We must therefore be aware of our calling as Orthodox Christians. We must know that we belong to the one Church which Christ established on earth; that through it alone we obtain the grace which we must have to work out our salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12); that nothing else is more precious in our lives, and that we must sacrifice everything else in order to remain in the grace of Christ in His Holy Church; that we can offer nothing better to our fellow men than that they come and see (John l:46) the life in Christ which is offered in His Church. Especially in our times, when the Church exists in the world like an island in the midst of apostasy and unbelief, each Orthodox Christian is called to be a missionary of the true Faith.

But what kind of missionary? It is possible today to be so preoccupied with the apostasy surrounding one that one becomes simply a boaster in his own righteousness: I am not as other men are…. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess (Luke 18:11-12). This is the phariseeism which our Lord condemns. People who are thirsting for the life and truth of Christianity cannot help but reject such phariseeism.

– Orthodox America Vol 1 Issue 6