It's All Greek To Me

"If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself." — Fulton J. Sheen

So what is the appeal? Why do young men [and families] find traditions like Greek Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism appealing? Where is this revived interest coming from? A few thoughts…

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1. In a world obsessed with novelty, ancient feels trustworthy

Walk into many modern evangelical churches, and everything will feel new, what we call "contemporary" [lobbies, next step rooms, LED walls, branding, stage lighting, conversational preaching, modern music, et cetera].

Now… walk into an Orthodox church. Everything is ancient. Icons. Incense. Chanting. Creeds. Even the rooms have archaic names [the Narthex, Nave, and Sanctuary]. Immediately you encounter a liturgy that does not particularly care whether you like it or not, a message that says, "This was here before you arrived, and it will be here after you leave."

Why does this matter? For a generation of men exhausted by algorithms, trends, deconstruction, and constant reinvention, permanence and history are profoundly attractive. Men [especially young men] love receipts: proof of something unchanging and rooted amid cultural instability.

2. Orthodoxy asks something of men.

Modern Christianity is often presented as: "Come as you are. Sit down. Watch." There is a "We don’t want anything from you [except a tithe], we have something for you…" mantra.

Orthodoxy, in practice, is far more arduous. It demands something from you. Prayer. Fasting. Confession. Standing. Kneeling. Singing, Learning. Submitting. Serving. An Orthodox life appears to be a "heavy" life.

Why does this matter? Young men are starving for initiation. They want weight and substance. Modern evangelicalism has grown soft [sometimes avoidant] toward rules, rigor, and discipline. Yet that is precisely what young men today want [and need].

Men need more than someone telling them they are loved. They need someone pushing them and showing them the kind of man they ought to be.

3. Orthodoxy gives men [and families] a world, not merely a worship service.

I think this is huge… Modern evangelicalism will often reduce Christianity to 75 minutes on Sunday + a small group if you’re serious.

Orthodoxy gives you a calendar: Feasts. Fasts. Saints. Prayers. Liturgy. Confession. Seasons. Rhythms. Meals. Marriage. Baptism. Burial. It inhabits your body, home, table, week, and year.

Why does this matter? Young families today are not merely looking for somewhere to attend church. They are asking: How do we build a Christian household? Orthodoxy seems to have a visible answer.

4. Orthodoxy offers transcendence instead of relevance.

For decades, churches have been asking: "How can we make Christianity feel familiar?" And in doing so, we can, and have, made it feel [and look] sacreligious. Anyone remember those "Jesus is my Homeboy" tees? What about the "God is Dope" hoodies? I had a blue one. Coffee shops. Bookstores. Fitness centers. And my favorite time of the year, "Summer at the Movies." Nothing like Peter Pan conveying the holiness of God.

Somewhere along the way, in our effort to make Christianity approachable, we made it ordinary. Comical sometimes. We told people, "Come as you are," but forgot to tell them, "You are coming before a holy God."

Orthodoxy feels more sacred, asking, "How can people encounter the holy?" This is a very different instinct. There is mystery, beauty, silence, architecture, iconography, chanting, sacrament, and reverence in every Orthodox church that makes God bigger, not smaller.

Why does this matter? For people drowning in screens and entertainment, walking into somewhere that feels genuinely 'other' can awaken something.

5. Orthodoxy provides authority in an age of endless self-definition.

Our current culture tells a 23-year-old to "Find your truth." "Choose your identity." "Construct your morality." "Determine your purpose."

That sounds like freedom. It’s not. It’s exhausting. Orthodoxy walks in and essentially says, "You don’t own, invent, or earn anything. You received it." In fact, they double down on "nothing new under the sun." They [the Greek Orthodox Church] believe that they are the judge, jury, and executioner. And though I strongly disagree with their claims about final ecclesial authority, the attraction young men have to authority makes complete sense.

There is enormous psychological and spiritual relief in absolute dominion. No endless reconstruction. No reinventing sexual ethics. No congregational debate about whether Christianity, or parts of Christianity, should change with the times.

Why does this matter? In a world where everything feels like it is on shifting sand, the rocks look like a great place to build.

6. Young men [and families] are looking for a thick faith.

We’re living in what sociologists describe as a culturally "thin" world. Weak institutions. Transient relationships. Digital friendships. Fragmented families. Few shared rituals.

This may be Orthodoxy’s superpower: Orthodoxy feels "thick." You know what you believe. You know when you worship. You know what marriage means. You know what fasting means. You know what the church believes it received from previous generations. You know that your children belong to something older than Mom and Dad.

Why does this matter? Men were not made to live untethered. They need roots. They need rhythms. They need boundaries. They need people who knew the faith before them and people who will carry it after them. They need practices that remind them that Christianity is not something they invented, customized, or downloaded last week.

Turns out, we men want our faith like we want our steak… thick.

Here is what I think… I think Orthodoxy is the new punk rock. It is countercultural. Against the grain. A little weird. Johnny Cash meets Kid Rock—double bird to the modern religious establishment—and young men are, as they say, vibing with it.

The Orthodox Church has held to a stubborn conviction: we do not need to resemble the culture in order to reach the culture.

I dig that.

Yet… and this is where I break from the trends… I don’t think young men are necessarily hungry for Orthodoxy.

I think they are simply hungry for a Christianity that feels bigger than they are.

Something ancient. Something demanding. Something beautiful. Something certain. Something they did not invent and cannot customize.

Men are tired of a faith built around preference. Men want mystery without vagueness. Authority without apology. Beauty without entertainment. Belonging without pandering.

Ultimately, men want to meet Someone worth bowing before.

And I know who He is. His name is Jesus.

He does not need to be made relevant. He does not need to be made cool. He does not need our help becoming attractive to modern men.

He simply needs to be seen for who He is: King. Lord. Savior.

For the King,

— Harp