I hear a lot of Protestants (some well meaning I’m sure) saying that Monasticism is wrong, because you’re secluding yourself from the World instead of going out and preaching the Gospel. I get where they’re coming from, but I obviously disagree. What’s the best defence for this?
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Indeed it is a fallacy in theory, but in practice the point remains.
I'm familiar with the arguments and I remain unconvinced about Orthodoxy's lack of evangelism, at least if it's viewed solely from the perspective of evangelical Protestantism's understanding of evangelism.
While a wholly anecdotal case, I find that I talk about my faith with non-Christians far more since becoming Orthodox - and it always comes up naturally in conversation, initiated by others 99% of the time.
Even as an evangelical I detested their idea of evangelism and I thought it counterproductive and cringe. Obviously I was wrong too in the sense that people joined, but the way I saw it many joined and then left because of starting with strange notions about Christianity that evangelicals don't really deal with.
Indeed it is a fallacy in theory, but in practice the point remains.
No point remains because no point was made. One, your characterization is just blatantly incorrect. I've never once heard complaints that evangelicals are too secluded from the world. In fact, the complaint is that they are too involved, that they need to get out of government/education/church/whatever. Two, it's still a fallacy, even if your observation was correct. Even if we granted evangelicals are too secluded (which I don't, in fact I wish they were), it wouldn't make their accusations against Orthodoxy any less true.
While a wholly anecdotal case, I find that I talk about my faith with non-Christians far more since becoming Orthodox - and it always comes up naturally in conversation, initiated by others 99% of the time.
Yes, converts are more likely to be knowledgeable and desirous of talking about their faith than someone who was born into it. I'm sure you've encountered someone who had a quote unquote "born again experience" for example. But genuinely compare the rates at which "cradle" evangelicals and cradle Orthodox do any form of evangelism and you'll find that one group is much more involved.
Even as an evangelical I detested their idea of evangelism and I thought it counterproductive and cringe. Obviously I was wrong too in the sense that people joined, but the way I saw it many joined and then left because of starting with strange notions about Christianity that evangelicals don't really deal with.
To quote myself from a thread earlier on the same topic:
"So many Orthodox on this thread keep explaining that marketing is not evangelism. Ok, we agree. So then explain what evangelism is and where it is happening in the Orthodox Church. That is the harder issue, because Orthodoxy has had many missionary saints, and there are very few following their example in the modern era...
It's perfectly ok to admit that this is an issue that is being worked on if it is one. Or explain what we're missing. But these threads always turn into Protestant bash-fests, and bashing pretty shallow conceptions and caricatures of actually common Protestant evangelism regardless."
I quote it because it never seems to get a straight answer. Every Orthodox convert seems to hate evangelical forms of evangalism. Ok, I'll meet you there. So then, what is good evangelism and where is it happening in the Orthodox Church?
“Acquire the Spirit of Peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved.” ~ St. Seraphim of Sarov
I think this is truly evangelism.
Ah yes, I see this quote all of the time in Orthodoxy, often to justify not evangelizing (which I don't think is why you are quoting it!) The question is, what does St. Seraphim mean by "acquire the Spirit of Peace?" It certainly does not mean sit around and pray all day. Source; St Seraphim:
"Yes, father, but what about other good deeds done for Christ's sake in order to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit? You have only been speaking of prayer."
"Acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit also by practicing all the other virtues for Christ's sake. Trade spiritually with them; trade with those which give you the greatest profit. Accumulate capital from the superabundance of God's grace, deposit it in God's eternal bank which will bring you immaterial interest, not four or six per cent, but one hundred per cent for one spiritual ruble, and even infinitely more than that. For example, if prayer and watching gives you more of God's grace, watch and pray; if fasting gives you much of the spirit of God, fast; if almsgiving gives you more, give alms. Weigh every virtue done for Christ's sake in this manner.
"Now I will tell you about myself, poor Seraphim. I come of a merchant family in Kursk. So when I was not yet in the monastery we used to trade with the goods which brought us the greatest profit. Act like that, my son. And just as in business the main point is not merely to trade, but to get as much profit as possible, so in the business of the Christian life the main point is not merely to pray or to do some other good deed. Though the apostle says: Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17), yet, as you remember, he adds: I would rather speak five words with my understanding than ten thousand words with a tongue (1 Cor. 14:19). And the Lord says: Not everyone who says to Me: Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he who does the will of My Father (Mt. 7:21), that is he who does the work of God and, moreover, does it with reverence, for cursed is he who does the work of God negligently (Jer. 48:10). And the work of God is: believe in God and in Him Whom He has sent, Jesus Christ (John 14:1; 6:29). If we understand the commandments of Christ and of the Apostles aright, our business as Christians consists not in increasing the number of our good deeds which are only the means of furthering the purpose of our Christian life, but in deriving from them the utmost profit, that is in acquiring the most abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit.
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