Why do you make it so hard to become Orthodox? – part 03

OK, I understand much of what you have been saying, but why must I have a sponsor, or why is a baby expected to have godparents?

https://sugandhmalhotra.com/2024/08/07/3ywljun91rj Well, in the book of Hebrews, it says:

https://nedediciones.com/uncategorized/jd2wifq16h For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Look again at the process of growth of a believer that is outlined in this verse. It is assumed in Hebrews that a new Christian is “unskilled in the word of righteousness” and also unable to fully “discern both good and evil.” It would be dangerous to let such a person loose on their own to grow as best they can towards Christian maturity. All too often, churches are concerned with the simple idea of filling benches and getting new people to “accept the Lord” without an equal concern for taking those people through to the point where they can receive “meat” from the Lord.

https://www.psicologialaboral.net/2024/08/07/wk0szh4p0q5 In fact, I am going to say something which is very very strong. Too many of our churches are guilty of “spiritual infanticide.” We notch our spiritual gun with a new member but leave them alone to sink or swim in the seas of Christianity as best they are able. We comfort ourselves with the idea that the Holy Spirit will certainly guide them. Or, we comfort ourselves with the idea that “once saved they are always saved” so that even if we do not fulfill our responsibility to disciple a new believer, nevertheless no “eternal” harm is done. What a dangerous assumption to make!

https://solomedicalsupply.com/2024/08/07/70f85tlz When the catechumenate works correctly, it takes the process in Hebrews seriously. It takes the concern to “bear one another’s burden” seriously. It is a practical way to ensure that the “new” believer is receiving their milk and slowly growing into a more mature believer who can handle meat. Look again at that passage in Hebrews. It involves both a pedagogical part and a practical part. A sponsor is not only a person who can give some answers to basic theological questions, but can also give guidance as to right and wrong. A new believer will often choose the wrong simply because their “senses [are not yet] exercised to discern both good and evil.”

https://blog.extraface.com/2024/08/07/2a1iygbck9d In other words, a sponsor and the parish priest are trying to set up a new believer to succeed and trying to make sure that they do not fail. In my first post I talked about why the process is a year-long process. But, in this post, I am more specifically talking about what we are trying to accomplish and the role of the sponsor in that accomplishment.

https://aiohealthpro.com/dyo49is3m The modern American Armed Forces take quite seriously the commitment to leave no one behind. We, in the Church, need to seriously make the same commitment to ensure that we leave no new believer behind. The catechumenate is our attempt to fulfill that promise.