Armodoxy for Today: The Pepsi – Coke challenge

Since 1975, the Pepsi company has been challenging cola drinkers to taste test Pepsi next to the top seller, Coke. Yes, since 1975 – over fifty years now – people are stopped in public arenas and asked to taste Pepsi and Coke in unmarked glasses and state the taste they prefer. It makes for great advertising and marketing. It’s simple, understandable by all. The characters are relatable, because the man-on-the-street is the “average joe.” He’s the layman in the world of colas.

I often receive questions about Armenian Orthodoxy in a very simplistic manner. Armenian Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism, it’s it just Coke and Pepsi? Which do you prefer? In a sense it is, they all profess to be Christian, but the differences are not as simple as a formula for Pepsi or Coke. In the cola wars, it is a matter of taste and opinion, and in fact, there are several other brands that can also be placed in the competition. They are all colas. In the case of Christianity, not all brands are alike. In the two thousand years since Christ, many wars, acts of intolerance, bigotry and killings have been waged in the pure name of Jesus Christ. Many have been judged and sentenced for not believing in the same doctrines as the ruling class.

Tragically these bigoted ideas continue to exist in the world, “in the name of Christ.”

Armenian Orthodoxy goes to the beginning and shares the Apostolic message, which is the message of Christ: to profess the Gospel, bring comfort to the broken hearted and set at liberty those who are captives and oppressed.

If a metaphor is necessary, think of the refreshment that Jesus offers: Out of you heart will flow rivers of living water, he says, Whoever drinks of this water will never thirst. (John 5,4)

A prayer for St. Nersess Shnorhali (18) Fountain of immortality, cause the tears of repentance to flow from my heart, like those of Mary Magdalene, so that before I depart this world, I may wash away the sins of my soul. Amen.