. Because, if there is no God, then there is
no afterlife. And my dad had, in the blink of an eye, ceased
to be. So with tears I cried out to a God I wasn’t
sure was really there, asking Him: if you’re real, if you’re there, then please take
care of my dad. And I did this, day after day, for weeks. Hearing no answer, talking into the void. Asking, with no hope for an answer yet desperate
for an answer. And, the crazy thing is, I got an answer. One day, in the midst of this prayer, it was
as if an arm reached across me, to comfort me. And it was as if a voice spoke to me, saying
“no need to worry, your dad’s ok.” It wasn’t a literal arm, and it wasn’t
a literal voice. Yet something happened in that moment. Something so powerful that I still haven’t
quite figured it out. Something so impactful that, it’s the reason
I’m here doing this. In that moment, I realized that my prayer
wasn’t simply a monologue into the void. Someone listened. And someone cared enough to respond. The second reason I’m an Orthodox Christian: Christ is Risen I’m an Orthodox Christian, not simply because
God is real, but because the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, became
human. Because Jesus Christ died with us so we can
rise with Him. And I realize that I know this, not because
of theological arguments, but because I’ve seen the power of Christ’s resurrection
firsthand. Because I’ve seen the courage and determination
with which people struggle to be patient, kind, and loving. The way that lives are truly transformed by
Christ. The way ordinary people become saints through
their union with Jesus. I saw it in the steadfast courage of my grandmother
who, no matter how sick she got, no matter how much it hurt, continued to offer praise
to God; continued to call out to Him with everything in her heart. I saw it in the way, just a few years ago,
21 Coptic Orthodox Christians preferred to die rather than deny Jesus, just as generations
of Christian martyrs have been doing, from St Stephen 2000 years ago, until the present
day. From those who fear neither fire nor sword,
to those who are not afraid of sickness or accidents, the one thing that gives all of
these people courage in the face of death is the fact that Christ is risen from the
dead, trampling down death by death. They don’t fear because they know, because
they’ve already experienced a taste of the Kingdom of God in this life. And the third reason I’m an Orthodox Christian: One Christian is No Christian This is an ancient Christian saying that goes
back to the writer Tertullian, who lived in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries. Though it’s just as true today as ever. Christ invites us, together, to call God “our
Father.” To be united to Him, the Son of God, so we
can all become children of God. Christians aren’t born, we are made. We’re made in the presence of other Christians,
in the waters of baptism. And we most fully become ourselves when we
assemble to worship with other Christians, when we assemble as the Body of Christ, to
receive the Body of Christ, and become the Body of Christ. That’s the Divine Liturgy, our taste of
the Kingdom of God. We are all, from Adam and Eve in the past
to Christians who will be born generations from now, united as the worshiping Body of
our lord, Jesus Christ. One Church. The same Church: yesterday, today, and forever. And we preach what Christians have always
been preaching, from the time of the Apostles, creatively and courageously spreading the
Gospel in the time and place in which God has placed us. That’s why we at Y2AM do what we do, preaching
the Gospel and helping to form new generations of Christians, people who will love the Lord
with all their heart, mind, and strength; and who will love their neighbors as themselves. So that, in a nutshell, is why I’m an Orthodox
Christian. I’d love to know why you’re an Orthodox
Christian. Or, if you’re not, why not. Leave us a comment and let us know. And, for all you young adults, we’re developing
a new podcast to give you a chance to share your story. Whether you’re still connected to the Church
or not, we’d love to hear from you. Please email us at y2am@goarch.org if you’d
like to be interviewed for the podcast. Thanks for watching. Please pray for us. And remember to Be the Bee and Live Orthodoxy.
