The Internet Monk had an interesting post about our changing culture. It dealt with the muslim immigration in Europe and the USA, and projected culture changes possible. This got me to thinking about my cultural blinders.
One of my blinders, and probably also yours, is the way we identify our churches. I grew up Methodist, became Lutheran, entered the wilderness of stand alone small independent bodies, and finally, so far anyway, am Anglican. This means that I filter my terms and meanings through those experiences. These can be both negative and positive filters.
What do we mean by “being saved”? Oversimplifying, many evangelicals insist that an act such as an individual’s profession of faith, coming to the Lord, or giving my life to Jesus necessary. Main stream Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox consider church membership and a private relationship with God sufficient. The last two groups assume that you accept the authority and magesterium of your particular Church body as a given.
When we meet those from a different body and talk of whom we will see in Heaven, problems arise.
An evangelical is slow to understand how a person could know God (including Jesus) from birth, even if they lapse and leave their faith for a time, and return later. A Catholic or Orthodox wonders how an evangelical can ignore the wisdom and history of the Church and insist on individual decision as final authority. Cultural blinders.
Both Protestants and Catholics, culturally of the West, seek to explain the how of things. Think Aquinas or John Calvin. The Orthodox, culturally of the East, have a better take on the how. When asked about something such as communion or being saved, they are reluctant to try and exactly define it. They say “It’s a mystery”, and are satisfied. We of the West want a precise explanation, and then argue about who has the “right” explanation. The East has arguments too, but usually about nationalistic items. Think Greek, Russian, or Coptic culture.
All this contributes to the rocks and shoals of christian fellowship. Being aware of this may smooth out our navigation through our fellowship attempts.
Pax. Fr. Orthohippo
Fr. Orthohippo 
What I find most interesting are the blinders worn by those who claim most vehemently that they wear none. In my personal experience, those who claim no affiliation and hence no blinders are often the most “focused” in the way they perceive others. Interesting phenomena, that…
I too have noticed that phenomenon.
I can remember listening to an evangelical pastor, that you also knew about Fr. Orthohippo, who would sometimes almost apologize for having no strong conversion experience!
He had been raised in a very strong Christian family and had never known a time when God was absent in his life. He had never gone through teenage rebellion and had always had God in his consciousness from childhood on. He had gone on to become an evangelist and worked on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. But, he had never had a crisis conversion experience.
This created some internal tensions, but only because other Christians, of a particular persuasion, had trouble with his not having had a crisis experience of commitment. Particularly in Campus Crusade for Christ, this was an oddity. And, so, he learned to partially apologize and to explain his experience. The sad part is that he had to do so.
Cultural blinders can have judgemental consequences. I have seen the glazed look in the eyes from others when I shared my own past. I found I wanted to be judgemental in reverse.
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