I was there. I was in on the revolution from the start. Take a minute to see through the eyes of my good friend (and fellow Student Advisory Board member) Christina as she explains…
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We are a revolution. Five months ago, these were the words spoken by Christine to inspire us to allow the ministry of OCF to change our lives—to raise our expectations for ourselves and our future. Her words fired up joy and excitement in our hearts that we carried home with us for months. Later, though, we found that some felt as if the idea of a “revolution” was contradictory to our Orthodox way of thinking, but I believe we all knew that these words were not spoken with malice or negative intent, and I hope that I have captured in what follows at least a portion of the truth we felt about our revolution.
The word revolution conveys multiple connotations: in the context of revolt, we think of it as a change in structures—a move toward positive ideals to better a community. In this way, we—OCF—are a revolution of campus ministries. Across the continent, we are in the process of changing the way Christian ministry exists in the forum of pluralistic, secular education. We are there to make known the Church of our Fathers, the Church our Lord established over 2,000 years ago. We are there to promote not only good moral values and knowledge of the Faith, but more importantly the Love of Jesus Christ in all men’s lives. We can choose to be like other college ministry groups that approach Christianity too often with missing pieces, or we can bring fullness to the hearts of young people who are desperately seeking for a single, unmoving Truth.
And within our own ranks, OCF can strive to be the beginnings of a stronger, better structure of Orthodoxy in America. By the Grace of God, we can bring together people from all backgrounds in one Baptism, in one creed, and in one Lord. We can work side-by-side in earnestness and love across jurisdictional lines to achieve an ever-needed peace and understanding within the Church. In this way, we are a revolution against the ways in which we ourselves have broken the communion established for us by the Church.
A revolution can also be a war—a revolt against some ruling power. For us, this is not a new battle we are fighting—we are rebels against the world and its demonic ruler, as were the apostles, the saints, the martyrs. We are called to be warriors in the army of the Lord of Hosts—members of the Church Militant. Our battlefield is abstract and our enemies are not always apparent, but we must put on the armor of God and fight the righteous fight. We must be revolutionaries of the flesh—allowing God to work in us and through us to bring transformation to the fallen Creation.
But most importantly, a revolution expresses a turning around. For us, it is the path to salvation—the road of repentance. It is our dire need to fall down before Christ with tears of repentance, knowing who we are, and begging for forgiveness. And in this moment we realize, we are not a revolution. We are not the changing force; we are not the real Soldier. In fact, we find that we are the battlefield and even sometimes the enemy. And while all that we do through OCF and through our own lives may someday produce beautiful fruit, we will have done nothing of significance—it is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who truly transforms and glorifies. In our most honest moments, we realize that He is the revolution. He is our revolution.
