Here I offer my opinions about the practice of Orthodox Christianity in three different societies in which I have lived, the USA, Denmark and Russia, with focus on the parable of the leaven from Matthew 13:33.
“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman mingled with three measures of flour, until the whole lump was leavened.”
The Lord used the kingdom of heaven theme extensively. He teaches in Luke 17:20 that the Kingdom of God is “inside you.” And he is of course referring to the Kingdom that we access already from here through him in the Mystical Body of Christ. Thy kingdom come. They will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
My premise is that the “measure of yeast” effect occurs because a small group of spiritually active Christians consciously acts to BE their prayer within society. I think that Protestants can never really comprehend this parable because they do not understand that it is not possible to maintain ongoing prayerfulness as a way of life if you do
not, in the process, “love thy neighbor as thyself” within society. Orthodox do understand this, however, and they manifest the “measure of yeast” effect by bringing into the society the Creator’s love that they receive through BEING their prayer.
The “social fabric” of the society thus critically determines the extent to which one’s efforts to BE one’s prayer manifests the “measure of yeast” effect. The more there exists “spiritual unity” and “prayerfulness” within the “social fabric,” the stronger will be the “measure of yeast” effect.
In the case of the “adolescent” USA, the contemporary society is a consumer culture, quite literally a cult of individualism which actively celebrates, even worships, the ego of individuals. The “stream” of this society is unified only within a context where “human personality has been commodified as an impersonal module of a consumer-technological
system.” Such a society is essentially “spiritless” and this is especially troublesome where the majority of consumers are Protestants who live by the simplistic doctine “I believe, so I am saved.” According to my experience, to BE one’s prayer in the USA requires an exhausting effort to “swim upstream” in society. Even if all American Orthodox Christians faithfully did this, it could only in the best case have a very minor “measure of yeast” effect. That is to say, “spiritless” society provides no traction for the “measure of yeast” effect. An astonishing 23% of the population regularly attends Protestant church services (55). And yet this has no discernible effect on the spiritual “disunity” of the “cult of individualism” and even gives rise to what I consider a dangerous delusion that the peace that comes from “going with the flow” in this society IS the “peace of Christ,” which is not of this world. Some American Orthodox have established
isolated spiritual enclaves that sustain parishioners living from Sunday to Sunday, most notably parishes of the Russian Church Outside of Russis (ROCOR). They gather “in Christ” within their enclave, but then “swim upstream” in society. Regrettably, the great majority of American Orthodox have accepted the overwhelmingly Protestant society and try to “swim within the stream” of it. This gives rise to a kind of “Orthodox Individualism” which is inherently “watered down,” effectively a kind of “new-improved” Protestantism that is devoid of any “measure of yeast” effect.
I note as an aside that the evolution of consumer culture in Denmark and Russia is also headed in the same direction as in the USA and can logically be predicted to have similar ultimate consequences for the “social fabric” in Russia, if active steps are not taken to prevent this.
In Denmark, the Danes’ long history of living under a Christian state church has left a lingering cultural heritage of trinitarian communion on a social scale. Danes continue as of 2025 to live within a society where they truly do “love thy Danish neighbor as thyself.” The “stream” of this society is indeed unified spiritually within the collective “love of the Danish people.” Although it should be noted that foreigners inevitably feel alienation in this society because the same spiritual tendency that brings Danes together “pushes out” non-Danes. This is overall a great improvement compared with the American “cult of individualism,” but it can no longer be said to have any conscious relationship with Christ. Only 15% of Danes continue to believe in “divine power” (56). Thus, the trinitarian communion of Danes is within what I call the “Mystical Body of Dane” which is certainly not the same as the “Mystical Body of Christ.” This collective love is not fed by prayerfulness, but rather by the ordinary, material longings of openly atheist individuals. My good danish friend who was himself formerly an Orthodox priest says that he actively tries to keep himself OUTSIDE of this “trinitarian communion,” because of its ultimately atheist character. Thus, for now, at least, in order to BE their prayer in this context, Orthodox in Denmark must also “swim upstream” in society – effectively practicing “Orthodox isolationism.” And accordingly, there is no discernible “measure of yeast” effect. However, having myself lived for 20 years in this society, I can emphatically testify that it is much, much easier to “swim upstream” while being one’s prayer in this
society than it is to do so in the USA. If the Danes were to return to their Christian roots and consciously endeavor to gather “in Christ,” this could be a very great and de facto Orthodox society notwithstanding its Lutheran history.
In Russia, the historical tendency for “sobornost” in society was not destroyed by the communists and continues to exist. While this is less overtly a manifestation of “love thy neighbor as thyself” than is expressed by Danes, it is very much rooted in trinitarian communion in Christ. The separate worlds of “male” and “female” as defined by the
passions of the flesh are nevertheless united in the “love of the Russian people” in a manner that very closely or even exactly resembles the “unity in Christ” that we achieve in the “sacrament of the assembly.” Thus, while individual males and females may not consciously realize this, they are all drawing from the nourishing source of
“sobornost” which has everything to do with Christ, the endless wellspring for us of the Creator’s love. Moreover, now, 34 years after the fall of the communists, 72% of Russians identify themselves as Orthodox Christians, most of whom have icons and some degree of prayerfulness. Only 7% regularly participate in the “sacrament of the assembly.” (57) But this is the classic context in which the “measure of yeast” effect can be very great. I see this in my own work to live in peace and repentance and indeed this is the reason why I chose to live in Russia as a “spiritual refugee” from Denmark and the USA. I regularly engage in what I call a “prayer walk” where I endeaver to BE my prayer and to “love thy neighbor as thyself” within the stream of pedestrians on Nevsky Prospect. I have to work at it, of course, but normally I can reach the state which I refer to as “the middle” between
the separate worlds of “male” and “female” where I am present as my prayer, filled with love for neighbors and consciously aware of the Creator’s love raining down on the Russian people. It is awe-inspiring, like one giant liturgy. And of course, in order to get to this “middle” and to maintain myself there, I have to struggle against my ego and do a lot of active “loving thy neighbor as thyself” which is more-or-less exactly the same work as what we do in the liturgy itself. Thus, for so long as “sobornost” continues
to exist within the “social fabric,” the 7% of regular participants in the “sacrament of the assembly” can have a profoundly powerful effect by simply continuing the work of the liturgy “out in the street,” confident that the “middle” indeed exists and that the act of “getting there” is BEING the “measure of yeast.”
(55) “Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off,” Pew Research Center, February 2025, Communication 202.419.4372 (In english)
(56) “Why are Danes and Swedes so irreligious?,” P. Zuckerman (2009) Nordic Journal of Religion and Society 22(1):55.
(57) “Russians Return to Religion, But Not to Church,” Pew Research Center, February 2014, Communication 202.419.4562
LINK TO VIDEO IN ENGLISH
https://rutube.ru/video/private/5ac49a45dcfd976f89415573afaf301c/?p=MVd_xDNHeDV_eely0qpLIg
LINK TO VIDEO IN RUSSIAN
https://rutube.ru/video/private/c85f3ae402fbaf70e39a3ab103de3120/?p=g85-nWhmhA1cp63aENO1HQ
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