What is Orthodoxy: The Expression of a Distinct Identity

Branding. It’s a very, very significant marketing tactic for companies in our modern-day, media-saturated, consumer-minded society. Branding is all about clearly establishing and communicating a distinct identity that is unique, and it's usually meant to result in some kind of economic or social benefit for companies in the form of things like higher sales, more widespread awareness of a company’s services, an increased following, or possibly larger social appeal. And this goes far beyond a catchy slogan, a cool logo, and some inspirational ads. Everything in a company is affected by branding: employee attire, color schemes and font styles for presentations or public announcements, a building’s interior design, ethical priorities and philosophical commitments. And that’s because the whole point of branding is to use make use of every part of a company to communicate its identity and set it apart as distinct.

In a similar way, the Orthodox Church has a clear identity that pervades every part of her life and which sets her apart as distinct and enables others to identify her. This distinctness is identifiable in such things as vestments, icons, incense, chanting, and more -- "smells-and-bells” as they’re sometimes called. However, this kind of unique external showcasing occurs for a very different reason than branding: Unlike companies seeking socioeconomic gain through branding, the Orthodox Church is not a business and thus does not care for socioeconomic gain. Furthermore, whereas a company chooses and commits to an identity that will make it distinct, the Orthodox Church does not decide upon and communicate an identity in order to be distinct. Rather, she expresses herself in distinct ways because she is distinct. In other words, she expresses herself in many unique ways because they’re true to who she is already -- set apart and distinct -- not because it’s advantageous, profitable, or even practical.

So what are some of these outward expressions that express the distinct identity of the Orthodox Church?

Hierarchy and Holy Orders. The Church’s holy orders (bishop, priest, and deacon) can not be boiled down to just the administrative organization of power (like a company’s, government’s, or sports team’s administrative ordering). It’s not something chosen preferentially because it’s beneficial or practical. Rather, the hierarchy of the Church is first and foremost about the ministry and manifestation of Christ our one, true High Priest. Holy Orders are not about power, but about truth, revelation, grace — salvation, and therefore, Christ. And as such, the Church's hierarchy is essential and inseparable from her wholly unique identity as the minister of Christ's reconciliation and as the very Body of Christ himself.

The Temple. By “temple” I mean our place of worship. Probably more than anything else, the temple expresses the Christian (Orthodox) identity in clear and very distinct ways. This is because as Orthodox, we believe that when we gather together to worship God in the temple, we do so in his very presence in heaven, not merely on earth. As such, the temple is not just a building on earth. In the truest, realest sense, the temple is the place where heaven and earth meet, and all is transfigured in the light of Christ. The temple is not meant to look like any other building -- like a warehouse, a stage or concert hall, or a classroom. The temple is meant to look like heaven. Beauty and splendor adorns it all: fabrics, candles, crosses, vestments, walls and windows, the Gospel book, the chalice, the spoon, the censor...everything. Incense and angelic singing fill this holy place with holy praise. And lest we forget that the true meaning of the temple is the people themselves, beauty and splendor adorns the icons and statues of holy saints and martyrs who have laid there souls to rest in faith and the fear of God. And we, too, show up in our Sunday best, clothed in beauty as a holy offering unto God.

Liturgical Life. Many people think of our liturgy as just another way of worshipping God. They see it simply as one (fancier, more ancient) order of Christian worship among many others found in countless other Christian traditions. But, as Orthodox we actually have another word for that concept: Rite. A rite is a form or tradition of worship. And in fact, what many don’t realize is that the Orthodox Church actually has several rites despite being one Church: the Byzantine/Greek, Syriac, Russian, Latin/Roman rite, and more. However, as far as our liturgy goes, well that’s far more than just a rite. For Orthodox, the liturgy is the Church's participation by the power of the Spirit in Christ's one, all-inclusive, once-and-for-all salvific self-offering of praise and thanksgiving unto God the Father. And because Christ's self-offering is an offering of the whole world, the Church's liturgical life goes far beyond the four walls of the church on Sundays and affects more than just our thoughts, words, and deeds: it reorders the whole world. There are services every day according to a unique Church calendar that reorders the meaning of time even down to the hours of the day; there are devotional practices such as fasting, prostrating, crossing, kneeling, kissing that include our whole bodies as well as our minds and hearts so that we might reorder the meaning of our whole selves; and our liturgical life makes use of physical objects like candles, crosses, beads, rope, incense, and more in order to reorder the meaning of matter.

As the Body of Christ, the (Orthodox) Church is already distinct. And as a result, the Orthodox faith is distinct in every way. But rather than being unique for her own gain, this distinct identity is meant for the salvation of the world and the glory of God.