A crisis of Christian identity and a crisis of culture

Abstract

A key issue for every man/woman is creation of their own identity. In determining a human being, his/her attitudes to faith, moral and culture as constants of their spiritual and cultural individualization are of crucial importance. A crisis of Christianity over the last centuries was reflected in the crisis of culture in the regions where Christianity was dominant, but consequently, worldwide, wherever it cast its influence. The historical 'failure' of Christianity was not only a consequence of outwardly factors - Church missions in a world deeply rooted in a religiously-magical understanding of God, but also a product of inner weaknesses of Christians, of their divisions and the absence of an authentic understanding of the Christ's person, of the liturgical life of the Church and therefore in everyday life of the faithful, especially among the Christians in the West. The lack of 'critical mass' of those truly faithful among Orthodox Christians, which was not only evident at the time of the Communist regime but also in the period that preceded it, brought about the 'crash of traditional values' and proved to be the main cause of the marginalization of the Christian lifestyle and culture. A need for constant rethinking of one's identity is the key to understanding a Christian attitude to any social phenomena or culture. Since spiritual and social relations are governed by the rule that no one pours new wine into old wineskins, it implies that Christianity, being wine of eternity, adds flavor to all times and to all human endeavors to change their lifestyle, find a pristine cause of being and true values. In these days of globalization, we witness that the Christians from the West keep losing their own identity as they get lost in 'the world trends', while the Orthodox Christians remain isolated in their tradition and unwilling to show any flexibility to change. Modern Christianity lacks the faith and experience of the Early Church that used to be capable of turning the world crisis into its own triumph - a triumph of the entire world over weaknesses gnawing at it. Just as people often turn God's good intentions into evil ones, whereas God turns their evil into good ones, authentic Christians also perceive every crisis as a challenge to perform greater good. This is truly the deepest meaning of the idea of κρίσις - testing, reasoning, and making critical decisions. Therefore, each crisis, seen from a Christian perspective, is not only a hint of the doom that is to befall the world submerged in sin, but also a chance for a change of that regression and for salvation from a spiritual abyss, leading to a new era of Divine Grace.