Picture, if you will, a fruit tree. Now picture that a branch is broken off from the tree and has fallen to the ground beside it. The broken branch professes faith in the same basic ideas as the still-attached branches. It uses mostly the same books and has a lot of the same forms in their practices of the still-attached branches. The differences it does have, in some traditions, books, and form of practice, it claims, stems merely from differences in perspective due to their position on the ground. Nevertheless, the broken branch claims it’s still a part of the tree despite its separation.
Now, can the branch that is broken off begin to produce the fruit of the tree it has been separated from? No! It has been broken off from the source that energizes it with the nutrients to produce the fruit of the tree. It is impossible for the broken branch to produce fruit as the still-attached branches do. No matter how much the broken branch protests; a break is a break.
Unless the broken branch is grafted back into the tree, there cannot be, nor will there be, the power in that branch to produce the fruits of the tree. If the branch stays broken-off from the tree, then the wind will eventually blow and carry the broken branch further and further away until it has been casted into the outer darkness. Even less so can twigs which break from the broken branch as it’s blown away produce the fruit of the tree.
May God help us Orthodox Christians to stand firm in the Faith of the Body of Christ Jesus, which is His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church (Col 1:18), and hold fast to the Teachings and Traditions thereof (2 Thess 2:15) so that we may not be tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning and craftiness (Eph 4:14). May we repent of our sins daily and humble ourselves so that we may not be broken off in arrogance or unbelief (Rom 11:20-23). Let us remain in Christ that He may remain in us, and we will produce much fruit (Jhn 15:5).