My “idealism” was (in my head) to be paralleled with poetry in preaching. And then contrasted to “realism” in preaching as prosaic in its colloquial meaning of prose = boring. It was not intended to dismiss your realism as flat and dull, although, perhaps, it is too hard to draw such a line in preaching.

Also, my sermon notes were missing the “invitation to discussion” usual in my community: which invite you took as a given, so, for that I thank you.

Again: I like the idea of being called “too idealistic” if we can see that as visionary or poetry. Maybe “mystical”? It’s a good contrast to your realism – which I see “where the rubber meets the road”. I agree with the Orthodox on this point: even following the words of the founder in a strict sense will cause harm (sin) to happen in this fallen world. A lifestyle of violent defense of what is “right” can cause harm to others. A lifestyle of pacifism as “right” can cause harm to others. There may be some times when one choice is more or less harmful than the other.

I think the job of the evil one is to make choices sinful in their consequences.

But I also think it interesting that at a time when conscription was by force and service was life-long and AWOLness punishable by death, the Church suggested AWOLness and provided community support for it pointing to the words of her founder. (I love the stories of ROman MIlitary martyrs engaged in acts of insubordination in the name of Jesus!) But at a time when conscription is nearly universally absent and there are many options for many lifetimes of pacifism and service, the church blesses military service.

I gave this up when I was a student at Moody Bible Institute, where I had the chance to examine it in more detail. I don’t think I could’ve become an Anglo-Catholic, much less Orthodox, if I still held on to pre-millenial dispensationalism.

“To proclaim today – or any day – the Kingship of Jesus is to disavow any connection with the rulers of the world… ”

I’m not sure I would agree with you on this. I understand the spirit of what you’re saying, but it sounds unpractical to me – a little too tidy. How else are we supposed to get things done if we don’t engage in the political process? Maybe we could reduce our engagement and instead rely more on the personal persuasion of holy lives shining forth the light of Christ, but you can’t rely on this alone. The work of government must go forth, and God forbid we completely leave it in the hands of the pagans. I think I would be with Luther on this one and not the anabaptists, as you seem to be.

“Churches should reign in soldiers they have in their midst (as the CHurch did through the first few centuries until the Roman Empire co-opted the Church) urging them to repent and go AWOL.”

Once again, too idealistic. As a veteran, there are times when I wish someone would’ve reigned me in. Nevertheless, I am proud of my service and only wish my country was more responsible in its use. As the Orthodox say, there is no such thing as a just war, but sometimes war becomes a necessary evil. For this reason, I’m thinking about becoming a military chaplain so that I can go where the evil is and perhaps bring a small piece of God’s grace to a wounded soldier who needs healing. That’s what the incarnation means to me – living within the ambiguity of history and not running away from it(though I wouldn’t suggest your more pacifist approach is a running away from history either).

“do exactly what it takes to keep your job, continue earning your pay, and keep just enough people happy to stay employed, feed your family and pay your bills.”

Aint that the truth!