But it also got me to thinking a lot. Like many, I have a low opinion of lots of online Orthodox influencers. Not because I disagree with them all the time, or even most of the time, but because of the tone they set and, ironically, the phronema they exhibit. I have a high opinion of others, also because of the tone they set and the phronema they exhibit, even those I might frequently disagree with.
Side note, my friend Steve Robinson (an online personality I like) often tells the story of a catechumen who told him he wanted to cultivate an Orthodox phronema. Steve responded "then stop saying words like 'phronema' - you just heard it on the internet five minutes ago."
Anyway, obviously I have friends -- real life friends -- who are involved in podcasting, YouTube debating, etc. I'm not opposed to those things. But it is a shame that some of the loudest voices also say some of the most outlandish things at times. Specifically, trashing the hierarchs and undermining the various jurisdictions in the Church (usually GOARCH or the EP, but sometimes everyone but ROCOR). It is not helpful. More, I've seen the fruit it bears, and that fruit is often rotten. When it lands in your parish, it can be positively destructive, especially when it is either pushed or tolerated by leadership.
However -- and this is a big "however" -- I have also seen good fruit, even from some of the bad actors. I cannot tell you how many inquirers arrive at our mission and say they found the Church because they discovered so-and-so on YouTube. Sometimes I warn them to be careful following everything so-and-so says and does. But just as often, and perhaps more often, I keep silent. Why? In part, because undermining heroes rarely produces good will. But in part, because every one of these people has something good to offer the Church. Without naming names, I can think of many online Orthodox personalities whose bad actions and teachings outweigh the good. I can think of no one who has nothing good to offer at all.
I still believe that the hierarchs will, at some point, have to do something about the influence of certain online personalities, particularly those who border on schismatic tendencies. But perhaps the best most of them can do is simply discipline and teach their own. After all, someone who is under the care of another bishop is not my bishop's business. More, some hierarchs are responding, even as we speak. Our former Archbishop has written and spoken about certain teachings in the Church and even certain persons doing the teaching, ROCOR bishops Archbishop Peter (of blessed memory) and Metropolitan Jonah have spoken out, and Metropolitan Saba is prolifically writing right now in the Antiochian Archdiocese, sometimes slaying dragons one can only find on the internet. The Assembly of Bishops has done the same in recent past.
I am realizing it is a blessing that I get to learn patience and forbearance in observing these actions. It has taught me that So thank God for these influencers, even those I find distasteful. They bring people to the Church, where it is not my job to form them, but my priest's job. I trust him. I don't need to undermine the people who brought them here. My role is to rejoice that they brought them here, by whatever means, and stay out of the way.
