Because the Orthodox Church is where you’ll find the fullness of the Christian faith as it’s been lived since the apostles. Not a version of it. Not an interpretation. The thing itself.
That’s the short answer. But let me unpack what that means.
What We Mean by “Fullness”
When Orthodox Christians talk about the “fullness” of the faith, we’re not trying to insult other Christians. We’re making a claim about continuity. The Orthodox Church has maintained unbroken apostolic succession, bishops ordained by bishops in a line stretching back to the Twelve. We’ve kept the same liturgy, the same sacraments, the same theology. We haven’t added or subtracted. If you walked into a Divine Liturgy in the year 400, you’d recognize what we’re doing today.
This matters because Christianity isn’t just a set of ideas you agree with. It’s a life you enter. And that life is lived in the Church, which St. Paul calls “the pillar and ground of the truth.” The Church isn’t a building or a denomination. It’s the Body of Christ, and you become Orthodox because you want to be part of that Body in its most complete, undiluted form.
Salvation Isn’t Just Forgiveness
If you grew up Baptist or Pentecostal here in Southeast Texas, you probably think of salvation as something that happened when you walked an aisle or prayed a prayer. You got saved. Past tense. Done deal.
Orthodoxy doesn’t deny that God forgives. Of course He does. But we understand salvation differently. We call it theosis, becoming united with God, being transformed into His likeness by grace. Salvation isn’t a legal transaction where God declares you righteous and that’s the end of it. It’s a healing. A transformation. You’re being saved, present tense, throughout your whole life.
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick puts it this way: we’re becoming by grace what Christ is by nature. Not that we become God in essence, that’s impossible. But we participate in His divine life. We’re changed from the inside out.
This is why Orthodox Christians fast, pray, go to confession, and receive the Eucharist regularly. Not to earn salvation. You can’t earn it. But these are the means by which God heals us and makes us more like Him. They’re medicine, not merit badges.
The Sacraments Are Real
When you receive Communion in an Orthodox church, you’re not receiving a symbol. You’re receiving Christ’s actual Body and Blood. When you’re baptized, you’re not making a public profession, you’re dying and rising with Christ, being born again by water and the Spirit. When the priest anoints you with oil in confession, your sins are truly forgiven.
The sacraments aren’t just meaningful rituals. They’re real means of grace. God works through them. This is what the Church has always believed, and it’s one of the things that draws people to Orthodoxy. There’s something here you can’t get from a praise band and a sermon. There’s an encounter with the living God.
Scripture and Tradition Together
If you’ve been taught sola scriptura, the Bible alone, Orthodoxy will challenge you. We don’t believe the Bible stands alone. It can’t. The Church wrote the New Testament, decided which books were Scripture, and has been interpreting it in her liturgy and through her saints for two thousand years. You can’t separate the Bible from the Church that gave it to you.
This doesn’t mean we add to Scripture. It means we read Scripture the way the Church has always read it, in the context of worship, the Church Fathers, and the apostolic faith handed down through the generations. The Bible isn’t a puzzle you solve on your own. It’s the Church’s book, and it makes sense within the Church’s life.
It’s Not Easy
I won’t lie to you. Becoming Orthodox is hard. The services are long. You’ll stand more than you’re used to. You’ll have to learn a new vocabulary, Theotokos, Pascha, Vespers. You’ll have to explain to your Baptist mama why you’re venerating icons and calling a priest “Father.” Some of your family might think you’ve joined a cult.
And the fasting. We fast most Wednesdays, most Fridays, and during several extended seasons throughout the year. It’s not legalism. It’s training. It’s learning to say no to your appetites so you can say yes to God.
But here’s the thing: people who become Orthodox don’t usually leave. Because once you’ve tasted the fullness of the faith, once you’ve stood in the Liturgy and received the Eucharist and felt the prayers of the saints surrounding you, you can’t go back to something less.
Come and See
You don’t have to figure all this out before you visit. You don’t have to agree with everything before you walk through the door. Orthodox Christianity isn’t something you understand first and then experience. It’s the other way around. You experience it, and then, slowly, over time, it starts to make sense.
So come to a service. Stand in the back if you want. Light a candle. Talk to the priest afterward. Ask questions. Read a book like Becoming Orthodox by Fr. Peter Gillquist, which tells the story of a whole group of Evangelicals who made this journey together.
You’re asking why you should become Orthodox. The real answer is that you shouldn’t, unless you’re convinced this is where Christ is calling you. But if you think He might be, don’t ignore it. The Church has been here for two thousand years. She’ll be here when you’re ready.
