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When I first became Orthodox, I remember seeing so many posts about how new converts shouldn't be allowed to post about Orthodoxy and what not.

Now, I still disagree, I still see value in letting people share their excitement about their newfound faith with their friends and families. That said, I've come to understand a grain of truth in what they were saying. Namely, humility.

So, when I became Orthodox, I was still wrestling with a calvinistic understanding of predestination (a heresy), but I was allowed to join the Orthodox Church and have a YT channel because my priest knew that I was wrestling. I trusted that the Church had it right, and that however much some texts of Scripture "seemed to me" to be saying a specific teaching about predestination, I was the one who was wrong. So, I didn't talk about that issue for the first two years of running my YouTube channel as an Orthodox Christian. Then, after much study, I was finally ready, and I did correct my earlier falsehoods with the truth of Orthodoxy. Now there's calvinists who want me to go through every calvinist proof text on my channel, and Lord Willing, I will do that, but that's not what this post is about.

What I'm here to say is, I understand. If you're struggling to believe in God at all, if you struggle with open theism, or calvinism, or Lutheranism, Molinism, or whatever other ism that goes against Orthodoxy, I want you to know that Orthodoxy is a home for you! And you're welcome here! And I also want you to feel like you can share you're excitement. That said, have humility.

Have the humility to know that whatever your favorite ism, the Church hasn't been wrong for 2000 years and you aren't correcting her. I don't care how many books you've read, Orthodoxy isn't just about books. Do read books, especially the Fathers, but be careful, don't get inflated by your reading and start sharing how you know the Fathers so much better than everyone and post to YouTube and Tiktok all about how, "The Church is wrong, open theism is the way to go." That's not how we do things. Have humility, step back from those discussions for a while, and really take time to pray and study thoroughly.

#jesussaves

Description
When I first became Orthodox, I remember seeing so many posts about how new converts shouldn't be allowed to post about Orthodoxy and what not.

Now, I still disagree, I still see value in letting people share their excitement about their newfound faith with their friends and families. That said, I've come to understand a grain of truth in what they were saying. Namely, humility.

So, when I became Orthodox, I was still wrestling with a calvinistic understanding of predestination (a heresy), but I was allowed to join the Orthodox Church and have a YT channel because my priest knew that I was wrestling. I trusted that the Church had it right, and that however much some texts of Scripture "seemed to me" to be saying a specific teaching about predestination, I was the one who was wrong. So, I didn't talk about that issue for the first two years of running my YouTube channel as an Orthodox Christian. Then, after much study, I was finally ready, and I did correct my earlier falsehoods with the truth of Orthodoxy. Now there's calvinists who want me to go through every calvinist proof text on my channel, and Lord Willing, I will do that, but that's not what this post is about.

What I'm here to say is, I understand. If you're struggling to believe in God at all, if you struggle with open theism, or calvinism, or Lutheranism, Molinism, or whatever other ism that goes against Orthodoxy, I want you to know that Orthodoxy is a home for you! And you're welcome here! And I also want you to feel like you can share you're excitement. That said, have humility.

Have the humility to know that whatever your favorite ism, the Church hasn't been wrong for 2000 years and you aren't correcting her. I don't care how many books you've read, Orthodoxy isn't just about books. Do read books, especially the Fathers, but be careful, don't get inflated by your reading and start sharing how you know the Fathers so much better than everyone and post to YouTube and Tiktok all about how, "The Church is wrong, open theism is the way to go." That's not how we do things. Have humility, step back from those discussions for a while, and really take time to pray and study thoroughly.

#jesussaves