Fr Seraphim Rose on our Missionary Calling (Part 2)…
True Christianity has no room for such vain boasting, nor for merely negative condemnation of the errors of others. If we wish to lead men to the living water of Christ’s grace, and indeed if we wish to save our own souls, our righteousness must exceed that of the pharisees (Matt. 5:20)–it must be of a different kind entirely: not a dry “correctness” in which we take pride, but a living reflection of the life of grace which Christ has bestowed on us.
We shall be known as the disciples of Christ if we have love (John 13:35). This is the chief distinguishing mark of the Christian, as a disciple of the God Who is Love (I John 4:8)/
We must speak the truth to those who thirst-for, we must tell men confused by the myriad of opinions and sects that claim the name of Christian that there is a true Christianity, handed down i.fi an unbroken line from Christ and His Apostles to our times But we must do this in such a loving and positive way that those who listen to our words will hear the message of the heart which Holy Orthodoxy conveys. Speaking the truth in love is a part of our maturing in Christ, that we May grow up into Him in all things and come unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:15, 13). It is our faith which worketh by love (Gal. 5:6) that is the test of our Christianity and at the same time our witness to that remnant of the last humanity that thirsts for this kind of Christianity.
– Orthodox America Vol 1 Issue 6