Sydney Maco

Having been born into a Macedonian family automatically makes you a member of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Here in Sydney we have several Macedonian Orthodox Churches which we can attend, namely; Roseberry, Rockdale, Cabramatta and several newly formed churches. There has been great debate around which church is the “true” church, and I’m not going to get into that here at all. Since most of those arguing probably can’t even name the four gospels, let alone recall a key verse from the Bible. These same people make out to be members of the “true” church, but their real motivation is power, control and a sense of authority rather than serving Christ. They’re probably better off getting a job as a parking attendant or security guard if they’re really bent on that sense of authority. Enough about them.

It’s really sad to admit this, and deep down we all know it’s true, but our community is not truly Christian, we only wear a badge called Macedonian Orthodox when it’s convenient. We are not to blame as individuals, it’s the way our community has evolved here since the early 1970’s. As a family we’d attend church for Weddings, Christenings, Easter and Christmas. Treating church more as a social gathering than a place of learning about the gospel. I recall going to church as a kid to Roseberry, we’d go inside light a candle each, stand around for 10-15 minutes, then head outside for the ice cream vans. I cannot say that I learned a single thing about Jesus while growing up and attending church, and I think most others my generation would say the same.

Today it’s not quite the same, we’ll go inside, light a candle with the kids, leave some money on the icons, then go outside to find others we haven’t seen since last year (since everyone is too busy working and don’t visit anymore). Can’t say I come out of there enlightened or with any revelation, I’ll be surprised if anyone else has. Why do we do this, is it because we’re expected to, believe that it’s the right thing to do ? It’s conditioning, and we’re on auto pilot.

Best way to illustrate is with this example, everything will become clearer.
An experiment was conducted on 10 chimps in a cage, there was a ladder leading up to a platform with bananas on it. Every day at a set time, a new bunch of bananas were placed up on the platform, the chimps would go up and get them. After some time, the experiment was changed so that a hose was pointed at the ladder and any chimp going near the ladder would be blasted. They tried several times, but soon got the picture and learned that there were consequences. Again the experiment was changed, and the hose was removed and one of the original chimps was replaced by one that had never been in the cage. He’d run for the bananas, the others would hold him back. He gradually developed the same conditioning as the others and knew not to climb up, but not the reason. Gradually all the original chimps were replaced one by one with new chimps, until all the chimps now in the cage had never been blasted by the hose but had become conditioned by the others. At the end of the experiment, from time to time a chimp would make a run for the ladder, and the others would hold him back, none of which had ever been blasted by the hose.

We are more than chimps, but sometimes we can behave the same way when living on auto-pilot.
Currently we’re not going to church consciously with any intention of learning something new or becoming closer to Christ. In fact every year I’m amazed at the mass turn out. It’s like a fashion parade and car show out the front all rolled into one. Others take the opportunity to promote their business, handing out leaflets, phone directories, plastering cars with leaflets, etc. We are a miserable bunch when you step back and think about it, I’d go as far as to say that we’re downright hypocrites, and offensive towards God.

My challenge for you all is not to turn things upside down and become rebels, but to question things from time to time. Ask your parents why they have to take red dyed eggs to church for easter, ask them why they leave money, oil, towels in front of icons at the church. You’ll be surprised by some responses, some more puzzling than others. And if you’re really up for it, my real challenge is for you all to ask the priest how he intends to reach out to the younger generation parading around in mini skirts and waxed chests. I’ll be doing that this weekend and let you know how I go. You’re probably curious now about some of the questions I posed. The reason Orthodox Christians leave things at church near the altar has it’s roots in Judaic tradition where animal sacrifices were offered. It was believed that the animal being sacrificed would take away the sins of the person offering it. This is totally contrary to the teaching of Jesus who the church was established for in the first place. What should be taught in our churches is that Jesus died for our sins, through his death we are forgiven. As for the easter eggs, thats going to be another post some day.

If enough of us start posing these questions, and taking a genuine interest, I believe that we’ll get to the heart of the matter, and our community as a whole will benefit.