Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - April, 2005

The Place of Jewels and Gold among the Orthodox Clergy

by John Arnold

Among the many things that will shock an outsider to Orthodoxy is the seeming incongruity between Orthodoxy's emphasis of poverty and seeing priests and bishops wearing jewel-encrusted gold crosses and ornamented Icons (for bishops). Although on the surface this would seem to be contradictory, it is not.

Whereas the kings, rulers, tycoons, and other aristocrats of this world find value and allure in sure trinkets, the Orthodox Christian perspective tends to throw such a view upside down. Instead of being an ornament of beauty, the gold and jewels (or sometimes called “the bling bling" by today’s Western youth) that priests and bishops wear, is in reality, a yoke and a weight around their neck. It is a heavy weight, reminding them constantly of the "weight" of the souls for their flocks for which they are responsible. They also remind them of the transitory nature of this life and no matter how glorious or beautiful something is that we may have, in the end, all will be given to others.

In the book of Haggai (2:8), we read: “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts.” To whom does gold and silver really belong? Men give value to minerals of the earth—the earth that God created. We tend to ascribe value to metals and gems, or in today’s terms, paper and electronic accounts. In reality, wealth itself is a façade, another responsibility that we are entrusted with while on this earth. It is fitting then that those who have opted to be the lowest among men, should be adorned with such items.

It is yet another reminder of St. Paul’s words: “God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:28-29)